25-0803p - Detailed Summary

Preacher Steve delivered the sermon on August 3, 2025, during the evening service. Steve introduces the Restoration Movement, a key focus for the congregation, which emphasizes worshiping God according to biblical directives rather than human traditions. He references the historical context of the Civil War era, when people began prioritizing God’s desires for worship, using the example of Cain and Abel to illustrate that God accepts worship that follows His instructions, as Abel did, while rejecting Cain’s disobedience. Steve also cites Jesus’ teaching to the Samaritan woman in John 4 about worshiping in spirit and truth, underscoring the need for biblically grounded worship. The congregation employs a three-fold test—direct commands, first-century Christian examples, and necessary inference—to determine worship practices. This test leads to their practice of a cappella singing, supported by Ephesians and Colossians, where Paul instructs believers to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs from the heart to teach and encourage one another, ensuring worship is pleasing to God.

Steve discusses the congregation’s practice of observing the Lord’s Supper every Sunday, aligning with the Restoration Movement’s commitment to biblical worship. Unlike denominations that partake monthly or annually, the congregation follows the first-century Christian example of meeting weekly to break bread, as instituted by Jesus in the upper room before His crucifixion. Jesus’ command to commemorate His death, burial, and resurrection serves as the direct command, while the use of individual cups and bread, rather than a shared cup, is justified by necessary inference, particularly due to modern health concerns like COVID. Steve further explains that meeting in a dedicated, climate-controlled building, rather than homes as early Christians did, is another necessary inference due to the congregation’s larger size. These adaptations demonstrate a balance between adhering to biblical patterns and addressing contemporary needs while maintaining worship in spirit and truth.

Steve reinforces the congregation’s commitment to mirroring first-century Christian worship, including singing, praying, preaching, and collecting funds for emergencies, as outlined by Paul in 2 Corinthians. These practices reflect the early church’s model, but Steve questions whether adherence to these rituals is sufficient for true worship. He shifts to what displeases God, citing Romans 1:18, which describes God’s wrath against godlessness and wickedness that suppress the truth. He emphasizes that God’s existence is evident through creation, leaving no excuse for denying Him, and references Genesis 1 and Psalms to highlight God’s role in sustaining life. Steve then examines Genesis 6:5, where God’s regret over humanity’s constant wickedness led to the flood in Noah’s time, and Genesis 19, where Sodom and Gomorrah’s immoral behavior, including homosexuality, prompted their destruction. These examples illustrate that God’s anger is provoked by persistent evil thoughts and actions, emphasizing that true worship requires both correct practices and righteous living.

Steve elaborates on the moral depravity of Sodom and Gomorrah, noting their pursuit of sexual immorality with Lot’s angelic visitors, which led to their destruction. This underscores God’s concern with human thoughts and actions, warning that even biblically correct worship can be vain if accompanied by sinful behavior. He then examines Matthew 15:1-9, where Jesus confronts the Pharisees and teachers of the law for prioritizing human traditions over God’s commands. Specifically, Jesus criticizes their practice of dedicating resources to God to avoid honoring their parents, thereby nullifying God’s command to honor father and mother. This passage reinforces the sermon’s theme that true worship must align with God’s will in both practice and heart, avoiding human traditions that render worship vain and ensuring that believers’ actions reflect their commitment to God.

Steve continues by quoting Jesus’ rebuke in Matthew 15, where He calls the Pharisees hypocrites, citing Isaiah’s prophecy that their worship is vain because their hearts are far from God despite adhering to prescribed rituals. He explains that the Jewish leaders followed God’s instructions for temple worship and sacrifices meticulously, yet their worship was deficient because their hearts and lifestyles did not align with God’s desires. They neglected widows and orphans, took their properties, and lived contrary to God’s will, rendering their worship empty. Steve emphasizes that God seeks to redeem believers from worldly wickedness, calling for a “circumcision of the heart” to align their thoughts and actions with His standards, abandoning sinful behaviors like cursing and drinking. He references Romans 12:1-2, where Paul urges believers to offer their bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, as true worship, and to transform their minds rather than conform to worldly patterns. In Ephesians 4:17-24, Paul instructs Christians to abandon the futile thinking and sinful lifestyles of the Gentiles, putting off the old self and adopting a new self that reflects God’s righteousness and holiness. Steve stresses that God is concerned not only with correct worship practices but also with how believers live, urging them to align their daily conduct with biblical teachings.

Steve delves deeper into Ephesians 4:25-32, where Paul provides specific instructions for Christian living, urging believers to put off falsehood, speak truthfully, manage anger without sinning, and avoid giving the devil a foothold. He encourages those who steal to work honestly and share with those in need, emphasizing generosity. Paul also warns against unwholesome talk, advocating for words that build others up, and calls for the removal of bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander, and malice. Instead, believers should be kind, compassionate, and forgiving, mirroring Christ’s forgiveness. Steve highlights the importance of avoiding coarse joking and foul language, urging the congregation to clean up their speech and behavior. He acknowledges the difficulty of these changes but encourages perseverance, noting that these instructions apply to all believers, as everyone struggles with some form of sin that needs to be addressed to live a life pleasing to God.

Steve emphasizes the hope offered to believers through the Holy Spirit and God’s forgiveness, assuring the congregation that God provides the strength to overcome sin. He explains that the Holy Spirit convicts believers of their sins, making them aware of areas needing correction and empowering them to change. Referencing 1 John 1:7, Steve notes that as long as believers walk in the light and strive to live righteously, Jesus continually cleanses them of their sins, even if they have not yet fully overcome them. He encourages perseverance, stating that God does not want believers to give up, and cites Hebrews 8:7-12, quoting Jeremiah 31, to highlight the new covenant established by Jesus. This covenant promises that God will write His laws on believers’ hearts and minds, forgive their wickedness, and remember their sins no more. Steve underscores that this covenant offers hope, as God does not hold past sins against those who seek to live righteously. He concludes with Romans 8, emphasizing that God forgives and forgets sins, granting believers a clean conscience despite human tendencies to dwell on past wrongs, reinforcing the transformative power of God’s grace and the Holy Spirit’s role in enabling a righteous life.

Steve emphasizes the importance of approaching God with a clean conscience, made possible through God’s promise to forgive sins and remember them no more, as stated in Hebrews 8. He cites Romans 8:1-4, which declares that there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, as the law of the Spirit has set believers free from the law of sin and death. Through Jesus’ sacrifice as a sin offering, God condemned sin in the flesh, enabling believers to meet the righteous requirements of the law by living according to the Spirit rather than the flesh. Steve explains that Jesus’ mission was to eliminate sin from believers’ lives, achieved by becoming His disciples. He refers to Jesus’ instructions in Mark 16:15-16 and Matthew 28:19-20, where disciples are made through baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, resulting in the washing away of sins. As long as believers strive to live righteously, walking in the light (1 John 1:7), Jesus’ blood continually cleanses them, presenting them before God without spot or blemish. Steve underscores the hope and empowerment God provides to eradicate sin, referencing John 3:16-17 to highlight that Jesus came not to condemn but to redeem the world through His sacrificial death, offering eternal life to those who believe.

Steve concludes by reinforcing that salvation comes exclusively through Jesus, as there is no other name under heaven by which people can be saved (Acts 4:12). He reiterates Jesus’ words in John 14:6, declaring Himself the way, the truth, and the life, the only path to the Father. Despite trials and temptations, believers have hope because God does not hold their sins against them, and Jesus offers no condemnation to those who walk in His light. Steve extends an invitation, a practice rooted in the Restoration Movement, encouraging anyone needing the congregation’s prayers or wishing to respond to God’s call to come forward during the singing of the invitation song. He emphasizes God’s desire, as expressed in 2 Peter 3:9, that none should perish but all should come to repentance and everlasting life, urging the congregation to seize this opportunity to align their lives with God’s will through faith and obedience.