Christ Presbyterian Church | Preachers Kyle Wells

The Good Life according to Micah

Bible Text: Micah 6:1-8 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: Micah

Because our liturgy and life are connected, for our worship to be authentic it must be reflected in neighbor-love.
Micah 6:1-8

Hear what the LORD says:
      Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
      and let the hills hear your voice.
      2 Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the LORD,
      and you enduring foundations of the earth,
      for the LORD has an indictment against his people,
      and he will contend with Israel.

      3 “O my people, what have I done to you?
      How have I wearied you? Answer me!
      4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt
      and redeemed you from the house of slavery,
      and I sent before you Moses,
      Aaron, and Miriam.
      5 O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised,
      and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
      and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
      that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD.”
      6 “With what shall I come before the LORD,
      and bow myself before God on high?
      Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
      with calves a year old?
      7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
      with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
      Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
      the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
      8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
      and what does the LORD require of you
      but to do justice, and to love kindness,
      and to walk humbly with your God?

Christ the Key to Scripture and Life

Bible Text: Micah 5 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: Micah

Because God promised to raise up a savior, we must confidently hope in him.
Micah 5

Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops;
      siege is laid against us;
      with a rod they strike the judge of Israel
      on the cheek.
      2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
      who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
      from you shall come forth for me
      one who is to be ruler in Israel,
      whose coming forth is from of old,
      from ancient days.
      3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time
      when she who is in labor has given birth;
      then the rest of his brothers shall return
      to the people of Israel.
      4 And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD,
      in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.
      And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great
      to the ends of the earth.
      5 And he shall be their peace.

      When the Assyrian comes into our land
      and treads in our palaces,
      then we will raise against him seven shepherds
      and eight princes of men;
      6 they shall shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
      and the land of Nimrod at its entrances;
      and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian
      when he comes into our land
      and treads within our border.
      7 Then the remnant of Jacob shall be
      in the midst of many peoples
      like dew from the LORD,
      like showers on the grass,
      which delay not for a man
      nor wait for the children of man.
      8 And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations,
      in the midst of many peoples,
      like a lion among the beasts of the forest,
      like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,
      which, when it goes through, treads down
      and tears in pieces, and there is none to deliver.
      9 Your hand shall be lifted up over your adversaries,
      and all your enemies shall be cut off.

      10 And in that day, declares the LORD,
      I will cut off your horses from among you
      and will destroy your chariots;
      11 and I will cut off the cities of your land
      and throw down all your strongholds;
      12 and I will cut off sorceries from your hand,
      and you shall have no more tellers of fortunes;
      13 and I will cut off your carved images
      and your pillars from among you,
      and you shall bow down no more
      to the work of your hands;
      14 and I will root out your Asherah images from among you
      and destroy your cities.
      15 And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance
      on the nations that did not obey.

United Nations

Bible Text: Micah 4:1–5 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: Micah

Because Israel’s God is the one true God, God will redeem the nations through Israel.

Micah 4:1–5
It shall come to pass in the latter days
      that the mountain of the house of the LORD
      shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
      and it shall be lifted up above the hills;
      and peoples shall flow to it,
      2 and many nations shall come, and say:
      “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
      to the house of the God of Jacob,
      that he may teach us his ways
      and that we may walk in his paths.”
      For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
      and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
      3 He shall judge between many peoples,
      and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away;
      and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
      and their spears into pruning hooks;
      nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
      neither shall they learn war anymore;
      4 but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,
      and no one shall make them afraid,
      for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.
      5 For all the peoples walk
      each in the name of its god,
      but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God
      forever and ever.

The Leaders we Deserve and the Leaders we Need

Bible Text: Micah 3 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: Micah

Because we need just leaders, we must be willing to hear the truth
Micah 3:1-2a; 4-7; 9-12

1 And I said: Hear, you heads of Jacob

and rulers of the house of Israel!

Is it not for you to know justice?—

2 you who hate the good and love the evil,

4 … they will cry to the Lord, but he will not answer them;

he will hide his face from them at that time,

because they have made their deeds evil.

5 Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets

who lead my people astray,

who cry “Peace” when they have something to eat,

but declare war against him

who puts nothing into their mouths.

6 Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision,

and darkness to you, without divination.

The sun shall go down on the prophets,

and the day shall be black over them;

7 the seers shall be disgraced,

and the diviners put to shame;

they shall all cover their lips,

for there is no answer from God.

9 Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob

and rulers of the house of Israel,

who detest justice

and make crooked all that is straight,

10 who build Zion with blood

and Jerusalem with iniquity.

11 Its heads give judgment for a bribe;

its priests teach for a price;

its prophets practice divination for money;

yet they lean on the Lord and say,

“Is not the Lord in the midst of us?

No disaster shall come upon us.”

12 Therefore because of you

Zion shall be plowed as a field;

Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,

and the mountain of the house a wooded height.

God’s Two Words

Bible Text: Micah 1–2 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: Micah

Because God’s word kills to make alive, we must vulnerably accept the truth of our condition before we can experience God’s healing embrace.
Micah 1:1–7, 16; 2:12–13

The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

Hear, you peoples, all of you;
pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it,
and let the Lord God be a witness against you,
the Lord from his holy temple.

For behold, the Lord is coming out of his place,
and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.

And the mountains will melt under him,
and the valleys will split open,
like wax before the fire,
like waters poured down a steep place.

All this is for the transgression of Jacob
and for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the transgression of Jacob?
Is it not Samaria?
And what is the high place of Judah?
Is it not Jerusalem?

Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country,
a place for planting vineyards,
and I will pour down her stones into the valley
and uncover her foundations.

All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces,
all her wages shall be burned with fire,
and all her idols I will lay waste,
for from the fee of a prostitute she gathered them,
and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return.

16 Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair,
for the children of your delight;
make yourselves as bald as the eagle,
for they shall go from you into exile.

Chapter 2:12–13

I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob;
I will gather the remnant of Israel;
I will set them together
like sheep in a fold,
like a flock in its pasture,
a noisy multitude of men.

He who opens the breach goes up before them;
they break through and pass the gate,
going out by it.
Their king passes on before them,
the Lord at their head.

Celebrated to Celebrate

Bible Text: Luke 5:27–32 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: For the Life of the World

Because Jesus welcomes sinners into this party, we must celebrate.
Psalm 126:1–3

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,

we were like those who dream.

2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,

and our tongue with shouts of joy;

then they said among the nations,

“The Lord has done great things for them.”

3 The Lord has done great things for us;

we are glad.

Luke 5:27–32

27 After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.

29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Pursued to Pursue

Bible Text: John 4:1–18, 25–30 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: For the Life of the World

Because Jesus, in love, pursued us in our sin, we must lovingly pursue the sinful world.

John 4:1–18, 25–30

Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him.

Gifted to Gift

Bible Text: 2 Corinthians 8:1–10 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: For the Life of the World

Because our rich God has graciously given to us, we, who are rich, must graciously give to others.

2 Corinthians 8:1-10

We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4 begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— 5 and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. 6 Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. 7 But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also.

8 I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 10 And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it.

The Destroyer of Death

Bible Text: 2 Timothy 1:8–12 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: Easter Sunday

Because Jesus abolished death and brought us eternal life, we must witness to him in any and every circumstance.
2 Timothy 1:8–12
8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 10 and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, 12 which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.

Loved to Love

Bible Text: Luke 7:36–50 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: For the Life of the World

Because God loved us so much that he has forgiven us an inestimable debt, we must show others the same kind of grace.

Luke 7:36-50

36 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. 37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” 40 And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”

41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among[a] themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”