Before You Leave Home: Keeping Your Faith in College and Beyond
Having been around the block a few times, I would like to pass on to the younger generation some wisdom that will make college some of the best years of their lives.
There are many intellectual and moral challenges you will face, but I pray this video will smooth the way for a successful trajectory in life.
-Pastor Mike
Preparing for Sunday | August 13
SONGS WE’LL BE SINGING TOGETHER
Man of Sorrows | [listen]
Matt Crocker, Brooke Ligertwood
Isaiah 53:3
Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery | [listen + lyrics]
Matt Boswell, Matt Papa, Michael Bleecker
Colossians 1:26-27
Great Are You Lord | [listen]
Leslie Jordan, David Leonard
2 Corinthians 4:6
Your Promises| [listen]
Chris Brown, Mack Brock, Steven Furtick, Wade Joye
2 Peter 1:3-4a
The Lion and the Lamb | [listen + lyrics]
Leeland Mooring, Benton Brown, Brian Johnson
Deuteronomy 33:26
SERMON TEXT
Psalm 51
Family Quest: A Heart of Wisdom, Lesson 8
LESSON 8: WISDOM DELIGHTS IN THE LORD
Does God really want us to have the desires of our hearts? A quick reading of Psalm 37:4 seems to point us in that direction. Proverbs 13:12 lays out the very common sense principle that a longing or desire fulfilled is a blessing, while hope deferred is discouraging. We can all relate to that. But what of our ungodly desires? Here in lies the danger of reading any scripture in isolation, disconnected from its context and from the whole counsel of God on any subject. Let’s look at Psalm 37 a little closer and then at the words of Jesus regarding this subject.
In its context, Psalm 37 is a call to patience before the Lord when it seems like the wicked are prospering. Specifically the child of God is called to active waiting. “Trust in the Lord and do good” (vs 3), “Take delight in the Lord” (vs 4), “Commit your way to the Lord” (vs 5). Receiving the desires of your heart is set in the context of this attitude of the heart. I will ask you, if you are trusting in the Lord and doing good, delighting in the Lord, and committing your way to the Lord, what kinds of deep desires do you think will take root in your heart, the godly variety or the worldly variety? When we delight in, find our joy in, the Lord, He becomes the desire of our hearts and there is nothing that the Lord wants to give us more than Himself. When we have Him, we begin to share His desires. Jesus reinforces this point in Matthew 6 where he exhorts his followers not to worry about the needs or wants of this world, but instead to desire first God, His Kingdom, and His goodness. The Father will take care of our needs, but He wants to be our one desire. In His presence there is fullness of joy. His presence is the good in the good news.
This is my cry, my one desire
Just to be where You are, Lord
Now and forever it’s more than a song
My one desire is to be with You
Is to be with You Jesus
(Songwriters: Joel Houston, One Desire lyrics © Capitol Christian Music Group)
BIG IDEA: Wisdom desires the things of God.
MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Proverbs 13:12
Psalm 37:4-6
Psalm 145:19
Proverbs 11:23
Romans 8:27
SECTION VERSE:
Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. – Proverbs 2:9-10
LESSON VERSE:
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. – Psalm 37:4
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- Read and discuss Prov. 13:12 and Psalm 37:4-5.
- What are some of your desires?
- What is God’s desire for all of us? (relationship w/ Him, peace, joy, love, purpose,…)
- On what should we base our desires?
- How can you apply what you learned in Quest this week?
– – –
ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader. In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.
Preparing for Sunday | August 6
SONGS WE’LL BE SINGING TOGETHER
Cornerstone | [listen]
Eric Liljero, Reuben Morgan, Edward Mote, Jonas Myrin
Psalm 18:2
Come to Me | [listen]
Elizabeth Akers, Jeff Capps, Michael Bleecker
Matthew 11:28-30
Jesus Is Better | [listen]
Aaron Ivey, Brett Land
Mark 9:24
The Lion and the Lamb | [listen + lyrics]
Leeland Mooring, Benton Brown, Brian Johnson
Deuteronomy 33:26
SERMON TEXT
Psalm 51
Family Quest: A Heart of Wisdom, Lesson 7
LESSON 7: WISDOM CONTROLS THE TONGUE
Sitting in a small Indian village in Brazil with a half dozen other men under a thatched roof shelter, I couldn’t believe my good fortune. We were about to have the opportunity to hear from an Indian pastor with more than forty years of experience preaching the gospel in some of the most remote parts of Brazil, in tribal communities where a white man like me would never be allowed to set foot. His grandfather had been one of the first of their tribe to come to faith in Jesus. This man had stories to tell and I was anxious to hear them. Unfortunately, a younger, less experienced brother that we had brought with us from the city, thought that this was his opportunity to “one up” the pastor by sharing secondhand missionary stories he had heard at a missions conference! It was all I could do to guard my own tongue to keep from telling him to just shut it. How foolish he was making himself look. What an education he was missing out on, but he continued undeterred. My embarrassment for him made me squirm in my seat. Lesson number one: the wise listen and add to their learning. You know what you know. Repeating it out loud simply to have something to say or to attempt to impress others is the height of foolishness and adds nothing to your understanding.
Sadly the tongue can do even more harm than just to stifle our learning. It can cut down those we love, destroy relationships, cause division, foolishly commit us to an unwise course, and heap dishonor on ourselves, our family, and the people of God. I could go on. James says, “The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire.” This same tongue we use to sing praises, to pray, to profess our love for others, and preach the gospel, is a dangerous piece of equipment to ourselves and those around us, if not kept in check by the Holy Spirit.
So the next time you are at a dinner party make it your goal to listen and add to your wisdom. And when you do speak you “should do so as one who speaks the very words of God” (1 Peter 4:11). Words that build others up and bless our Father in heaven.
BIG IDEA: Wisdom listens more than it speaks.
MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Proverbs 13:1-3
James 3:1-11
Proverbs 10:19, 12:15, 17:27, 19:20, 29:20
SECTION VERSE:
Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. – Proverbs 2:9-10
LESSON VERSE:
People who are careful about what they say will save their lives, but those who speak without thinking will be destroyed. – Proverbs 13:3
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- Read Proverbs 13:1-3 out loud and discuss, verse by verse. Repeat with James 3:1-11.
- Have you ever said something you wish you hadn’t?
- How can we guard our mouths? How?
- Why is it better to listen than it is to speak?
- How can you apply what you learned in Quest this week?
– – –
ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader. In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.
Preparing for Sunday | July 30
SONGS WE’LL BE SINGING TOGETHER
Only King Forever | [listen]
Mack Brock, Chris Brown, Steven Furtick, Wade Joye
1 Timothy 1:17
Our God Is Love | [listen]
Joel Houston, Scott Ligertwood
Great Are You Lord | [listen]
Leslie Jordan, David Leonard
2 Corinthians 4:6
What A Beautiful Name | [listen]
Ben Fielding, Brooke Ligertwood
Hebrews 1:3
Rejoice | [listen]
Dustin Kensrue, Stuart Townend
Philippians 4:4
SERMON TEXT
Psalm 40
Family Quest: A Heart of Wisdom, Lesson 6
LESSON 6: WISDOM IS HONEST AND DILIGENT
It is easy to complain about having to work when you have unpleasant work to do, but become unemployed or be completely idle without anything meaningful to accomplish and the attitude changes dramatically. We were created to work. Work is a blessing, not a curse. In Genesis 2:15 we see God’s plan before the fall, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Work includes your vocation, as well as your studies, your chores around the house, and your service in the body of Christ, the church. If work is a blessing from God then we should expect to see some instruction regarding the quality or character of our work. As with other blessings, there is a principle at work in work. When our work is done diligently, with excellence and honesty, we, generally speaking, will enjoy success in our endeavors. “Work hard and become a leader, but laziness will end in forced labor.” “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.”
It seems like a lot of rules to keep track of and follow. Be honest. Be diligent, Be hardworking. The good news is that God provides us the key to unlocking the blessing of work and it is a key that we can and should pass along to our children. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving,” Colossians 3:23-24. Wisdom recognizes that it is God who has ultimately blessed us with the work we have to do. Wisdom recognizes that He is the one we desire to please with our integrity, our honesty, and our diligence. When you are a child of the living God there is no secular work. Our studies, our vocation, our chores, and our service to the body has been set apart, sanctified, to honor our heavenly Father. Wisdom recognizes the joy and victory to be had in working as unto to the Lord and rejoices in the blessing.
BIG IDEA: Wisdom is honest and hardworking.
MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Proverbs 10:1-9
Proverbs 12:24
Colossians 3:23-24
SECTION VERSE:
Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. – Proverbs 2:9-10
LESSON VERSE:
Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out. – Proverbs 10:9
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- Read Proverbs 10:1-9 out loud and discuss, verse by verse. Do the same with Colossians 3:23-24 and Proverbs 12:24.
- How do you feel when you finish a job well? Not well?
- How can doing all your work for Jesus change how you feel about work?
- How can you apply what you learned in Quest this week?
– – –
ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader. In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.
Preparing for Sunday | July 23
SONGS WE’LL BE SINGING TOGETHER
Alive in Us | [listen]
Ingram, Morgan | Hillsong Music
Ephesians 2:4-5
Great And Mighty King | [listen]
Chris Brown, Zachary Kale, Brett Younker
Psalm 145:3
Open Up The Heavens | [listen | lyrics]
Meredith Andrews, Stuart Garrard. James McDonald, Andi Rozier
Isaiah 64:1
His Mercy Is More | [listen]
Matt Boswell, Matt Papa
Romans 5:20
I Will Look Up | [listen]
Mack Brock, Chris Brown, Wade Joye, Matt Redman
Psalm 121:1
SERMON TEXT
Psalm 27
Family Quest: A Heart of Wisdom, Lesson 5
LESSON 5: A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS
Have you ever woken in the night and, not wanting to wake anyone, left the lights off while you groped your way around the house to the bathroom or to get a glass of water? Your eyes are adjusted to the darkness so you can get around reasonably well, for the most part not smashing your shins on anything, and find your way to familiar rooms. However, if you have had small children you probably also remember them leaving sharp and pointy objects in places they don’t belong. Your eyes, even with your night vision, aren’t sharp enough to pick up those dangers lurking in your path. Nothing hurts quite like a lego on a barefoot under your full body weight. Of course turning on the lights would have averted all of that danger.
In life we can deceive ourselves into believing that we are in the light because we are not “living like the world,” when in fact we may be walking in self-imposed darkness. Because we have lived so long in this present darkness, that is the fallen world, our spiritual eyes may have adjusted, giving us the false sense that we can see clearly. The apostle John tells us to “walk in the light as He is in the light.” God is “light” he goes on, and in Him is no darkness at all. Not even a little. How do we turn on the lights and keep them on? First by recognizing our condition before our Father and then by having fellowship with Jesus, the Light of the world, the living Word of God. David says as much in Psalm 119:105, “your Word is a lamp for my feet and a light to my path.” All wisdom begins and ends with submitting to God’s word, His plan, His sovereign will. Every other thing that sets itself up as wisdom is a cheap imitation “for the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom.” As we offer our bodies and our minds to God in the word and in prayer he is faithful to transform our darkness into His light, “for even darkness is as light” to our God. Having the very mind of Christ means having a divinely illuminated mind that sees the world and all of its pitfalls through the eyes of the Creator. Turn on the lights and help our children to do the same.
BIG IDEA: Wisdom is a light in the darkness.
MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Proverbs 6:12-23
Psalm 119
Psalm 1:1-3
SECTION VERSE:
Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. – Proverbs 2:9-10
LESSON VERSE:
For this command is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and correction and instruction are the way to life. – Proverbs 6:23
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- Read Proverbs 6:12-23 out loud and discuss, verse by verse.
- What are the consequences of sin and wickedness?
- What are some of those things God hates?
- What should we do with God’s wisdom?
– – –
ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader. In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.
Preparing for Sunday | July 16
SONGS WE’LL BE SINGING TOGETHER
Come to Me | [listen]
Elizabeth Akers, Jeff Capps, Michael Bleecker
Matthew 11:28-30
This I Believe (The Creed) | [listen | lyrics]
Ben Fielding, Matt Crocker
Romans 1:16
Good, Good Father | [listen]
Anthony Brown, Pat Barrett
Galatians 4:7
The Lion and the Lamb | [listen + lyrics]
Leeland Mooring, Benton Brown, Brian Johnson
Deuteronomy 33:26
O Praise The Name | [listen + lyrics]
by Benjamin Hastings, Dean Ussher, Marty Sampson
Romans 5:8
SERMON TEXT
Ephesians 4