Dr. Daniel Scheiderer of IRBS visited us and opened God's Word for us from Revelation 1:4-6.

Our decisions steer our lives, but they can't secure where we end up. Our knowledge, power, and goodness all fall short. Pastor Patrick Crandall shows from Proverbs that wise decision-making is about trust, not control, because in Christ the God who rules everything is for us.

Money tempts us in two opposite directions. We can demonize it, or we can make it a god. In this message from Proverbs, we see that wealth is neither evil nor ultimate. It is a good gift from the Lord, but it's outranked by better things, and it can never keep us safe. Only the righteous are secure in the strong tower of the Lord's name. Through Jesus, who became poor so that we might become rich, we find real shelter, and we're freed to be content, grateful, and generous.

Most of our waking hours are spent working, and most of us get it wrong in one of two directions. Proverbs puts two men in front of us: the sluggard, who treats work as a curse to escape and lets the thorns take over his field, and the striver, who can't stop working because he's trying to build from it what only God can give. They look like opposites, but they're driven by the same hungers, and neither one is ever satisfied. In this sermon, Pastor Patrick Crandall walks through what Proverbs teaches about work, why it's a good gift from a working God, and how the finished work of Christ frees us to work diligently, skillfully, and for our neighbor's good. We work from rest, not for it.

In Deuteronomy 6, Moses gives Israel the word of God, and then he tells them what to do with it. Keep these words on your heart. Teach them diligently to your children. Talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise. The word is given to us in gathered worship, but we are meant to take it with us and to continue to be formed by it. Meditation here isn't study, and it isn't learning something new- it's turning over what we already know until it shapes our convictions and stirs up our hearts. The Puritans called the speaking side of this conference. Malachi gives us a beautiful picture of this: those who feared the Lord spoke with one another, and the Lord paid attention and heard them. That's what we're doing right now. And Moses tells us why it matters. A people can receive every good thing from God's hand- cities they didn't build, houses they didn't fill, vineyards they didn't plant- and then forget who gave it. The remembering we need is not the kind that passes a test. It's the kind that shapes our whole lives as the people of God.

What does it mean to build a household? Proverbs presents marriage, parenting, work, and family life as parts of something larger: a household being built according to wisdom. But sin tears households down, and suffering can leave us with circumstances we never would have chosen. Ultimately, our hope is not in the strength of our earthly households, but in Christ, who is building a household for God. In this sermon, we consider what it means to faithfully build the households God has entrusted to us while finding our deepest identity and fruitfulness in the household of God.

We naturally gravitate toward relationships marked by mutuality—people we love, enjoy, and benefit from. But Proverbs calls us to something deeper: loving our neighbors who cannot or will not give us anything in return. The poor, the vulnerable, the oppressed, and even our enemies are not outside the scope of Christian love. Why? Because God has loved us in precisely this way. We were weak, helpless, needy, and enemies of God, yet Christ came to us in mercy. Having received such love, we are called to see, know, and wisely do good to the neighbors God has placed in our lives.

Conflict is inevitable because we live as sinners among sinners. But how should Christians respond when we are hurt, offended, or wronged? Proverbs gives us much practical wisdom and direction. Yet knowing what to do is easier than doing it. In the end, we need Christ—not merely as our example, but as the One whose righteousness, forgiveness, and finished work free us from the need to protect and vindicate ourselves. In Christ, we can die to ourselves for the glory of God and the good of our neighbor.