Delta Church - SPI

Psalm 28:1-9 Have you ever felt like God was not hearing your prayer? That's a devastating feeling? But lave you ever felt like God was not hearing your prayer while you were obeying His command to wait on Him? That makes the silence even harder? If you've ever been here, then you already understand why Psalm 28 follows Psalm 27. Psalm 27 ends with one of the Bible's clearest commands—“wait for the LORD!” But when Psalm 28 opens, David cries—"O LORD, my Rock, do not turn a deaf ear to me." Apparently David has been waiting. And he’s been waiting long enough that it now feels as though God has gone silent. The question is—What do you do when it feels like God is silent while you faithfully wait? When God seems silent in times of waiting, I can trust He still hears my prayers.

Psalm 27:1-14 “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Many of us have heard this phrase before. And in one way or another, many of us may have even counseled someone along these lines. But while there is a measure of truth in this phrase, what if there is a better path forward when the going gets tough. In a nutshell, this phrase is basically saying—“When life gets hard, the answer is to become stronger.” The subtle implication is that the strength you need is found within you. But along comes Psalm 27 calling us down an entirely different path. Forsake self-confidence and rest in God-confidence. Main Idea—When my confidence is grounded in who the LORD is, I can take courage in my troubles and wait for the LORD to act.

Psalm 127

1 Peter 5:1-5 If we go back to the first sermon we preached in this series we declared that Christ is the Head of His church. He has one, gospel-created, global people who gather visibly in local churches. But the Bible says Jesus isn’t merely the Head of His church. As 1 Peter 5 makes abundantly clear, Jesus is also the Chief Shepherd of His church. This raises an important question—How exactly does Jesus shepherd His people? Or to put it another way—How does the shepherding care of Jesus become visible in the life of the local church? Answer—Christ makes His shepherding care visible through faithful elders in the local church. Main Idea—Christ shepherds His church through qualified elders who serve under the Chief Shepherd.

1 Corinthians 11:17-34 “How does the church remember Christ?” That’s the question that falls naturally in line with the questions we have been asking throughout this series. The Christian life does not begin with faith in Jesus, baptism, and church membership only for us to eventually move on and place Christ in the rearview mirror. Christ calls His people to regularly remember what He has done for us through His death and resurrection. Therefore, to help us remember, Jesus gave His church a gospel-shaped meal called the Lord’s Supper. Main Idea—The Lord’s Supper is a gospel meal where the church looks backward to the cross, inward at the heart, and forward to the return of Jesus.

Matthew 3:13-15; Romans 6:1-4; Matthew 28:18-20 Christ is the Head of His church. Those who belong to Him are one, global, gospel-created people. And these global people gather visibly in local churches. These are glorious truths. But praise God they are not merely theological ideas floating in the clouds. They have real-world implications for our lives such as the call from Christ to be baptized. So for our joy—Christ calls His people to publicly declare their union with Him through baptism.

Various Scriptures We continue our series entitled ‘Stand There’. And as we do we come to some very practical application. In Christ, we are part of the global church which makes itself visible in the local church. But the question becomes—“How do Christ’ people in a local church show commitment to one another?” Answer—by committing themselves as members to that local church. If the next 20 years at Delta are going to matter…if we are going to link arms and do something for God…then on this we must knit our hearts together, that—for our joy, Christ’s people are called to commit to one another by joining a local church.

1 Corinthians 12:12-27 Christ is the Head of His church. And those who belong to His church are one, gospel-created, global people.But that’s not all that can be said about Christ’s church. Yes—His church is global. But—His church is also local. This is where 1 Corinthians 12:12–27 helps us by talking about the local church as a body. When you are saved by grace through faith in Jesus, you are united to Christ’s global church. But—you are not just a detached part of a global whole. In Christ—you are a vital part of a rooted, local body of Believers. This means something for us as we move forward into the new chapter God has for our church. Main Idea—The local church is the body of Christ in one place where every member is necessary, different, and called to care for one another.

Colossians 1:15-20 In this new chapter of our church, we must be grounded in Jesus—supreme over all creation and over His church. On this Christ we must stand. As we look forward to more faithful ministry to come for Delta, how will we walk together? By not just assuming our way forward, but by declaring our need to stand on Christ who is the Head of the church.

Psalm 34

Acts 4:10-12 Jesus is alive! On Good Friday death was dealt, but on Easter Sunday the tomb was robbed. On Sunday the jaws of death were broken by the One who is the Resurrection and the Life. Praise God! In our text, Peter focuses on this very truth and all the resurrection means for us. Evil men crucified Jesus. God raised Jesus from the dead. And Peter says this leads to one unavoidable conclusion—we must be saved by the crucified and resurrected Jesus. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed!

John 12:12-19 Palm Sunday puts us on the front end of Holy Week. As Jesus makes his way into Jerusalem he does so as the King of Kings. But John makes clear that Jesus arrives with remarkable reversal. The crowd rightly sees Jesus as king. But their expectation of what he will accomplish is wrong. Thus, John shows us that Jesus is the expectation reversing king we need. He is the hero we need who will deliver us according to what we need—salvation from sin and death.

Acts 13:1-12 This is the day we celebrated the sending of Gospel Community Church from Delta Church to plant in Athens, IL. Thus, we turned to the church in Antioch in Acts 13 to glory in what happens when a church follows the Spirit and sends Everyday Disciples so people hear and believe the gospel.

Acts 9:1-19 We watched a Spirit-filled disciple in Philip be used by God as the Ethiopian eunuch went from unbelief to belief in Jesus. We read this account and rightly get fired up! But what about those who seem so far from God that you cannot help but conclude—if anyone is not being drawn to God, it must be this person. Luke knows this is a temptation of ours which explains why we puts the conversion of Saul right after the episode with the eunuch. Luke wants to prove that the saving power of Jesus knows no bounds. And he wants this records of Saul’s salvation to give us concrete hope that when Spirit-filled, bold, and powerful witnesses follow the Lord’s leading, we will see sinners saved. Main Idea—Jesus the Hound of Heaven pursues sinners—and Everyday Disciples get to join the pursuit.

Acts 1:6-8; 8:26-40 Attitude and action. In so many areas of life, one leads to the other because what we believe [ the attitudes of our heart ] shape how we behave [ the actions we take ]. Previously in Acts 4 we learned that Spirit-fullness results in boldness. This is a key attitude the Spirit produces in the life of the Believer. But if this is the attitude, then it begs the question—“What is the resulting action?” Acts 8 provides an answer: if boldness is the attitude, then powerful witness is the action. For most of us, we will never have a Peter-like moment of preaching to thousands. But every one of us will have Philip-like moments for one-to-one witness in everyday life. So what does the action of a Spirit-filled witness look like? It looks like two simple things—they follow the Spirit’s leading, and they explain the good news of Jesus. Main Idea—Spirit-filled witnesses follow the Spirit and explain the good news of Jesus.

Acts 4:1-31

Acts 2:42-47 Now what do I do? Have you ever asked yourself that question? This is what the crowd asked Peter after his Pentecost sermon. Peter has just preached the gospel with Spirit-empowered authority. And as a result, many “were cut to the heart” (v. 37). Luke records their immediate question—“What shall we do?” On one hand the answer was repent and be baptized. But notice, Luke does not leave the question there. The Spirit was reigning—and now there were three thousand spiritual newborns. But salvation was not the conclusion of the Spirit’s work. Once they came up out of the water, He did not step back. Why? Because if the Spirit truly reigns, then His rule would shape not only how these men and women were saved, but also how they were to grow. This text shows us what Spirit-filled disciples do as the Spirit continues to reign in their life. Main Idea—Where the Spirit reigns, a people devoted to spiritual growth will rise.

Acts 1:1-5; 2:1-13 Moving toward the church plant, we are turning to the book of Acts to see how the Holy Spirit was active in the early church. We will see many great ways in which the Spirit is working but before we get to seeing all those ways we need start first with a truth—the need to be Everyday Disciples filled with the Holy Spirit. This is language used throughout Acts and into the New Testament as well. This is what part and parcel of what it means to be a Christian! Power, boldness, joy—these are ours in Christ as men and women filled with the Spirit.

Isaiah 26:6-9 In the face of death, the loss and sorrow can be disorienting. But praise God that in His Word we have much hope that can and does sustain us in the face of death. Isaiah 25 is one such place. Here the prophet declares that God will swallow up death forever. The Lord has spoken and it will be done. This has been fulfilled greatly in the resurrection of Jesus and will be fulfilled finally in the return of Jesus. Lord hasten the day!

Genesis 1:26-31

1 John 5:13-15 How do you spend time with someone in your life? Say you want to share an afternoon together with a friend, what do you do? What you do is talk to them. And during those times you talk about what matters to you and what matters to them. In the same way, this is how we spend time with God—by talking to Him about things that matter to us, and to Him. When we do this, the Bible calls this prayer. God’s Word is full of promises about prayer. And one of my favorite promises is found in our verses this morning—God has promised to hear and answer the prayers of all who belong to Him.

Psalm 119:9-11 Even as a child it is possible to fight sin! The psalmist aims his words to the “young man” telling him to guard his heart and treasure up God’s word in heart. Why? So that he might not sin against God. The Bible protects us from sin and there is no better age to learn that as children and youth!

Matthew 2:13-23

Matthew 2:1-12

Matthew 1:18-25

Matthew 1:1-17 Kicking off Advent, we turn to Matthew’s gospel and what we discover is a genealogy. But far from a random list of names, what we have is a declaration of hope. With the birth of Jesus the hopes and fears of all the years are met in Him. This genealogy is rich, pregnant with hope. And it declares the glories of our God whose plan it was to send us his Son so that we might have the sure and certain hope of redeeming grace anchored in Jesus. Main Idea: The hope of redeeming grace is secure because Christ the Savior is born

James 5:11 What is the fuel for genuine Thanksgiving? What James points to in his letter and what the book of Job reveals in the life of Job is that beholding God clearly for who He is…this is the fuel for thanksgiving. When we come to see that the Lord is compassionate and merciful thanksgiving that flow into erupting worship will be the patter of our lives. So on this Sunday before the Thanksgiving holiday we set our eyes on our God in order to fuel our worship with that which endures—who our God is. Main Idea—Our compassionate and merciful Lord is the fuel for genuine thanksgiving.

Job 42:1-17

Job 40:6-42:6 Last week we saw God speak from the whirlwind and address the protests of His suffering servant by reminding Job—“I have the whole world in my hands. I am in control over the continuing presence of evil.” And what we discovered is that this landed on Job with great comfort (40:3-5). But we also said that more must be said about the chaotic evil in our world. After all—but Job has dead children. His fortune has been shattered. His health is hovering on the brink of death. Therefore, enter God’s second speech. What Job still needs to know, and what every sufferer wants to know, is if the chaos and evil and suffering we experience in this world will one day be defeated. Main Idea—God is the Just Warrior who will one day defeat evil.

Job 38:1-40:5 Job’s three friends have come and gone. Elihu, a fourth friend, has even entered into the conversation and moved closer to the truth. Yet in the end, the wisdom of man has left Job with no answers. And then the one thing Job has desired and simultaneously dreaded finally takes place—he gets his chance to talk with God. But what becomes immediately evident is that the conversation is not going to unfold how he dreamed it would—but as we will see, this is for God’s glory and Job’s good. Main Idea—God has the whole world in His hands, including the continuing presence of evil.

Job 29-31 After hearing God speak Job plunges back upon the ash heap of his suffering. He has one last appeal to make to God, his heavenly Friend. Job’s approach is to remember the past before his suffering, lament his present loss, and express his longing for a secure future with God. This past of ‘that was then/this is now/what will be?’ is a pattern that common to sufferers. In this way Job gives us an approach on how to look to God even when it seems that best days are in the past and the loss and pain of suffering will never go away. In these moments in our suffering how can we know our future is secure and that we are right with God? It’s at this point, NT believers will be able to see that the answer to ‘what will be?’ is found in Jesus. Main Idea—When past blessings become present loss, remember that your future is secure in Jesus.

Job 28:1-28 Ever since Chapter 4, we have been bombarded with the wisdom of man seeking to make sense of Job’s suffering all to no avail. The three cycles of argument have been born from Job’s howls from the ash heap of his unexplainable suffering in Chapter 3 where Job screamed out the agonized question of every sufferer—the question of “Why?” What 24 chapters of conversation have revealed is that Job still has no answer to the ‘why’ of his suffering. And furthermore, what these chapters have also revealed is that God has not answered Job’s question of “Why?” All of this produces the question—“Why will God not answer my question?” Chapter 28 shepherds us to see—What if the security we desire on the ash heap of suffering isn’t found in the wisdom of an answer for why we suffer. Instead what if the security we want is found in the wisdom of getting more of God himself through our suffering. Main Idea—While the wisdom we seek for why we suffer isn’t wrong; ultimately the wisdom we are to seek is Christ himself.

Titus 3:8-15

Titus 3:1-7

Titus 2:11-15

Job 19:1-29

Job 14:1-22 Job’s desire to speak to God back in Chapter 9 comes to pass in this text. Job begins to speak to God in Chapter 13 but his conversation surprises us. Instead of Job presenting his court case before God with evidence of how his suffering is unjust, he instead begins to talk about the problem of sin and death. But if you think about it, it’s really not all that surprising that this is where Job takes his conversation with God. Death is very much on Job’s mind. Chapter 2 has made it clear that he is very sick (2:7). And it just makes sense that as Job feels himself slipping toward the grave under what feels like God’s unexplainable punishment, he would ask the question—“What would happen to me if I were to die on this ash heap?” Job’s suffering is forcing serious reflection on the nature of death and what lies beyond the grave. And Chapter 14 records how Job fights to see more than just death in his suffering. Main Idea—When suffering forces me to face my mortality, I can rejoice in the hope of resurrection life.

Job 9:1-35 Imagine what it would be like to be judged unfairly. Chances are good that in some way, big or small, this has happened to you. And if so, then you can appreciate how Job feels in this chapter. 1. As the cycles of conversation continue to unfold between Job and his friends, it becomes evident that Job feels wrongly condemned by God.Therefore, he wants a day in court with God so he can prove his innocence. But there’s a problem, this is God the Almighty Job is talking about! And Job has a double fear: who on earth can challenge the Almighty and he’s fearful that if he got his day in court then this just might prove God to be unjust as he’s beginning to worry. These thoughts lead Job to long for a solution to his problem—the need for mediator who can stand in the gap between him and God and make all things right.

Job 4-27 Between the initial shock of Job’s suffering and his dark lament, Job’s friends show up. They begin so well but as they open their mouths to speak they prove to be “miserable comforters” who “torment” Job as they heap up “empty nothings.” Unfortunately, when we look into the mirror of Job’s friends we can see our reflection in them. So how can you and I not become “miserable comforters” like Job’s friends? We discover answers to this question in Chapters 4-27. We will learn to speak in healing ways to those who are suffering when you and I look at Job’s friends, observe what they did, and then learn to do the opposite!

Job 3:1-26 We last left Job worshiping God on the ash heap. But now after seven days and nights of silence, our innocent sufferer opens his mouth, and what comes out is no whimpering sigh. It is a gut-wrenching howl of raw, unfiltered emotion as Job finally expresses his feelings in words. Job is a pain-struck man knocked down by grief. But for all of his howling Job is also a picture of faithfulness to God in his suffering. We must remember that Job-like lament spoken to God is an exercise of our faith in God. Dark lament isn’t faithlessness, it is faithfulness on display. That’s what Job is going to show us.

Titus 2:1-10

Titus 1:1-16

Job 1:1-2:10 Godliness is a good thing. The pursuit of godliness is a good thing. But have you ever asked yourself, “Why am I pursuing godliness?” Or to take it a step further, “Why am I pursuing God himself?” I do ABC, God does XYZ, and it’s all good. This might seem to have nothing to do with the book of Job but nothing is further from the truth. In these first two chapters Satan’s accusation against Job is that this is how he is relating to God. Thus the question of whether his relationship with God is genuine (or if anyone’s can be for that matter). It brings us to ask—Do I love God for His sake? I am in it for myself to get stuff from God? Or is the all surpassing worth of knowing the LORD enough? This is the issue at the heart of these first two chapters. So how can we know if we are in a transactional relationship with God? That leads us to the Main Idea—God sometimes allows suffering to prove we truly love God for His own sake.

Various Scriptures We don’t have to go looking for it. It will come and find us. Sooner or later, suffering at a catastrophic level arrives and wrecks our lives. And while there are many times we understand why we are suffering, there are also times when our suffering is intense and makes no sense. This is why we need the Word of God, especially the book of Job. Suffering wisely and well does not come naturally to us. Therefore, we run to our God who is with us in the valley of affliction. It is here in the valley that we often learn more about our God than in the green pastures of life. To start off our series we begin with a short theology of suffering. In this sermon we touch on four categories of suffering we can experience so that we might better understand our suffering hero and learn to walk alongside him growing deeper in the God we love.

Psalm 24

Psalm 26

Psalm 25

Psalm 23

Ephesians 2:1-10 The past two weeks have given us opportunity to feast on the good news of God’s kingdom and the good news of the cross. Like a well cooked steak perfectly pairs together with a cup of fine wine, we’ve witnessed how Kingdom and Cross perfectly pair together. But what’s a good meal without the final course to make it complete—dessert. In our text God is inviting us to linger a little longer at His banqueting table so that we might devour the gospel dessert of grace. Our text is Ephesians 2:1-10—verses dripping with the good news that “by grace you have been saved.” Life with God under the rule of God is available now (Kingdom). And it’s available now because through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus we can be reconciled to God (Cross). And all of this is possible because of God’s grace—the good news that God accepts us, not because we have earned it or deserved it, but because God does so freely at Christ’s expense.

Colossians 1:12-22 This week we continue to consume the nourishing delights of God’s gospel from God’s Word. This week we turn to the gospel of the cross learning that the good news of the cross is that through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus we can be reconciled to God. This ties together with the good news of God’s Kingdom. We have life with God under His rule because Jesus is the supreme King who is the sufficient Savior. The cross declares the supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus for salvation and every day of our life.