Main Text: Matthew 20:20–28 (ESV) 20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21 And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” 22 Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23 He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” 24 And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Preaching Point: We must pursue greatness not by amassing power and authority, or by seeking greater status, but by serving and sacrificing for others as Christ did for us.

Teaching Points:

1. Stop Seeking Status (vv. 20-21)
2. Trust God’s Placement Plan (vv. 22-24)
3. Imitate Christ’s Costly Service (vv. 25-28)

Application Questions:

1. Write down one observation or application you found helpful from this week’s sermon. Why did it stand out to you?
2. Read James 3:13-16 and 2 Corinthians 10:17-18. Where are you most tempted to selfishly seek power, status, or recognition, and how can that pursuit hinder your relationship with God?
3. How would you distinguish between a selfish pursuit of status and a humble ambition that seeks to honor God through excellence?
4. Read Matthew 20:20-21. How can you make sure that the things you want are not selfish attempts at grabbing power, status, or recognition?
5. Read 1 Peter 5:6-7 and 1 Chronicles 29:12. Why can trusting God’s plan for your life and your eternity be so difficult?
6. How does trusting God’s placement for you free you to serve sacrificially instead of worrying about missed opportunities?
7. Read John 13:12-16 and Matthew 20:25-28. What does imitating Christ’s costly service look like to you?
8. Where can you imitate Christ’s costly service this week, and what might that service or sacrifice look like practically?

Main Text: Matthew 20:17-19 (ESV)17 And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death 19 and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

Preaching Point: We must unequivocally accept that God uses human means, including human evil, to accomplish his sovereign, predetermined will, chiefly displayed in the suffering and death of Jesus, which secured our salvation.

Teaching Points:

1. Recognize That God’s Plan Is Settled Before it Unfolds (vv. 17-19)
2. Accept God’s Use of Human Means to Accomplish His Plan (vv. 17-19)

Application Questions:

1. Write down one observation or application you found helpful from this week’s sermon. Why did it stand out to you?
2. Read Matthew 20:17-19, Acts 2:22-24, and Acts 4:27-28. What do these passages teach you about God’s sovereign control over the suffering and death of Jesus?
3. Read Acts 2:23. Peter tells the people of Israel that “you” crucified and killed Jesus, even though this happened according to God’s definite plan. Why is it important to hold together both God’s sovereignty and human responsibility?
4. Where are you most tempted to emphasize one at the expense of the other?
5. Read Isaiah 46:9-11, Genesis 50:15-21, and Psalm 139:16. How do these passages influence your understanding that God is orchestrating both the greatest events of history and the smallest details of life according to his will?
6. How should this perspective change the way you understand hardship, injustice, or disappointment?
7. Read Proverbs 19:21, Proverbs 21:1, and Philippians 2:12-13. What do these passages teach you about the relationship between God’s sovereign plans and human decisions?
8. How can a firm belief in God’s sovereignty bring you comfort, confidence, and humility this week?

Main Text: Philippians 4:10-20 (ESV) 10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me. 14 Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. 15 And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. 16 Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. 18 I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. 19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Preaching Point: As wonderful as gift-giving and receiving are within a Christian community, we must pursue real contentment by looking beyond our circumstances and seeking the strength of Christ, which enables us to remain genuinely content in every situation.

Teaching Points:

1. Seek to Benefit Other Christians with Your Generosity (vv10, 14-16)
2. Affirm the Great Benefits of Christian Generosity (vv. 17-20)
3. Depend on Christ, not Things for Your Contentment (vv. 11-13)

Application Questions:

1. Write down one observation or application you found helpful from this week's sermon. Why did it stand out to you?
2. Read Galatians 6:9-10 and Romans 12:9-13. How has a lack of contentment with your own circumstances kept you from being generous with others in the past?
3. How can genuine contentment help increase your generosity toward other believers?
4. Read Philippians 4:17-20 and 2 Corinthians 9:11-13. According to these passages, what benefits can you expect your generosity to produce?
5. Based on the passages above, what spiritual and practical consequences can come from a lack of generosity rooted in discontentment?
6. Read Philippians 4:11-13 and 1 Timothy 6:6-10. What are some of the dangers of discontentment?
7. What does leaning on Christ for strength in the area of contentment practically look like for you?

Main Text: Matthew 20:1–16 (ESV) 1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8 And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ 16So the last will be first, and the first last.”

Preaching Point: God’s kids must recognize God’s sovereign right to dispense grace as he chooses, while celebrating his generosity toward others rather than resenting those who receive his favor.

Teaching Points:

1. Recognize God’s Willingness to Give Grace (vv. 1-16)
2. Kill the Attitude of Entitlement (vv. 10-16)
3. Celebrate God’s Grace Toward Others (vv. 1-16)

Application Questions:

1. Write down one observation or application you found helpful from this week’s sermon. Why did it stand out to you?
2. Read Titus 3:4-7, Romans 5:20-21, and Psalm 103:8-12. What does God’s readiness to show grace teach you about the character of God?
3. Read Philippians 2:3-4 and Luke 14:8-11. In what ways can you be guilty of an attitude of entitlement, especially regarding what God chooses to do or not to do with his grace?
4. How does an entitlement mindset reveal a misunderstanding of God’s grace? How can you practically kill this unbiblical attitude?
5. Read Luke 15:11-32. In what ways can you be more like the older brother than the father or the servants in this parable?
6. How can you grow in celebrating God’s grace toward others while guarding against resentment?

Main Text: Galatians 5:16–26 (ESV)16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Preaching Point: Spirit-empowered gentleness should produce a lifestyle of strength under restraint in every arena of your life.

Teaching Points:

1. Consider God’s Gentleness Toward You
2. Exercise Strength Under Restraint
3. Toward Christians
4. Toward Non-Christians

Application Questions:

1. Write down one observation or application you found helpful from this week’s sermon.
2. Read Isaiah 40:10-11 and Matthew 11:28-30. How does God’s gentleness help you see the necessity of gentleness, especially when it comes to his dealings with you?
3. How does the world’s views of gentleness contrast the biblical understanding of gentleness?
4. How has the Bible helped correct or refine your understanding of gentleness?
5. Read 2 Timothy 1:7 and Galatians 6:1. How can a distorted view of gentleness excuse and promote fear, passivity, or inaction? According to these passages, what does exercising strength under restraint entail, i.e., gentleness?
6. Read Ephesians 4:2 and Colossians 3:12. How can you practically show gentleness in your interactions with your brothers and sisters in Christ?
7. Read Titus 3:2. What challenges do you face in responding with gentleness toward non-Christians who reject your beliefs, and how does Paul’s instruction to Titus shape the way you should practically engage unbelievers?

Main Text: Ephesians 4:11-16 (ESV) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Preaching Point: Christ expects each of us to take the corporate pursuit of spiritual growth seriously through training that equips us to use the giftings he provides, under the leaders he appoints, to build up his church.

Teaching Points:

1. Train for Your Spiritual Duties (vv. 11-12)
2. Honestly Evaluate Your Continued Need for Training (v. 13)
3. Train for Ongoing Protection (v. 14)
4. Train for Progressive Christlikeness (vv. 15-16a)
5. Train for Church Growth (v. 16b)

Application Questions:

1. Write down one observation or application you found helpful from this week’s sermon.
2. Read Ephesians 4:11-12 and Matthew 28:19-20. How are you doing at training for the work of ministry and building up the body of Christ?
3. Where do you need to step it up in your training and participation to more effectively partner with your church family to make disciples?
4. Read Ephesians 4:12-14 and Ephesians 6:10-18. According to these verses what is at stake if you lack or neglect training for spiritual maturity?
5. On the other hand, how can you envision yourself advancing and persevering in your faith through ongoing training in your spiritual life?
6. Read 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 1 Timothy 4:7-10 and Philippians 1:6. How does understanding the synergistic relationship between you and the Holy Spirit empower you to train hard for progressive Christlikeness?
7. Read 2 Timothy 2:2 and Acts 9:31. God expects his church to grow and multiply. How are you partnering with your church to grow and multiply the ministry of Christ?
8. Our 8th distinctive is, “We are always working to plant new churches.” Multiplying leaders is essential to this mission. Where are you currently serving, and how can you take your next step in leadership, so we can equip someone to replace you, as you replace those we prepare to plant new churches?

Text: 2 Timothy 4:1-5

Preaching Point: As a church and as individual believers, we must continually and actively look to teach others to be like Christ.

Teaching Points:

1. Take Your Charge to Teach Seriously (vv. 1-2)
2. Take the Threats to Sound Teaching Seriously (vv. 3-4)
3. Take the Lifestyle of Teaching Seriously (vv. 5)

Application Questions

1. What is one observation or application you found helpful from Sunday’s sermon?
2. Read 2 Timothy 4:1-2. Paul roots his charge in four eternal realities (God’s presence, judgment, Christ’s return, His kingdom). How should those realities affect the way we approach teaching others?
3. What does it look like to be “ready in season and out of season” in your current stage of life?
4. Read 2 Timothy 4:3-4 and Psalm 37:4. How are these verses related and what do they tell us about the root cause of people following false teaching?
5. Read Acts 17:10-12. What safeguards help you stay anchored in truth when culture, media, or even so-called Christian voices pull you elsewhere?
6. Read 2 Timothy 4:5. What does “fulfilling your ministry” look like in your life right now—at home, work, school, or church?
7. Is there someone God may be calling you to intentionally teach or disciple right now? What might obedience look like this week?

Preaching Point: The Wise Men’s gift of gold should remind us to revere Jesus as the unrivaled King of the universe.

Main Text: Matthew 2:1-12 (ESV) 1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6 “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ” 7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

Teaching Points:

1. Affirm Jesus’ Divine Kingship
2. Offer Jesus Your Best, Not Just What’s Left
3. Anticipate Jesus’ Eternal Kingship

Application Questions:

1. What is one observation or application you found helpful from this week’s sermon?
2. Read John 18:36-37, Matthew 2:1-2, and Micah 5:2. How does affirming the Divine Kingship of Jesus reshape your priorities and ambitions?
3. What practical steps should you take this Christmas season to orient your life fully around the Divine Kingship of Jesus?
4. Read 2 Samuel 24:18-25 and Matthew 10:37-39. Where are you tempted, and even guilty, of giving Jesus less than your best and settling to give him whatever is left over?
5. What are the most common culprits that lead you into this pattern, and what steps can you take to eradicate them moving forward?
6. How do these passages, along with the Wise Men and their gifts in Matthew 2:11, challenge you to be intentional about giving Jesus what he truly deserves?
7. Read Luke 1:30-33 and Isaiah 9:6-7. How can you use this Christmas season to better prepare yourself and your family for Jesus’ eternal reign as King?