Chenal Valley Church Sermons

Unlikely Heroes

Sermon from Sunday, May 15, 2016 by Bert Reynolds. 

Taking Back Mother's Day

Sermon from Sunday, May 8, 2016 by Bert Reynolds. Scripture: Philippians 2 & Matthew 5. 

Your Story. His Story.

Sermon from Senior Sunday, May 1, 2015 by Bryce Kittinger. Scripture Matthew 4 & John 1. Click Here to Read More

Fragrant Offerings

Sermon from Sunday, April 24, 2016 by Bert Reynolds. Scripture: Philippians 4:10-23.

The Secret of Contentment

Jealousy, envy, and dissatisfaction with what we have compared to someone else has long been a problem. This is enough of an issue that God felt the need to dedicate one of his 10 well-known "Thou Shalt Not's" against it. It's number ten, actually. The command against coveting what belongs to another. But Paul has landed on the secret to curbing our out of control cravings and covetousness, to holding off frequent dissatisfaction and misplaced desires, to ending our envy, jealousy, and non-stop comparisons. The secret is contentment (Philippians 2:10-13).

    Contentment is such an interesting concept. It means satisfaction, a peaceful happiness with what you've got or who you are. At least that's what it means for us. Paul actually grabs onto a word that was very popular in his day among the philosophers and stoics. Autárkēs, what we translate as contentment, is a very strong belief in training oneself to be self-sufficient so that no matter what, one could take care of oneself and be happy and satisfied. 

    Paul is a big believer in this concept with one slight, all-important distinction. Paul doesn't buy into self-reliance, not ultimately. He believes in total God-reliance. That's the meaning behind his well-known, often misused quote, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." This verse isn't about athletic achievement or financial accumulation or career accolades. It's an unwavering belief that God can empower us to persevere in faith no matter what the circumstances. It's an unyielding conviction that God can fill us with peace and joy in every situation in life. In a world that constantly tells us we need "more" to be happy, contentment is far from easy. Yet it is absolutely possible through Christ who gives us strength.

Forward

God's goal has always been bigger than to save us and then leave us exactly who we are and how we are until he eventually whisks us off to heaven when we die (although being with God when we die is certainly an amazing part of the story).God's goal, God's salvation is that despite our sins and shortcomings, by his grace and mercy we are becoming more and more what we were created to be. That is, we are becoming more and more like Jesus every day until the day Christ comes again to perfect us. That takes participating in Jesus' life, suffering, death, and resurrection. Click to Read More

Knowing

 I've had a few run-ins with famous people through the years. I knew quite a bit about each of them. I could tell you not just about things they had done, but also about experiences I had in my life connected to them-music I listened to, games I watched, championships I rooted for. Yet as much as I knew about them, I didn't know them, and they absolutely didn't know me from Adam. Click to Read More

Model Behavior

  This past Christmas my family got into puzzles. I won't say that we are puzzle masters, but we do have a basic formula we follow. Step 1: Dump all the pieces out. Step 2: Turn them over. Step 3: Click Here to Read More

If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say...

 "Do everything without complaining or arguing" (Phil. 2:14). How much better would family trips be if complaining and arguing were truly banned? How different might holidays be if grumbling was replaced by gratitude and arguments gave way to encouragement? How much closer would our marriages be or the relationship between parent and child or siblings be if we consciously chose to dish out far more compliments and far fewer complaints? Click to Read More

Partners

It can be a real temptation to turn parts of life into the lowest threshold, least labor, minimum effort exerted so that we just scrape by. It can be a temptation with work, where once we exerted ourselves to excel, but over time we start to coast on credentials and past accomplishments. It can be a temptation with family, where the effort starts to drift to mediocrity, then maintenance mode as we become busy and distracted. It can absolutely be a temptation with faith, where discipleship starts to slip, dedication starts to suffer, and devotion starts to slide. Click to Read More