Beyond Good Behavior: Parenting and the Gospel of Grace

March 15, 2015

Monty Simao 2014Sermon Notes

Date: 03/15/2015

Preacher: Monty Simao, pastor

Key Text: Luke 15

Description:  Our children are much the same way.  We tend to have the Prodigals or the Pharisees.  We tend to think of the Prodigals as hard to parent and we are always telling them the rules and the things that God requires.  While the Pharisees actually seem to get either praised or largely ignored.  After all, since they follow the rules, they require so much less…don’t they?

The truth of the matter is that our children can fall into both categories on any given day.  Sometimes our rebellious children follow the rules for a while and it seems that we are making so much progress.  And sometimes our rule-following children go through seasons of rebellion.  The categories are not hard and fast but rather designed to be descriptive.

What we fail to remember is that the Gospel is not about following the rules to get saved.  The Gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ obeyed the law perfectly for us.  In other words, both our rebels and our rule-followers need the same thing.  They need a Savior who has pleased God in all things and who has purchased their forgiveness by His death on the cross.

The ironic thing is that we fail to give either child the Gospel.  The Prodigal just gets scolding and punishment.  We tell them over and over what is expected…we tell them the rules.  Our Pharisees get praised for doing the right thing.

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I may be sitting down on the inside but I’m standing up on the outside. [Jonah 3:4-10]

June 9, 2013

Sermon Notes

Date: 06/09/2013

Preacher: Monty Simao, elder

Series: Jonah

Key Text: Jonah 3:4-10

Description:  Theologians talk about two types of repentance: attrition and contritionAttrition is false repentance and usually is only a change in outward actions with no change in heart.  While contrition is a change in outward actions driven from a change in the heart.  Contrition is heart-felt sorrow over sin.  In this sermon we will look at examples of both attrition and contrition from the way that Jonah reacted to God’s word compared to the reaction of the Ninevites.

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God the Storm Chaser [Jonah 1:4-10]

February 10, 2013

Sermon Notes

Date: 02/10/2013

Preacher: Monty Simao, elder

Series: Jonah

Key Text: Jonah 1:4-10

Description:  Jonah is on the run and running hard away from God. God calls him to Nineveh, and he heads in the opposite direction towards Tarshish. God pursues Jonah with a violent storm to wake Jonah from His sinful slumber. The storm shows us two things about God’s pursuit of man. The first is that it is great and the second is that it is gracious.

Jonah is on a ship with pagans representing many nations all serving the idols of their land. Jonah represents one type of person who flees in the path of the Pharisee while the pagan sailors represent another type of person who flees in the path of the Prodigal. In this story we see God pursuing both Pharisees and Prodigals, which is good news for us.

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Jonah: Rebel on the Run [Jonah 1:1-3]

January 13, 2013

Sermon Notes

Date: 01/13/2013

Preacher: Monty Simao, elder

Series: Jonah

Key Text: Jonah 1:1-3

Description: Jonah is a storied presentation of the gospel and juxtaposes the way and heart of man and the way and heart of God.  Man flees and God pursues.  Man flees in one of two ways: by obedience (as the Pharisee) or in disobedience (as the Prodigal).  God pursues both Pharisees and Prodigals with His message of salvation in the good news of Christ.

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