Shepherd Of The Hills - Pewaukee, Wi

Text: 1 John 1:1-10Title: God is LightTheme: John uses the themes of light and darkness to describe who God is and what our relationship with Him is like in Christ. He connects these to the themes of truth and lies, as well.

Text:  Proverbs 3:1-12Title: A Relationship that Leads to WisdomTheme:  Working from Pv 3:5-6, we will introduce Proverbs, Solomon and the Big Idea of what wisdom is all about. It's not simply a matter of knowing more information, it's all about a relationship - a relationship with Wisdom Himself (Jesus) - and surrendering our hearts to His.

Text:  Proverbs 31:25-31Title:  A Spirit of WisdomTheme: Pentecost and Psalm 31 come together: As the proverb describes the wisdom of a woman who is led by the Spirit and Fear of the Lord, so we can also see a picture of what a church looks like who is led in the same way.  As the "bride of Christ", the Proverbs 31 woman is not just a description of a single woman, but the church collectively as we live in relationship with our bridegroom, Christ.  We'll use this Sunday to celebrate Pentecost (the giving of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church) as we see the fruit of the Spirit expressed through description of the Proverbs 31 woman.

Title: Character is KeyTheme:  As we read through the various Proverbs, we cover topics on Money, Talk, Decisions, Parenting, Trust, Honesty...  At times it feels like there is no rhyme or reason to it - but as you look through the themes that are found, a common strand begins to stand out: Wisdom is focused on Character as Key - the instructions found in the book of Proverbs are less about curbing action, and more about shaping character.  God is concerned with the transformation of our hearts - not blind obedience.  As our character is shaped to look more and more like God's, so do our actions - quite naturally.  Where the heart is, a life will naturally follow. 

Text: John 21:15-19Title: Past Forgiven for Future PlansThemes: Peter denied Jesus three times, and now the Lord restores Peter by inviting him to declare his love for Jesus three times. Peter is thus forgiven by Jesus of failing Him in his pride and weakness. The forgiveness is implied in the commands given by Jesus to "Feed my lambs."Similarly, Jesus offers forgiveness to us for the times we have failed to follow Him. He offers forgiveness for a past that we would just as soon forget. In our forgiveness, we are freed for a new life of service to the Lord.

Text: John 20:19-29Title:  "[Not] Seeing is Believing"Theme: In the days following the resurrection, the disciples were trying to put the pieces together to make sense of this new reality they were living in.  As Jesus would show himself to them and share insights with them, their faith and confidence grew - with the exception of one: Thomas.  It wasn't until 8 days after the resurrection that he finally surrendered his heart over in faith - but not until after Seeing it with his own eyes - like the others.  To this, Jesus says, "You believe because you have seen - Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."  That's us!  We are blessed when we walk by faith not by sight.  We'll talk about what it means to believe in - and walk in - faith in the resurrection of Jesus.