Sermon Series Resources

Sermon Study Guide (pdf): July 26

Study Resource: Hebrew Word Hesed: A Word Study - The Hebrew word “חֶסֶד” (hesed) is often rendered in English as “loving devotion,” “steadfast love,” “mercy,” or “kindness.” Rather than being limited to emotional kindness or favor, “hesed” indicates a dependable, faithful, and often sacrificial love-one that persists despite circumstances.

Study Resource: Our Role in God’s Great Story: A Study - Understanding that God has a unique story for each of us can be profoundly encouraging. It reminds us that we are not alone in this journey of life; instead, we’re part of a greater plan crafted by the Creator Himself.

Study Resource: Spiritual Warfare: The Real Enemy - What is spiritual warfare? Spiritual warfare is what the apostle Paul calls “our struggle…against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm” (Eph. 6:12). When we say spiritual, Americans often merely mean emotional. When the Bible uses the term, however, it refers to the personal, real beings who are beyond physics but who interact with physics night and day, non-stop, in every corner of the universe.

Video Resource: Jesus: The Way, Truth, & Life - This is a compelling 9-minute teaching for practical application based on Jesus’ words as recorded in John 14:6.

Video Resource: The Jesus Stories: A Children’s Resource - Created to help children apply the lessons found in the parables of Jesus, each 10 minute episode includes a story situation that children today can relate to, a parable, and a thought-provoking way to apply it.

Sermon Study Guide (pdf): July 19

Video Resource: Five Truths of Worship: A 5-Session Study - When we think of worship, we tend to think mostly of praising God through music. But in this inspiring five-part series, Chardon Lewis teaches us that true worship is more than songs or lyrics. It’s the melody of lives surrendered to God.

Video Resource: The Worship Dilemma: A 5-Session Study - In this series, we tackle the ongoing dilemma of who or what we worship in our lives and how what we worship can have the biggest impact in influencing our decisions and direction in life.

Study Resource: Family Worship: 6 Ways it Blesses your Family - Family worship, at its most basic level, is the regular gathering of the family to worship God and receive instruction in the Christian faith. Parents have a responsibility to disciple their children, and one of the best ways is through regular times of the family gathering to worship God together and learn more about him and his ways.

Study Resource: Modern Day Idolatry: A 1-Page Essay - An idol can be anything that takes up space in our hearts that should belong to the Lord. While the bible condemns the worship of idols, modern idolatry is often more subtle.

Study Resource: Expose the Idols in Your Life - Dismantling our idols is often difficult because we don’t want to expose them. We don’t want to admit, even to ourselves, that we’ve made an idol out of our politics, our work, our relationships, or our comfort.

Study Resource: Counterfeit Gods: A Book by Timothy Keller - Success, true love, and the life you've always wanted. Many of us placed our faith in these things, believing they held the key to happiness, but with a sneaking suspicion they might not deliver. No wonder we feel lost, alone, disenchanted, and resentful. There is only one God who can wholly satisfy our cravings—and now is the perfect time to meet Him again, or for the first time.

Sermon Study Guide (pdf): July 12

Study Resource: Shema - Obedience to the Lord: An Article - Those who love…obey. It was true for the Israelites in the Old Testament. They were called to love the Lord and to obey all His commands. The same applies to Christians today. If we truly love Jesus, we will keep His commandments. Let us continually pray and live out the Shema—the call to listen to and love the Lord.

Study Resource: Obedience: A Missing Piece of the Great Commission - As those who have been charged with carrying out the Great Commission to go to all the world making disciples, let’s remember that baptizing and teaching is not complete if obedience is not also taught and modeled by those who claim to follow Jesus.

Study Resource: Obedience: The True Test of Faith - Faith is more than a mere intellectual assent. It is a trust in God that will lead to unquestioning obedience to His will. Without obedience, there is no true faith.

Study Resource: Obedience: The Language of Love - This is a review of obedience directly from Jesus as recorded by the Apostle John in his gospel: John chapter 14.

Study Resource: Obedience as an Expression of Love - This is an interesting topic study by Bible Hub.

Sermon Study Guide (pdf): July 5

Study Resource: Bring Sin into the Light: A Compelling Article - Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “true grace—not cheap grace, but God’s grace—is found when we join ‘the fellowship of sinners.’ The fellowship of sinners is marked not only by a striving toward worshiping God, but also by radical honesty about one’s sins and struggles.”

Study Resource: Culture of Confession: A Brief Study - This brief study is excellent for families and individuals. The gospel means freedom and healing for those who believe. Part of this healing and freedom comes from being honest and open about our own failures, knowing of the grace that covers them.

Study Resource: Prayer of Repentance: Learning from Nehemiah 9 - This article centers on one of history’s greatest prayers of repentance, a prayer prayed by the ancient Jewish community as they returned from exile and recommitted to following God in the land God had promised them centuries before. The prayer is found in Nehemiah 9.

Podcast Resource: Nehemiah’s Prayer: A Podcast - In his message at TGC Chicago’s 2022 regional conference, Juan Sánchez uses Nehemiah’s example of prayer to illustrate how we should earnestly seek the Lord. He emphasizes that believers must be people of action and that a crucial first step always involves prayer.

Sermon Study Guide (pdf): June 28

Study Resource: Sword of the Spirit: The Word of God - The sword of the Spirit is how Paul describes the word of God and its role in spiritual warfare. While truth, salvation, faith, and righteousness are also depicted as essential pieces of armor, the Word of God is depicted as the offensive weapon used in spiritual warfare against the devil, demons, and their schemes.

Video Resource: The Scripture Practice: A 4-Session Study - The library we call “the Bible” can connect us to God and change who we are. Through this practice, rediscover how to engage with Scripture as an apprentice to Jesus.

Video Resource: Glory in Scripture: An 8-Session Study - Randy Gariss, professor of Ministry at Ozark Christian College, will walk you through the biblical history of the glory of God, God’s holiness, and how you can recognize His glory in your daily life.

Study Resource: Staying In the Word: Relevant Bible Verses - Check out these verses of scripture relevant to “staying in the word” and abiding in the Lord.

Study Resource: Why Memorize Scripture? 3 Reasons - There is nothing in this world that is greater than knowing God, and Scripture reveals who God is and what God has done. Memorizing scripture gives us an opportunity to intimately engage His word with our hearts, souls, and minds.

Study Resource: Strategies for Memorizing Scripture - If you are interested in learning how to practically memorize scripture, please take a few minutes to review my strategies. By Rob Thompson

Study Resource: Bible Reading Plans

Sermon Study Guide (pdf): June 21

Study Resource: Act Like Men: A Resource for Men & Women - This is an article/video that goes along with Harrison’s exhortation to Fathers.

Study Resource: Faith without Works Is Dead - This resource addresses Harrison’s point in his sermon this week that our good works bring glory to God.

Study Resource: What Does It Mean to Be a Man: by Bobby Harrington - This resource discusses Godly manhood/fatherhood to emphasize Harrison’s last few points in his sermon this week.

Study Resource: Chasing After Integrity: A Must Read - In a testimony every Christian, and certainly every Christian leader, should read, this seasoned minister describes the steps he takes as he “desperately chases after God.”

Video Resource: "You Have to Raise Warriors:" A Brief Video - This is the video Harrison referenced and played in his sermon.

Study Resource: Battle-Ready Discipleship - This is an article about discipleship and the armor of God.

Sermon Study Guide (pdf): June 14

Study Resource: Battle-Ready Discipleship - This is an article about discipleship and the armor of God.

Video Resource: Empowered Together: A New Fight by David Platt - A video/sermon about the armor of God by David Platt. 

Study Resource: The Battle and a Prayer - This is an engaging, short prayer remembering that the battle is not against flesh and blood.

Study Resource: Put on the Armor of God Daily - This is an excerpt from a book by Dr. Charles Stanley that gives a very practical way to pray through putting on the armor of God.

Video Resource: Nehemiah 5-7: The King We Need - This is a brief devotional video by Katie O'Dell exploring how these chapters of Nehemiah lead us to Jesus.

Sermon Study Guide (pdf): June 7

Video Resource: Nehemiah: Exploring the Internal Opposition - Mike Ackerman (Professor at Ozark Christian College) dives into the Old Testament text of Nehemiah chapter 5. Mike explains the historical background and makes connections between Israel's restoration of the city of Jerusalem and how Jesus brings ultimate restoration to all God’s people.

Study Resource:  Internal Opposition? Endurance in Jesus - We have two Mighty Sources of strength for courage: The Holy Spirit and the Word.

Study Resource: Repent Before We Rebuke: A Brief Article - Open your eyes to see and your heart to love, Jesus is saying, long before you open your mouth. Make sure things are in proper focus first.

Study Resource: Opposition? God Does Not Give Us a Spirit of Fear - God does not give us a spirit of fear: Paul told Timothy to “fan into flame the gift of God.”

Video Resource:  Prayer: A 13-Session Study by Michael DeFazio - In this series, Michael DeFazio (professor of New Testament theology at Ozark Christian College) will walk you through the sacred spiritual discipline of prayer. He will explore how to pray, what to pray, answer questions about prayer, and engage in many other topics surrounding prayer, in order to expand one’s knowledge of communicating with our Father.

Study Resource: Nehemiah 5:1-19: A Study - LESSON AIM: Courageously surrender your right if it benefits others. THEME: It’s About Courage

Video Resource: Nehemiah 5-7: The King We Need - This is a brief devotional video by Katie O'Dell exploring how these chapters of Nehemiah lead us to Jesus.

Study Resource: Unoffendable by Brant Hansen - This is the book that Harrison referenced in his sermon. It turns out giving up your "right" to be offended can be one of the most freeing, healthy, simplifying, relaxing, refreshing, stress-relieving, encouraging things you can do. It's a radical, provocative idea: We're not entitled to get offended or stay angry. The idea of our own "righteous anger" is a myth.

Sermon Study Guide (pdf): May 31

Study Resource: Why We Must Think Rightly About God: A.W. Tozer - This is an excerpt from The Knowledge of the Holy by A. W. Tozer that Justin referenced in his sermon this week.

Video Resource: Laboring for a God Who Fights for Us: Tim Keller - This is a compelling message by Tim Keller on Nehemiah 3–4 at the 2014 National Women’s Conference in Orlando, Florida.

Study Resource: Serve God Now With Whatever Gift You Have - This is a brief study: Why do so many of us feel pressure to become perfect before we are of much use to God? Elisa Morgan is an author, speaker and the former CEO, and she encourages us that we can serve God now, no matter our skills or education. The pressure to get ourselves right before we are able to serve the Lord is not from God.

Study Resource: Earnest Prayer: A Brief Devotion - Our prayer is often dull because there is so little earnestness in it. We pray as if no one is listening. We pray as if nothing will happen. We pray as if nothing were at stake. We pray without vigor, without passion, without purpose.

Study Resource: Fight for Your Family: Seeds Family Worship - This is a great song by Seeds Family Worship based on Nehemiah 4:14. It’s a good anthem to get stuck in your head.

Sermon Study Guide (pdf): May 24

Study Resource: Serve God Now With Whatever Gift You Have - This is a brief study: Why do so many of us feel pressure to become perfect before we are of much use to God? Elisa Morgan is an author, speaker and the former CEO, and she encourages us that we can serve God now, no matter our skills or education. The pressure to get ourselves right before we are able to serve the Lord is not from God.

Video Resource: Every Good Gift: 6-Session Women’s Study - Have you ever wondered what the Bible says about hospitality, generosity, and stewardship? We have a cloud of witnesses globally, nationally, and locally who provide incredible testimonies of generosity. Tethered to biblical accounts of giving, this six-session series with author and speaker Ann Voskamp explores examples of offering hospitality, time, money, spiritual gifts, and empathy to the glory of God. Free Study Guide Included

Study Resource: Romans 12:3-8 Gifts Commentary - This is a 1-page document with scripture and commentary about using our spiritual gifts to serve as a member of the body of Christ.

Study Resource: Salt & Light: Living with Purpose - This is a 1-page commentary/review of Matthew 5:13-16 written by Rob Thompson, a minister on staff at Mt. Gilead Church, with supporting scripture and practical application to help us live as Salt & Light in a dying world.

Sermon Study Guide (pdf): May 17

Study Resource: Vision Statement: “A Vision for Good Work” - This is a 1-page document explaining a biblically founded vision statement with a practical example.

Study Resource: Faith without Works Is Dead - Having faith in Jesus means that we believe what he says, trust in him to save us, and follow him as king. If we don’t trust him enough to follow him, it means our faith isn’t a living faith. It’s dead.

Study Resource: Nehemiah Chapter 2: An Insightful Study - This is an excellent study with historical implications, connections with other scriptures, and practical application.

Video Resource: Nehemiah Chapters 1 & 2: A Study - Just as Ezra provided the religious structure for Temple worship after the Israelites return from exile, Nehemiah rebuilds the city walls that provide the physical structure of the city of Jerusalem. Find out how the Messiah is the BUILDER of all things.

Study Resource: Rebuild: A Study in Nehemiah - This is a study by The Gospel Coalition with a free book download that opens a window into the dramatic story of God’s people sustained by His Word that points groups to His sovereign plan to work through His people.

Study Resource: Nehemiah: It’s About Courage - This is a study with a guide for practical application published by Christian Standard. A touched heart typically is what spurs a person to action. The devastating news of Jerusalem caused Nehemiah to weep and mourn in chapter 1, and God used Nehemiah’s sadness to get the king’s attention in chapter 2

Sermon Study Guide (pdf): May 10

Study Resource: How to Read Ezra and Nehemiah - This is an interesting video that gives the history of Ezra/Nehemiah.

Study Resource: Nehemiah: A 12-Session Study - Mike Ackerman (Professor of New Testament and Church Planting at Ozark Christian College) dives into the Old Testament text of Nehemiah. In each session, Mike will explain the historical background of each chapter and make connections between Israel's restoration of the city of Jerusalem and how Jesus brings ultimate restoration to all God’s people.

Study Resource: Find Jesus in All of Nehemiah - Join us as we walk through the book of Nehemiah to see Jesus in every corner. We start with a short film introducing you to the book and its main themes. Then quick devotional videos will explain what's happening in each section and how it leads us to Jesus.

Study Resource: 42 Day Prayer Guide - A journey of 21 days of prayer as we head toward Easter, followed by 21 days of prayer for the transition of leadership and the future of Mt. Gilead.

Study Resource: Prayer & Fasting Plan by Justin White

Sermon Study Guide (pdf): May 3

Video Resource: How to Read Ezra and Nehemiah - This is an interesting video that gives the history of Ezra/Nehemiah.

Study Resource: How Nehemiah Helps the Discouraged - This resource is a brief overview of why Nehemiah is a help to the discouraged.

Study Resource: Prayer & Fasting Plan by Justin White

Study Resource: Prayers of Repentance - This resource is specifically about the prayer of Nehemiah.

Study Resource: Earnest Prayer: A Brief Devotion - Our prayer is often dull because there is so little earnestness in it. We pray as if no one is listening. We pray as if nothing will happen. We pray as if nothing were at stake. We pray without vim or vigor, without passion, without purpose.

Study Resource: 42 Day Prayer Guide - A journey of 21 days of prayer as we head toward Easter, followed by 21 days of prayer for the transition of leadership and the future of Mt. Gilead.