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Found Faithful — Servants, Stewards, and the God Who Gives the Increase 1 Corinthians 3:5–23; 4:1–21 This message emphasizes the believer's calling to live as a humble servant and faithful steward of Jesus Christ, recognizing that everything we have, everything we know, and every opportunity to serve comes from God's grace. Using Paul's correction of the Corinthian church, we see the danger of elevating human personalities, seeking personal recognition, and allowing pride to divide God's people. Paul reminds us that servants are not competitors but fellow laborers in God's kingdom. One may plant and another may water, but God alone gives the increase. The message highlights the distinction between a servant and a steward. A servant understands whom he belongs to, while a steward faithfully manages what has been entrusted to him. Both require humility, surrender, and an unwavering commitment to the interests of Jesus above personal ambitions. Timothy serves as a beautiful example of this faithfulness. Having learned Paul's ways in Christ, he demonstrated proven character, genuine concern for others, and consistency in communicating God's truth wherever he served. Drawing from Philippians 2 and Colossians 4, the message stresses that effective ministry requires more than knowledge or ability. It demands continual dependence upon the Lord, prayer for open doors, and a commitment to communicating His Word with accuracy, authority, affection, and grace. God's servants must not merely explain His truth but allow that truth to transform their own lives, enabling them to faithfully represent Jesus to others. Ultimately, this message calls every believer to stop measuring use

The Always Life — Enriched by Grace, Equipped for His Glory This message emphasizes that genuine spiritual maturity is not measured merely by what we know about God, but by how what we believe is helping us become more like Jesus. Drawing from 1 and 2 Corinthians, it reveals how God has enriched His people through the grace of Christ, giving them everything necessary to comprehend His truth, communicate His goodness, and fulfill His purposes. Paul's repeated question, "Do you not know?" confronts the Corinthians' spiritual immaturity, reminding them that envy, division, pride, and misplaced confidence in human leaders hinder their growth. God's servants are gifts intended to help His people mature, never substitutes for the Lord Himself. The message identifies five "always" that characterize a life walking in personal revival: God always leads His people in triumph through Christ, making the fragrance of His knowledge evident through them; believers continually carry the dying of Jesus so that His life may be manifested through their mortal bodies; they are always confident as they walk by faith rather than sight; they can remain sorrowful yet always rejoicing because their joy is rooted in Jesus rather than their circumstances; and God is able to make all grace abound toward them, providing sufficient resources for every good work He has entrusted to them. Through personal testimony, practical illustrations, and the realities of suffering, the message demonstrates that God's sufficiency does not mean the absence of hardship, but the presence of His enabling grace in every circumstance. Personal revival involves continually receiving God's glorious light to reveal what

This sermon examines the root causes of conflict within the church, identifying selfish desires and worldliness as the primary drivers of quarrels and fights. It contrasts the wisdom of the world, which is characterized by enmity toward God, with the divine call to humility and the pursuit of God's glory. The message emphasizes that believers often fail to receive what they need because they ask wrongly, seeking to satisfy personal passions rather than aligning with God's will. Despite this spiritual adultery, the sermon highlights God's jealous love and His inexhaustible grace, which is sufficient to overcome sin and restore the believer. The passage concludes with a call to humble oneself before the Lord, trusting that God opposes the proud but exalts the humble through the work of Christ.

Pastor Seely contrasts the natural mind, which relies on common sense and logic, with the spiritual mind, which operates through divine faith. Using the account of Naaman in 2 Kings 5, the message illustrates how God's methods often appear foolish or unreasonable to the carnal mind, as seen when Naaman rejected the simple command to wash in the Jordan River. The bible says that true salvation requires the surrender of pride and the acceptance of God's word, even when it defies human expectation. By referencing 1 Corinthians 2, the text emphasizes that the natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit, making the 'foolishness of the preaching of the cross' the sole power of God for salvation. The central call is for listeners to examine their own hearts, recognizing that obedience to God's simple commands is superior to any humanly devised ritual or logical explanation.

Dr. Schmidt examines the apostle Paul's admonition for Christian's to guard against getting caught up in useless legalism and false pride in a false attempt to impress God.

Belshazzar's problem of pride blinded him from learning from (recent) history and exposed him to God's wrath. Sound familiar? God declared Belshazzar "wanting" or "deficient." That, too, should sound familiar. All of us, apart from the grace of God and faith in Jesus Christ are found to be deficient before the holy God!

This sermon examines Paul's argument in 1 Corinthians that God chooses the foolish and weak things of the world to shame the wise and strong, ensuring that no human can boast in their own abilities. The central message emphasizes that salvation is entirely of grace, revealed to those who recognize their spiritual poverty and inability to save themselves. By contrasting the self-sufficiency of the world with the brokenness required for true faith, the exposition highlights that Christ becomes the believer's wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. The tone is both convicting and comforting, urging listeners to abandon pride in their own status or intellect and instead find their identity and glory solely in the Lord. Ultimately, the sermon asserts that God delights in using humble, broken sinners to display the magnitude of His grace and power.

The sermon explores the life of Moses through the lens of God's providential plan, highlighting how divine preparation often involves periods of obscurity and humility. It traces Moses' journey from a position of privilege and self-reliance in Egypt to a season of anonymity and service in Midian, illustrating that God uses hardship to strip away human pride. The central message emphasizes that true readiness for God's work comes not from personal capability or status, but from a surrendered heart that acknowledges one's own insufficiency. By contrasting Moses' initial attempt to act independently with his later dependence on God at the burning bush, the teaching encourages believers to trust God's timing and remain faithful in their current circumstances. The tone is pastoral and instructional, urging the audience to release their own timelines and allow God to shape their character before calling them to greater service.

This sermon explores the command in 1 Peter 5:5 for all believers to be clothed with humility, defining it not as a personality trait but as a deliberate grace worked by the Holy Spirit. The central message contrasts the divine opposition to pride with God's generous provision of grace to the humble, using the example of Christ washing the disciples' feet to illustrate true greatness found in service. The exposition identifies three realities that dismantle pride: recognizing oneself as a creature, a sinner, and a recipient of grace, thereby shifting the focus from self-importance to the glory of God. The tone is pastoral and convicting, urging listeners to examine their motives in service and relationships, and to view lowly positions as fertile ground for spiritual growth. Ultimately, the sermon calls for a daily, practical application of humility through self-forgetful obedience and a growing sight of Jesus Christ.

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This sermon examines the sufficiency of Christ as the head who supplies the body of believers, contrasting divine provision with human effort. It argues that the Christian life is not achieved through self-abasement, mystical experiences, or legalistic obedience to the Mosaic law, but through union with Christ in His death and resurrection. The text explains that the law serves as a shadow pointing to the substance found in Jesus, while false teachings rooted in fleshly pride attempt to defraud believers of what they have in Jesus Christ. The central message urges believers to reject self-reliance and external religious systems, instead holding fast to Christ alone for the spiritual growth and fruitfulness that flow from Him.

This sermon explores the theological purpose of God's eternal election as presented in Ephesians 1:3-6, arguing that believers were chosen for holiness, adoption, and the praise of God's glory. The message clarifies that salvation is not merely about forgiveness but involves a transformative process where grace produces obedience, countering both legalism and antinomianism. It emphasizes the familial reality of adoption, urging believers to approach God with the confidence of children rather than the fear of outsiders, while grounding their identity in Christ's work rather than fluctuating emotions. The sermon concludes by directing the ultimate end of election toward the worship of God, warning against pride or speculation and encouraging a humble, awe-filled response to the sovereign grace that chose the elect before the foundation of the world.