The Church in Noble - Cornerstone
June 28, 2026
      • Bible Trivia
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      • 2 Peter 3:18NASB95

  • To God Be The Glory
  • As The Deer
  • Doxology
  • Blessed Assurance
  • In The Garden
  • They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love

  • Leveling Up

    ILLUST: Pac Man - keep advancing levels - you know the battles, you know the pitfalls; work hard to keep going, keep moving forward
    OR: Half-time talk - leading by 2 over a team that you should be beating by 15 - a good coach…opponent will do this now…
    Opposite of “not good enough” is “great job, keep going and improving”
    Spiritually - we face an enemy that is defeated but still fighting- we make good strides, need encouragement and motivation - “great job” - now keep going”
    Whatever you do that pleases God, do more and do it even better”
    How about a pep talk?

    Living to Please God

    READ 1 Thess. 4:1-8
    Living to please God = the reason for obedience, and it is spiritually healthy
    This passage - moving from discussion of past and present
    NOW - look at the present and look ahead
    “Request and Exhort”
    “Ask and Urge”
    A command without “thus says the Lord…”
    “Great work, now step it up some more” - you can do this!

    1) Note the Successes

    “…just as you actually do walk” - there is good spiritual work getting done
    The Thessalonians are standing firm - they have the skills and are using them
    “…that you excel still more” - they can build on that!
    Good work is good
    Continual improvement is God’s desire for you
    Your Daily Spiritual Walk
    Where are you succeeding?
    Bible reading
    Prayer
    Church involvement
    Family, marriage
    Teaching children
    Evangelizing
    GOOD!
    If you are like most - you are comfortable with an area or two - and doing well
    (halftime lead is only 2…)
    How can you build on that?
    *********
    It looks like this
    You trust Jesus, you get saved
    Now you can walk in a way that pleases God
    That HAS to count in the believer’s life
    And you make some good progress!
    Paul is trying not to say - “It’s not good enough”
    He IS saying - Great! Now level up, grow, and grow in the Spirit
    THIS IS GOD’S WILL - Your sanctification - your spiritual growth
    I Know what God’s will is! It’s right here
    Also, REM Rom 12:2
    Romans 12:2 NASB95
    And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
    Why do we treat this growth as optional?

    2) Aware of the Challenges

    1 Corinthians 10:12 NASB95
    Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.
    If you don’t keep growing, you become stagnant, stale, errors in judgment come in
    MAIN AREAS OF FOCUS HERE
    1- Complacency - “good enough” is a dangerous life position
    2 - Temptation/Culture
    The culture of sex and physicality is an easy target in Thess.
    Also here
    Avoid “porneia” - sexual immorality
    Care for (possess) the vessel
    Your body
    Also spoken of related to wife
    POINT = God’s design for sexual health is within the marriage of a man and woman
    The culture then - open promiscuity, sensual worship of pagan practices
    To practice Biblical morality was to be seen as odd and way outside the norm
    Sexual perversion was widely tolerated, normalized
    The culture (Gentiles) here - Look at this “month” and what else is there to say?
    We are expected to tolerate and normalize sexual perversion in our culture
    To speak out IN FAVOR OF Biblical (not ‘traditional’) marriage (man, woman) is to be intolerant
    Then I am intolerant
    NOTE - We have some rainbow decorations up for VBS
    Because the rainbow is Biblical, it is God’s, Genesis 9:13
    READ IT
    1978 - Rainbow used in the LGBT context to target youth - pretty, eye-catching
    (YES - GOD LOVES THE BEAUTY OF HIS RAINBOW)
    Our culture - tolerance of sexual activity beyond Biblical terms is normalized
    Outside of marriage, co-habitation…
    Making decisions using our reasoning, and not God’s
    We ask and expect our kids to remain pure until marriage (??)
    SHOCK! - Because the culture says it’s NORMAL for kids to explore…
    SUMMARY of this - you have made some good decisions, great! You will get the opportunity to make more, and they may become more difficult
    ?? Bulletin points?
    Are you pleasing God with your decisions? (because that is the goal…)
    Yes? Awesome
    No? Repent and correct
    3 - Care for the brother
    Yes, don’t harm fellow believers with sexual sin, that is clear
    But more here, room in the context for this…
    Conduct yourself with believers as believers should
    Business, neighbors, lawsuits (?), disputes, gossip…

    3) Remember Your Identity

    (vv 7-8)
    Living to please God, it helps to remember who you are, because of Who He is!
    That “uniform” you wear”
    You belong to Christ
    He gave you His Holy Spirit
    He offers to sanctify you, to set you apart
    His offer of salvation is NOT:
    License to sin and live any way you want, minus consequences
    (not called for the purpose of impurity)
    1 Peter 2:9 NASB95
    But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
    2 Timothy 2:21 NASB95
    Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.
    Do you desire to be useful to and for God? THAT is His will, after all
    2 Timothy 1:9 NASB95
    who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,
    A person dedicated to God should act in a manner consistent with the character of God
    ?? And we do not fear judgment, but rather respond to what He has done for us
    Back to the spirituality of basketball
    You are on the team, you get the uniform
    You put on that jersey, people know your “side”
    Your spiritual life - that “game”
    There is an opponent, an enemy
    The enemy changes strategy, exposing your weakness
    You’re up by two
    How can you make that 10, 15, 20?
    ADAGE - Play to win, don’t play “not to lose”
    Where do YOU need to improve to do your part?
    I’ve heard the bad motivation
    “You are a disgrace to the uniform” and others…
    That is not the Word here
    Yes, mistakes and sin, occur - focus, morally, giving in, pleasing the culture)
    To continue embracing sin is to reject God
    I can preach all day, God’s Word
    I preach HIS Word, because mine is nothing
    So to continue embracing sin?
    This is rejecting God
    And yes, tolerating sin in the culture is embracing sin
    Not speaking truth about sin is embracing sin
    Living willfully sinning - makes no Biblical sense…
    The Word here is positive
    Believers live by God’s standards regardless of how they compare to the norms of society
    Timothy has returned with a good report - Paul is pleased
    Paul is pleased because He knows GOD is pleased
    Paul knows that culture, the enemy using culture, will NOT let up
    The answer to the culture is to keep growing in the Lord
    2 Peter 3:18 NASB95
    but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
    CLOSE - You know you
    So those good choices, good habits, good practices you have for the LORD
    Keep it up
    You can do even better, you know you can, you have it in you
    You have the Holy Spirit in you - so yes, I KNOW you can!
    Living morally demonstrates the HS in you
    A person dedicated to God CAN act in a manner consistent with the character of God
    ?? Pivotal moments - suddenly we call out to God
    “One who is not faithful in the small moments is unlikely to be faithful in the great.”
    THIS PASSAGE
    Keep growing in the Lord -
    Prepare for what the enemy tempts you with
    Remember whose side you are on
    Actually, remember Who is on your side!

      • Romans 12:2NASB95

      • 1 Corinthians 10:12NASB95

      • 1 Peter 2:9NASB95

      • 2 Timothy 2:21NASB95

      • 2 Timothy 1:9NASB95

      • 2 Peter 3:18NASB95

  • Give Me Jesus
  • Goodness Of God

      • 1 Thessalonians 4:7NASB95

The Church in Noble - Cornerstone
cornerstone@wabash.net
618-723-2779
https://cccnoble.faithlifesites.com
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