7/10/2022 Worship Service and Sermon: True Blessing: Fear God - Psalm 2

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7/10/2022 Worship Service and Sermon from Brick Lane Community Church in Elverson, PA.

Worship Leader: Matt Carter
Speaker: Dave Royes
Title: True Blessing: Fear God
Scripture: Psalm 2

Notes:

1. The World Speaks (vs. 1-3)

2. God Speaks (vs. 4-6)
a. His reign is sovereign
b. His wrath is real

3. The Son Speaks (vs. 7-9)
a. The Christ has come

4. The Spirit Speaks (vs. 10-12)

#Psalms #AwesomeGod #JesusisKing

7/3/22 Worship Service and Sermon: Sanctification Sermon #2: Death to Sin - Romans 6:1-11

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7/3/2022 Worship Service and Sermon from Brick Lane Community Church in Elverson, PA.

Worship Leader: Dave Stoltzfus
Speaker: Pastor Steve Estes
Title: Sanctification Sermon #2: Death to Sin
Scripture: Romans 6:1-11

   What shall we say, then?  Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?  By no means!  We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?  Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

   For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.  For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin--because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

   Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.  For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.  The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he loves to God.

   In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

1. Paul's basic position

2. Paul is talking to Christians (i.e., people who have been baptized)

3. Overcoming sin starts with something we are to know

      A. We must know that "We died"

      B. We must know that "We died to sin"

      C. We must know that "Our death to sin has to do with Christ's death"

4. Wrong views of death to sin

      A. Death to sin as a psychological change

      B. Death to sin as a death to sin's allure

      C. Death to sin as a stimulus

...To Be Continued (two weeks from now, Lord willing)

Benediction: To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,...to him be glory and power for ever and ever!  Amen.

#deadtosin #Romans #sanctification

6/26/2022 Worship Service and Sermon: Sanctification Sermon #1: What is Holiness? Do I need it?

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6/26/2022 Worship Service and Sermon from Brick Lane Community Church in Elverson, PA

Worship Leader: Matt Griffith
Speaker: Pastor Steve Estes
Title: Sanctification Sermon #1: What is Holiness?  Do I need it?
Scripture: Leviticus 19:1-2

Now the LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy."

Notes:

1. God says, "I am holy."
     A. The meaning of "holy"
     B. First: God's holiness means He is separate from us
     C. Second: God's holiness means separate because He is superior to us
     D. Third: God's holiness means He is different from us
     E. Fourth: God's holiness means He has no evil in Himself

2. God sometimes declares certain places and objects "holy"
     A. Moses and the burning bush
     B. Other objects, places, and times
     C. These things are not ethically holy

3. God sometimes sets certain people aside to be "holy"
     A. Levites
     B. Israelites

4. God not only declares Christian believers "holy"--He commands us to be holy
      A. God's demand for holiness seems unattractive
      B. God's demand for holiness seems scary
      C. God's demand for holiness seems impossible

5. Three thoughts in response
      A. Regarding holiness as unattractive

      B. Regarding holiness as scary

      C. Regarding holiness as impossible

Benediction: May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.  May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)

6/19/22 Worship Service and Sermon - Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego - Daniel 3:16-18

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6/19/2022 Worship Service and Sermon from Brick Lane Community Church in Elverson, PA.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." - Daniel 3:16-18

Worship Leader: Mark Estes
Speaker: Tyler Estes
Title: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
Scripture: Daniel 3:16-18

1. Their principled resolve. Note the timing of their resolve. The matter is already settled. They were resolved to worship only God long before the statue was built.

2. Their trust in God. First, they know the power of God. Second, they know the salvation of God. Third, they know their service to their true King

3. Their submission to God's sovereignty. Duties, not events

4. The outcome: God saved them. They still went into the flames. God went with them into the flames

5. "How do I become firm in my resolve?" Read the Bible frequently. Make church a priority/. Do these things through faith in Christ

#Daniel #fierytrial #integrity #resolve #Shadrach #Meshach #Abednego

6/12/22 Worship Service and Sermon: The Dark and Light Paths - Proverbs 4:18-19

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6/12/2022 Worship Service and Sermon from Brick Lane Community Church in Elverson, PA.

Speaker: Pastor Steve Estes
Title: The Dark and Light Paths
Scripture: Proverbs 4:18-19

The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.

1. The Bible places everyone into just two categories
A. This is odd to modern people.
i. at best, "old-fashioned and overly simplistic"
ii. at worst, "There those holier-than-thou Christians go again"
B. Why does God use these terms?
i. consider what God is like
ii. all human beings are born resistant to God
iii. in the Bible, God calls His people (worshipers, followers) "righteous"

2. For those who are not His, God describes their lives as a DARK PATH
A. A figure of speech
i. main idea: danger
ii. further idea: a certain confusion/bewilderment
B. What the dark path looks like
i. may be obvious
ii. may not be obvious
iii. on a national level
iv. person is not prepared for death

3. For those who are His, God describes their lives as a path of light
A. Their path has light
B. The light they have grows

Benediction: Hear God's promise: "The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day."

#righteousness #wickedness #proverbs #Proverbs 4:18-19

6/5/2022 Worship Service and Sermon: Five Pearls for Pentecost

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6/5/2022 Worship Service and Sermon from Brick Lane Community Church in Elverson, PA.

Worship Leader: Dawson Estes
Speaker: Steve Boyer
Title: Five Pearls for Pentecost
Scripture: Various Passages

5/29/2022 Worship Service and Sermon: Let Us Die With Him - John 11:1-16

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Speaker: Pastor Steve Estes
Title: "Let Us Die With Him"
Scripture: John 11:1-16

Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. So the sisters sent word to Jesus. "Lord, the one you love is sick." When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. Then he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea." "But Rabbi," they said, "a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?" Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world's light. It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light." After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up." His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better." Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him" Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."

Notes:

1. At some point, Christian disciples--especially leaders--will be asked to "die" as they follow Christ.
A. Dying can be literal
B. Dying can be figurative
C. What dying looked like for Paul
D. What dying might look like for you
E. Dying is unpleasant

2. When small group leaders die, they are dying "with Jesus."
A. As you face frustrations, weariness, tensions...Christ is facing these things in you
B. Christ feels your pain especially as you die in ministry

3. Small group leaders encourage each other to die.
A. It's one reason we're in church today

4. When followers of Christ are willing to die with Him, God uses them despite their weaknesses.
A. Was Thomas strong?
B. How did it end for Thomas?

Benediction: Be strong and courageous. It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. Amen.

5/22/2022 Worship Service and Sermon: Relationship with God - 1 Samuel 8

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5/22/2022 Worship Service and Sermon from Brick Lane Community Church in Elverson, PA.

Worship Leader: Mike Culbert
Speaker: Darin Pesnell
Title: Relationship with God
Scripture: 1 Samuel 8

Notes:

1. Living under the influence of other things is a threat to a relationship with God

a. Addiction--an ever-decreasing satisfaction that has an ever-increasing cost
b. We are easily tempted into "contracts" with controlling things when there seems to be a good reason to do so.

2. Living in fear is a threat to a relationship with God

a. The Israelites feared their enemies; therefore, they wanted a king (not God) to fight their battles.
b. To counter fear, slow down and talk to God

3. God gave Israel a bad king so He could eventually give them (and us) a good King

a. Saul grasped at power and was overcome by evil.
b. David, a king after God's own heart, was still a sinner, not the king we need
c. Jesus Christ is the King that God was preparing for in this chapter.

#1Samuel #kingofisrael #relationshipwithGod

5/15/22 Worship Service and Sermon: Washing Each Other's Feet - John 13:12-17, 34-25

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5/15/2022 Worship Service and Sermon from Brick Lane Community Church in Elverson, PA

Worship Leader: Andrew Hageman
Speaker: Pastor Steve Estes
Scripture: John 13:12-17, 34-25
Title: Washing Each Other's Feet

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

A new commandment I give to you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

Notes:

1. Does Jesus want us to literally wash feet?

A. I can't prove He doesn't, but I suspect not
Reason #1: Jesus often uses figurative language.
Reason #2: The Bible is sensitive to people's culture.
Reason #3: The literal meaning is easier than the figurative meaning.

2. Christ teaches me to wash other's feet by becoming a slave.

A. John 13:34 = "Be a slave of other as I have been your slave."
i. "Slave" in this case is a Greco-Roman slave, who was treated almost like a member of the family, not like chattel, as in the Antebellum South.
B. I'm to be a slave even if I hold a high position.

3. Jesus calls this a "new command."

A. Not totally new (Leviticus 19:18), but a new importance was given to it.
B. A new reason was given for it.
C. A new degree of self-sacrifice is given in it.

4. As a slave, whose feet am I to wash?

A. I'm to wash the feet of Christians I'm familiar with.
B. I'm to wash the feet of Christians who are different from me.

5. 4 questions to ask myself:

A. Where do I sit in church?
B. Who do I talk with?
C. Where, and for whom, do I pray?
D. How do I use my home?

Caution: We don't serve in order to be washed. We are washed in order to serve.

#bricklanecommunitychurch #elverson #pennsylvania #worship #sermon #John #loveoneanother #washingfeet

5/8/2022 Worship Service and Sermon: The Vine: Our life, Our love, Our joy - John 15:1-14

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5/8/2022 Worship Service and Sermon from Brick Lane Community Church in Elverson, PA.

Scripture: John 15:1-14
Title: The Vine: Our life, Our love, Our joy
Speaker: Josh Olson

Notes:

Why is abiding in Christ important?

1. It's a matter of life or death.

2. Apart from Christ, we can do nothing of eternal significance.

3. Abiding in Christ will result in full, sustaining, life-giving joy.

What does it mean to abide in Christ?

1. Abide in His love.

#abide #bearingfruit