Shelbyville Community Church Shelbyville Community Church

The book of Judges begins a new chapter in the history of Israel. Unfortunately it reveals a dark period in Israel's history and serves as a warning for us today. After the death of Joshua, the nation triumphed in taking the Promised Land before descending into a destructive sin cycle. God repeatedly raised up judges to deliver His people even as their disobedience continued.

The book of Judges provides a clear reminder of how easy it is for disbelief to lead to destruction, idolatry to lead to slavery, and amnesia to lead to abandonment. All the while, God’s faithfulness is on full display despite His people’s faithlessness.

This summer we’ll be looking back at the broken heroes that fell short and looking forward to the ultimate savior Jesus, who did what no one else could.
Matthew 7:24-27.

Obeying Jesus trumps listening to Jesus

Let’s dream together. Have you ever thought about a “dream home”? If so, where would you build it? What would it look like? Isn’t it fun to dream? My house would be ridiculous if I could have everything I’ve ever wanted in a house. I don’t even want to know how much it would cost me, haha.

Did you know Jesus has a dream for you? He has a dream that you would hear His teachings and live the way He wants for you. He has a dream that we would be a people that would live out what He asks of us. He has a dream that we would be wise, by His standards. What would our lives look like if we lived out Jesus’ dream? It would be fun to see!

This Sunday we’re going to look at the difference between obeying Jesus’ teaching and just listening. We’ll wrestle with what kind of foundation we want in our lives, our family lives, and for those around us to see. You get to choose!

If you want to prep yourself for Sunday, read Matthew 7:24-27; James 1:22-25; and Ephesians 2:19-22.

A legal expert in Jewish law was trying to test Jesus' theology and asked Him what he need to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus asked him back, "What do you think the scripture says about that?" The Pharisee quoted the very essential passage from Deuteronomy 6:4-5, called The Shema, when he said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus basically said, “Good job,” to which the Pharisee then asked, “But who is my neighbor?” He wanted to know who all that commandment applied to.

Jesus’ response to him was the story of what we call, “The Good Samaritan”. We’ll unpack this loaded parable Sunday during both services. I’m confident we may see ourselves in more than one of the characters in the story.

It's easy to get busy and lose sight of the party.

Have you ever held a large gathering, that included food? There’s a lot that goes into the preparation, to make sure there is enough and that the gathering goes well. To prepare for such a gathering, we need to require a count. This allows us to know the appropriate number and prepare the right amount of food and spaces.

I had to do this for my wedding. We told people of the event and asked for their initial acceptance. Then we determined the food and how much, included with how many place settings. As I was doing that, the guests were to be preparing themselves for that opportunity. Once all was prepared, people would know that it was time to come and that it would be ready when they arrived. The hard part is not everyone showed up and we had a lot of food leftover, and people that wanted to come didn’t get to because we didn’t believe we had enough spots for them.

God calls us to His table, everyone, no matter your story or background. He wants to fill His table up, that when the time comes, there isn’t an open seat left.

This Sunday we’ll look at the Parable of the Great Banquet. We’ll look at His plan and what His table means for us.

Please join us as we wrestle with what God has for us and those in our lives.

With all of the views on what happens after you die, is there someone’s opinion we can trust? What about someone who has actually risen from the dead? What about someone who has actually conquered death?

In Matthew 18, Jesus tells us a story about the Kingdom of God and forgiveness. The reason Jesus tells this story is simple: Life is filled with opportunity to take offense. Actually, that’s only part of the reason.

Jesus also tells this story in response to a question from Peter about the limits of forgiveness. Here is how he asked it:

“Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” (Matthew 18:21–22, NIV)

Many of you know the number 7 is the number for completion or fullness in the Scriptures. It represents perfection. The implication is that Peter thinks he is being super gracious. He thinks he is being magnanimous. But Jesus does a play on words with Peter’s answer.

No, Jesus says, not just 7 times, but 7 X 70 times! If you do the math, that is 490 times. So do you think the idea is that on event number 491 of a relationship, we no longer have to forgive? Of course not. The idea is, you forgive someone as much and as often as necessary. There is no limit, no finite number to describe how often we should forgive others.

And then to illustrate this, Jesus begins to tell a powerful and life-changing story. Join us this weekend as unpack it together.