MCC Podcast Miamisburg Christian Church

Abraham Lincoln said, “The greatest lessons I ever learned were at my mother’s knees.” And more often than not, moms, we learn a lot just by watching you live your life.



This has been true of great leaders throughout history and perhaps none more evident that King David. This Sunday as we continue our look at his life we will be reminded that his life was full of decisions. Some of those decisions were great and helped develop a nation. Other decisions, not so much.



This week Rich will help us understand how, where someone came from, helps connect the dots on their behavior. King David started from a pretty lowly background. We will take a look at what he learned about being a shepherd, how that ties into the importance of moms, and how David’s shepherd qualities helped to shape a Kingdom.

This weekend we are going to begin a series of messages that will examine the life of King David. I don’t know about you, but David is my favorite Old Testament character.

Did you know that:


More has been written about David than any other character in the Bible.


He’s an Old Testament character, but he has 59 references to his life in the New Testament.


The New Testament opens and closes mentioning his name.


Jesus was born in the city of David, was called the root of David (and the seed of David), and was given the throne of David.



But perhaps the most impressive words about David are the words spoken by God about him in Acts 13:32: I have found David son of Jesse, a man after My own heart…

David was a great man of faith. But what impresses me most about David is that he wasn’t perfect…by a long shot! As a matter of fact, if you’ve never read the story of David, you may be surprised at how much he’s like you and me.

Over the next several weeks we’re going to look at events in David’s life and see what principles we can learn from them about making good choices for our lives today. But this weekend, we are going to start at the beginning, when God chose David to be king over Israel. What we’ll discover is what God saw that made Him declare that David was a man after His own heart and how we can make our hearts like H.I.S. as well.

This will conclude our Ick series by talking about SEX. I sense you backing away already.



But we need to be clear on this—all of us need to be clear on this—because we live in a world that is saturated with sex. And our world is saying things right now that many of us NEVER imagined we would hear.



In her book, Guardians of Purity: Raising PG kids in an X-Rated World, Julie Hiramine says, “This world we live in is reaching into the hearts and minds of our children, shaping and molding them into a replica of its values, trends, and world-views.”



Let that sink in and then ask yourself this question: What is happening in the world in which we live? We’ll talk about that.



And let me offer this friendly warning: this message is geared for Junior High through adults. However, if you want your younger children to hear with you they may have some questions for you after.

I have appreciated your response to talking about issues that give almost all, although it may be fair to say ALL of us, the ick.



This week we’re talking about money. And I know the reason for the ick. In part of Jesus’ most famous sermon, He told us that there is a tug of war going on in our hearts involving our stuff. Jesus is recognizing a strategy that our enemy uses against us. I want to remind you that the devil knows he doesn’t have to get us to follow him - he just has to get us to stop following Jesus especially in this area of our life.



So we’ll look at that and how to kick the ick. By the way, it’s simple, it's just not easy.



And I’m looking forward to having my friend, Kent Fillinger, with us this weekend. Kent is with CFR who is one of our ministry partners. He also happens to have been a student when I was a Student Pastor. He will share briefly about how CFR is benefiting churches across the country.

This weekend we will continue our Ick series where we’re talking about those things in our lives where when someone brings them up, in our minds we go, “Ick.”

I don’t want to talk about that.

Stop talking about that.



So we thought we’d talk about that. You’re welcome. This weekend I will be addressing the ick of politics.



I realize that the only thing that might be more icky than politics, is talking about politics in church. And what I’m going to share this weekend, I actually shared 4 years ago.



And so you know, this message is not intended for you to change your political party or your political views. It’s intended to help us think about something MUCH MORE IMPORTANT than who lives in the White House for the next 4 years.



And don’t hear what I’m not saying. I’m not saying that’s not important.

I’m not saying disengage from the privilege we have to vote.

I’m not saying your vote isn’t important.



Not at all.



And I will say this about voting, although this is not what I’ll be talking about this weekend. But It does seem obvious to say that your vote ought to reflect the principles of the Kingdom. As disciples of Jesus we are to reflect Kingdom values in all areas of our lives and should inform how we vote.



Jesus didn’t talk about voting because they didn’t get to vote. But what we see that Jesus didn’t say and did say IS intended to make all of us think about the way we respond to each other in such a volatile political climate. I’m looking forward to walking through this with you.

This Sunday we will be kicking off a new series called “Ick.” As our Teaching Team thought through this year and what topics we need to talk about that will most likely give many, or most, or at times all, people “the ick.” So for the next few weeks we’re going to talk about politics, money, and sex.

This Sunday we will begin by talking about “culture.” It will be interesting to see how you would define that word. However you define it, you certainly can’t escape it. The real question is who is doing the influencing? Does culture define social norms? How much power does culture have on public opinion, politics, even (and especially) the church?

Rich will walk us through a parable, as Jesus lays out a principle and a story in Acts to see that principle lived out!