Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, October 2, 2022

Scripture Reading: Zephaniah 3:17 “For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”

Text: Matthew 5:13-16

#1—The Kingdom of God (Heaven)

          Matthew 4:17, 23

          Jesus gives instructions on how to live in the Kingdom of Heaven (God)

                    The Beatitudes—

                              #1-4—Our relationship with God

                              #5-8—Our relationship with others

#2—Jesus provides the “why” for the beatitudes

          Matthew 5:13-16

          Salt—adds flavor

                    Preserves

                    Aids in healing

                    Makes a difference

          Light—exposes obstacles hidden by the dark

                      Shows the way

                      Pushes darkness away

                      Helps bring relief from fear

#3—Jesus gives examples of being salt & light

          Matthew 5:43-48—Love your enemies

          Luke 10:25-37—Rethink who your neighbors are

          Acts 1:8—Be witnesses

          2 Corinthians 5:20–Paul uses the phrase, “ambassador”

          1 Peter 3:15–Peter’s instructions about being salt & light

Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, September 25, 2022

Bible Reading: 1 John 4:9-10 “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” (NLT)

Text: Matthew 5:7-12, 13-16

#1—Matthew 5:3-6—Total Dependence upon God

          Genesis 15:9-21—God & Abram “cut” a covenant

#2–Matthew 5:7-12–Our relationship with one another

V7—the merciful

V8—pure in heart

V9—peacemakers

V10—those who are persecuted

#4–Matthew 5:13-16—Why character matters

V13—salt of the earth

V14—light of the world

Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, September 18, 2022

Bible Reading: Ephesians 2:8-10 “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (NLT)

Text: Matthew 5:3-12, 13-16

#1—The Forgotten Story

#2–Mathew 5:3-6–Our relationship with God

V3—poor in spirit

V4—those who mourn

V5—the meek

V6—hunger and thirst for righteousness

#3–Matthew 5:7-12–Our relationship with one another

V7—the merciful

V8—pure in heart

V9—peacemakers

V10—those who are persecuted

#4–Matthew 5:13-16—Why character matters

V13—salt of the earth

V14—light of the world

Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, September 4, 2022

Bible Reading: 2 Samuel 22:2-3 “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that save me, and my place of safety. He is my refuge, and my savior.” (NLT)

Text: Matthew 5:1-2

Moses and Jesus—

Deuteronomy 18:15-19–Moses Messianic Prophecy

          Multiple fulfillments; ultimate fulfillment

          John the Baptist—John 1:19-21

Messiah—one who would bring shalom (order, prosperity, freedom from bondage, peace of mind, good will, and happiness, a life that is flourishing, rich and fulfilling (blessings).

Exodus 19:3; Matthew 5:1—Up on a mountain

Moses—giver of the Law (Old Covenant)

Jesus—giver of the New Covenant

          Jeremiah 31:31-33

Law vs New Covenant—

Similarities between Moses & Jesus:

• There were miracles involved in both of their births.
• Both had to be exiled from their home countries to survive.
• Both had wilderness experiences, Moses for 40 years, Jesus for 40 days.
• Both had phenomenal experiences at the initiation of their ministries. Moses experienced a burning bush; Jesus experienced baptism, a dove and the Father voicing His approval.
• Both were raised up to become the deliverers of God’s people. Moses was the deliverer of Israel from 430 years of slavery in Egypt, Jesus was the deliverer from the bondage of sin.

The one thing Moses did not nor could not do, was to present himself as the perfect, once-for-all sacrifice for our sin. Only Jesus fulfilled the words of Isaiah.

Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, August 28, 2022

Bible Reading: Isaiah 25:1 “O Lord, I will honor and praise your name, for you are my God. You do such wonderful things! You planned them long ago, and now you have accomplished them.” (NLT)

Text: Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

• Solomon only made one mistake…. with many consequences.

Five Key Verses:

#1–Ecclesiastes 1:2— “vanity of vanities” (life is meaningless)

#2–Ecclesiastes 1:18—wisdom compounds our grief because meaning and purpose are not found in wisdom

#3–Ecclesiastes 2:11—our work compounds our frustration because meaning and purpose will not be found in our work

#4–Ecclesiastes 12:1—Honoring God is not for children only

#5–Ecclesiastes 12:13—Just as Solomon only made one mistake, there is only one thing we need to do to know meaning and purpose in life.

• It’s never too late
• Do it today, don’t put it off

John 10:10 “The thief’s [Satan] purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My [Jesus] purpose is to give them [you] a rich and satisfying life.” (NLT)

Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, August 21, 2022

Bible Reading: Lamentations 3:22-23 “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.” (NLT)

Text: Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Ecclesiastes 7:14a

Romans 8:28; Numbers 23:19; Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8; Jeremiah 29:11;

John 10:10

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8—The seasons of life bring “good times” and “tough times.” God is never the author of tough times. Sometimes we are the cause; sometimes Satan is the cause; sometimes the evil in others is the cause, but God is never the cause of tough times.

Ecclesiastes 7:8-10

#1—The end of a thing is better than its beginning

• We are all “in process”
• We are not today, what we will be tomorrow

Romans 8:28; Romans 8:31

#2—The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit

• When pride takes over
• Resist looking back

“The ‘good old days’ are a combination of a bad memory and a good imagination.”

Warren Wiersbe   

          2 Corinthians 5:17— “old things have passed away; all things have become new.”

          Isaiah 43:18-19— “Do not remember (hang on to) the former things, nor consider the

          things of old…. I will do a new thing…….”

Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, August 14, 2022

Bible Reading: 1 Chronicles 29:11 “Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head overall.” (NIV)

Text: Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Note: In our text, we read that fearing God and keeping His commandments is “man’s all.” The idea is to “honor God” and “obey His laws.” This is all that every person must do. Everything else necessary for our life will be there as we make honoring God our focus (Matthew 6:33).

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Verse 3— “A time to kill and a time to heal.”

          28 “life events” that most of us will experience. Some, we have no control over, some

          we have control over. But apart from “honoring God” none will produce meaning and

          purpose.

Verse 8— “A time to love and a time to hate.”

          Romans 12:9

          1 John 4:20

Ecclesiastes 4—Our Work

          Verse 6—Our desires outside of “honoring God” will not bring fulfillment

          Verse 8—Solomon learned that one day you can be on “top of the world” only to find

          Yourself on the “outside” looking in the next

          Verses 13, 16—We are encouraged, in our youth, to learn from Solomon’s mistake

Paul’s comments about work—

          Colossian 3:23

Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, August 7, 2022

Bible Reading: Deuteronomy 32:3-4 “I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright, and just is he.” (NIV)

Text: Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Strengths of Solomon:

• Third king of Israel, David’s chosen heir
• The wisest man who ever lived (1 Kings 4:30-31)
• Writer of Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, many of the Proverbs, and a couple of Psalms
• Built God’s temple in Jerusalem
• Diplomat, trader, collector, patron of the arts

Weaknesses of Solomon:

• Sealed many foreign agreements by marrying pagan women
• Allowed his wives to affect his loyalty to God
• Excessively taxed his people and drafted them into labor and military force

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

Verse 2—Vanity of vanities

• Meaningless; hollow; futile; vapor; breath

Verse 3— “under the sun”

• Our work is not intended to bring meaning and purpose
• Our wealth is not intended to bring meaning and purpose
• Our trophies are not intended to bring meaning and purpose
• Relationships are not intended to bring meaning and purpose

Verses 5-7—Busyness does not bring meaning and purpose

• Mere activity in and of itself produces nothing of ultimate value

Verses 8-11—Nothing new under the sun

• What is not “new” is that anything aside from a relationship with God will not produce meaning or purpose in our life.