Chris Sheppard

Working through King Lemuel's mother's charge in Proverbs 31:1-9, the message holds up her warnings against strong drink and her call to defend the poor as a pattern for parents to speak with urgency, intimacy, and God's word into their

Proverbs 31 WomanMaternal InstructionDrunkenness Warning

Matthew 6 teaches fasting as self-denial for spiritual purposes, not a show of religious performance. Jesus exposes hypocritical fasting and calls his people to seek the Father sincerely, with God's glory rather than human notice as the

Genuine FastingHypocrisy WarningSelf-Denial

Agur’s oracle gives a personal profession of faith shaped by humility before God, reverence for His Word, and dependence on divine wisdom. Proverbs 30 teaches that true wisdom begins by confessing human limits and receiving God’s weighty

Human LimitsDivine WisdomReverence for Scripture

Matthew 6 contrasts prayer that performs for people with prayer offered sincerely before the Father who sees in secret. Genuine prayer rejects empty show and many words because the Father already knows what his children need.

Genuine PrayerHypocrisy WarningEmpty Words

Proverbs 29 gives practical wisdom for anger, arguments, rash words, and wrath in a culture quick to react. Christians must not imitate foolish conflict in the world, the family, or the church.

Anger and WrathRash WordsFoolish Conflict

Matthew 6 begins Jesus' warning against practicing righteousness to be seen by others. Genuine giving seeks the Father's reward in secret, while hypocritical giving turns worship into a public performance.

Genuine GivingHypocrisy WarningSecret Righteousness

Closing out the series with Matthew 5:48's call to be perfect, this message explains perfection as completeness and maturity rather than sinlessness, grounding it in the imputed righteousness taught in 2 Corinthians 5:21. A personal story

Christian MaturityImputed RighteousnessReconciliation

Proverbs gives wisdom for reading a political landscape marked by instability, sinners in high places, and oppressive rulers. The answer is not confidence in parties or candidates, but repentance before God and discernment for the days

Political WisdomWicked RulersNational Repentance

Finishing the sixth lesson on Matthew 5:43-48, this message calls believers to love and pray for their enemies after the pattern of Christ on the cross and Stephen under stoning, moving from demanding personal rights to interceding for

Loving EnemiesPrayer for PersecutorsSonship

Using stories from hospice chaplaincy work and church small-group ministry, this message describes the qualities that mark real Christian friendship and warns that without it, believers face trials and even death without the support and

AccountabilityCaring for the DyingSmall Group Ministry