Silver City Church

The kingdoms of this world tell you blessedness comes from what you have. Jesus starts His most famous sermon by saying the opposite: blessedness begins with destitution. Not "blessed are the wealthy" or "blessed are the accomplished," but "blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." In this message, Pastor Zach begins walking through the Beatitudes by reading all eight primary statements together and noticing the inclusio that frames them, the kingdom of heaven bookending verses 3 and 10. Then we sit in the first one. We look at what poverty of spirit actually is and isn't, how pride shows up loudly at the party and just as often quietly behind a locked door, and why Jesus insists that the empty are the only ones with room enough for His kingdom. Using Thomas Watson, C.S. Lewis's The Great Divorce, and the Pharisee and tax collector of Luke 18, we ask a simple but searching question: are you full of yourself, or are you finally empty enough to be filled? In this message: The inclusio structure of the eight Beatitudes Why Jesus starts with poverty of spirit, not action or morality Loud pride vs. quiet, isolated pride The Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14) C.S. Lewis's The Great Divorce and the ghost who won't let go of his own righteousness Application: true vs. false poverty of spirit Scripture referenced: Matthew 5:3-10, Isaiah 61:1, Proverbs 18:1, 12, Luke 18:9-14, Matthew 12:43-45, Matthew 25:14-30, Zechariah 4:6, Romans 14:17, Hebrews 12:28, Philippians 2:1-11 Silver City Church is a confessionally Reformed congregation devoted to the gospel of grace, the authority of Scripture, and the ordinary means God uses to build His church. We'd love to have you join us. 🔔 Subscribe for weekly sermons, verse-by-verse Bible teaching, and Reformed theology applied to everyday life. 📖 Study guide and reflection questions for this passage: https://www.silvercityky.com/blog/matthew-5-3 ⛪ Visit us: silvercityky.com #Beatitudes #SermonOnTheMount #PoorInSpirit #ReformedTheology #ExpositoryPreaching #BibleTeaching #Sermon #GospelOfGrace

This week we set aside our regular study of the Westminster Confession for something the Confession itself points us toward: a living example of the perseverance and assurance we've been studying together. A beloved member of our congregation, Patrick Kendall, shares his testimony of the Lord's kindness across seasons of deep struggle and restoration, from years of substance abuse and a painful fall after a decade of sobriety, to repentance, reconciliation with his family, and the steady, patient grace of God carrying him through it all. Grounded in Psalm 32 and Psalm 34, this is a story about what it means to be forgiven and to know it, and how God uses ordinary means, His Word, the sacraments, and the body of the church, to hold a person fast even when their own strength runs out. This is a testimony of everything we have been studying in the Westminster thus dar. Scripture referenced: Psalm 32, Psalm 34:1-9, Luke 15:17-24 Silver City Church is a confessionally Reformed congregation devoted to the gospel of grace, the authority of Scripture, and the ordinary means God uses to build His church. Subscribe for weekly teaching, verse-by-verse Bible study, and Reformed theology applied to everyday life.

When Jesus stood up in the Nazareth synagogue and read from Isaiah 61, everyone expected a battle plan. They got a promise of Jubilee instead — freedom for captives, debts canceled, and a kingdom handed over before anyone had done a thing to deserve it. This message opens a short series on the Beatitudes by going back to where Jesus' public ministry actually starts: not the Sermon on the Mount, but a scroll in a hometown synagogue. We trace how Isaiah 61 is the root that the Beatitudes grow out of, why "the year of the Lord's favor" is a direct echo of the Levitical law of Jubilee, and why every kingdom we know how to build hands us requirements before belonging, while Jesus' kingdom does the exact opposite. This sets the stage for the whole series ahead: the Beatitudes aren't a ladder to climb into the kingdom. They're a description of what someone already inside it starts to look like. In this message: Why first-century Jews heard "kingdom of God" as a political promise, not a metaphor The covenant of works vs. the covenant of grace Isaiah 61 as the root of the Sermon on the Mount The Year of Jubilee and what it means for Jesus to proclaim it fulfilled Adoption, inheritance, and why the kingdom is given, not earned Setting up the Beatitudes series Scripture referenced: Isaiah 61:1-11, Luke 4:16-22, Matthew 4:17, Matthew 5:3-4, Matthew 25:34, Luke 12:32, Luke 17:21 Silver City Church is a confessionally Reformed congregation devoted to the gospel of grace, the authority of Scripture, and the ordinary means God uses to build His church. We'd love to have you join us. 🔔 Subscribe for weekly sermons, verse-by-verse Bible teaching, and Reformed theology applied to everyday life. 📖 Study guide and reflection questions for this passage: https://www.silvercityky.com/blog/isaiah-61 ⛪ Visit us: silvercityky.com #Beatitudes #SermonOnTheMount #Isaiah61 #ReformedTheology #ExpositoryPreaching #BibleTeaching #Sermon #GospelOfGrace #Jubilee

Can you know you're saved without some dramatic sign from heaven? This week we finish Westminster Confession Chapter 18, working through two remaining questions: how is assurance actually attained in ordinary life, and what happens when it gets shaken? We look at why assurance isn't part of the essence of faith itself — a true believer can wait long and wrestle through hard seasons without that meaning the faith underneath is fake — and why the Confession still calls assurance a duty, attainable through ordinary means of grace: the Word, the sacraments, prayer, and fellowship, not some extraordinary revelation. We also work through 1 John's series of tests for self-examination — doctrinal, moral, relational, and perseverance — as a practical tool for asking "do I actually know Christ," and talk honestly about doubt, dark nights of the soul, and why even faithful believers go through seasons where assurance dims without ever being destroyed. Scripture referenced: 2 Peter 1:10, Romans 6:1-2, 1 John 3:19-20, 1 John 1:9, 1 John 5:13, Hebrews 12:28, Psalm 51 Silver City Church is a confessionally Reformed congregation devoted to the gospel of grace, the authority of Scripture, and the ordinary means God uses to build His church. Subscribe for weekly teaching, verse-by-verse Bible study, and Reformed theology applied to everyday life.

At the city gate, an unnamed man had the right to redeem Ruth — and he refused. He wouldn't risk his own inheritance to save an outsider. So Scripture doesn't even preserve his name. Boaz does what the nearer redeemer would not: he willingly pays the price, takes Ruth as his wife, and perpetuates the name of a dead man who could do nothing for himself. In this message, Brother Aaron Caldwell finishes the story of Ruth and Boaz at the city gates and watch redemption become public, costly, and complete. We see the gospel already at work in the story: a Moabite widow and a Canaanite harlot, both outsiders, both grafted into the very lineage of Christ, not because of their pedigree but because of a Redeemer who was both willing and able. And we sit with the final picture of the text: Boaz could preserve a dead man's name, but Christ raises the dead and gives them an eternal one. In this message: The legal scene at the city gate and the unnamed redeemer's refusal Ruth, Rahab, and God's grace toward outsiders in the line of Christ Sovereignty and human responsibility: Boaz takes action The cost of redemption — willingness, not just ability Redemption made public: possession, belonging, and testimony Application: the Redeemer gives a name to the dead Scripture referenced: Ruth 4:1-12, Matthew 16:18, James 2:26, 1 Corinthians 6:20, Ephesians 2:1-5 Silver City Church is a confessionally Reformed congregation devoted to the gospel of grace, the authority of Scripture, and the ordinary means God uses to build His church. We'd love to have you join us. 🔔 Subscribe for weekly sermons, verse-by-verse Bible teaching, and Reformed theology applied to everyday life. 📖 Study guide and reflection questions for this passage: https://www.silvercityky.com/blog/ruth-4-1-12 ⛪ Visit us: www.silvercityky.com #Ruth #BookOfRuth #ReformedTheology #ExpositoryPreaching #BibleTeaching #Sermon #GospelOfGrace #Redemption