Laughlin Community Church

Introduction: Happy Father's Day. Today we celebrate dads—young dads with kids in diapers, seasoned dads with kids raising their own kids, grandfathers, and even spiritual fathers in the faith. But I also want to acknowledge that Father's Day can bring mixed emotions. For some, it's a joyful day of family…

Abraham Intercedes for Lot Starting in Genesis 18 On the hilltop, with sacred trees, we're eating a meal, God and humans, by the tent. How Wonderful We've got Avraham. Yahweh voice of God is appearing as a human, we've got Avraham, we've got Yahweh, we've got Sarah in the tent. And it was this whole…

Ecclesiastes 7:1–14 1 A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth. 2 It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart. 3 Frustration is better than laughter,…

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah We just walked through another cycle of the melody. From God providing the delivering help for the helpless one, the naked one; God splitting in order to provide what his chosen one can't do for themselves; the making of a covenant; but then the abuse of those covenant…

Introduction: Finding Peace in Life's Uncertainty Life feels uncertain, doesn't it? Jobs change, relationships shift, economies fall, and health fails. The plans we made so carefully often unravel. And when life gets uncertain, we instinctively scramble for control. We grasp for clarity, for security,…

Covenant #2 With Avraham: Sign of Circumcision God blesses the one who you think he would curse, which is the oppressed immigrant. Let's flip it over. We see how God re-creates Hagar. What's in store for Avram and Sarai? And this is what we call Genesis 17 . It's the climax of this walk through the melody…

Introduction: The Paradox of Plenty Have you ever known someone who “has it all” but still seems empty inside? Maybe that person is you? We live in a world where success is measured by accumulation—money, property, followers, accolades. Yet Ecclesiastes 6 reminds us that even with all that, we can still…

God Hears the Cry 7 The angel of the Lord found her by a spring in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 He said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She replied, “I'm running away from my mistress Sarai.” 9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Go back…

Ecclesiastes 5:13-20 13 I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners, 14 or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when they have children there is nothing left for them to inherit. 15 Everyone comes naked from their mother's womb, and as everyone comes, so…

Introduction Good morning, Church family. Today we honor one of God's most beautiful and profound gifts: mothers. And not just biological mothers, but all women who have loved, nurtured, prayed, and comforted others like a mother would—whether you're a mom, a spiritual mother, a grandmother, or a mother-figure.…

The Oppression of Hagar I was trying to draw attention to the way that the vocabulary and imagery of the Eden story is permeating chapter Genesis 11:27–25:18 . And so that's, again, setting us up with the melody. So what comes after the great promise and provision of blessing and abundance and seed and…

Ecclesiastes 5:10-12 10 Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. 11 As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them? 12 The sleep of a laborer is…

God's Covenant with Abram Setting - After these things . is Abram back at the sacred trees of Mamre or is he outside of Salem? Outside of Salem is the last place we saw him, but his camp was outside of mamre. The answer is we don't know. We are having another conversation with God. 7 And He said to him,…

8 If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. 9 The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields. Introduction:…

Tenth Could it have been because Melchizedek is the 10th king and he gives them the 10th? Probably Tenth rimes with the word for "wealth." This is what the Israelites will be called to give to honor the priestly staff in the temple. Royal Priest But the whole point here is that this is not a priest from…

Introduction: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Today, we gather to celebrate the greatest event in history—the resurrection of Jesus Christ. His life was unlike any other. He walked among us, teaching with authority, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and loving the outcasts. He came proclaiming…

A Flood of Violence What's happening in this story is Sodom and its five kings become engulfed in a metaphorical flood. And the floodwaters represent these kings. And these kings are heavily armed. They're out for blood. They're out for glory and honor. And these kings, these kings are actually so formidable…

The Intersection of Two Great Events Today is a significant day in the life of the church and in biblical history. It is Palm Sunday , the day Jesus entered Jerusalem to the praises of the people, riding on a donkey as the King of Peace. But today also marks the beginning of Passover , the Jewish festival…

Introduction Worship is one of the most vital aspects of our relationship with God. However, in our modern culture, it is easy to approach worship casually, focusing more on external expressions than the posture of our hearts. Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 offers a sobering reminder that our worship must be marked…

Genesis 12-13 as Replay of Genesis 2-6 If Genesis 2 was about the Eden blessing, Genesis 3 , failure one, Genesis 4 and 6, we kind of already traced through that. And it led up to an unleashing of violence on the land, and God met it with cosmic collapse and the flood. We're clearly walking along that…

Introduction A man stands at the pinnacle of his career. He has wealth, influence, and a reputation for success. Yet, when he looks around, he realizes there is no one to share in his joy, no one to celebrate with him, no one to call a true friend. His pursuit of power has left him isolated. This is…

Abram and Lot Separate A macro view, here's our little map of this section that we're in. We began with a journey out of the fire of Babylon, and they went out. And they go into the land of promise and arrive at a high place in Canaan, where they receive God's blessing. And they receive a promise of…

Ecclesiastes 3:16–4:3 16 And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment—wickedness was there, in the place of justice—wickedness was there. 17 I said to myself, “God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge…

Abraham the Snake Today we are going to follow Avram and Sarai, exalted father and princess, and they're going to fall from their heights of Eden glory, unfortunately. I've found that it really pays off to be sympathetic as we read about these characters. Put yourself in the mindset of the characters…

Introduction The beauty of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 reminds us that life is full of seasons—times to laugh, weep, plant, and uproot. But as we move into verses 9-15, the Teacher (Qoheleth) invites us to wrestle with an even deeper question: What does it all mean? Why has God designed life with its ebb and…

God Calls Avram and Promises Blessing 1 And Yahweh said to Abram, “Go out from your land and from your relatives, and from the house of your father, to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great. And you will be a blessing.…

Introduction Good morning! Today, we continue our journey through Ecclesiastes in our series, Ecclesiastes: The Quest for Meaning. This book challenges us to grapple with life's complexities and uncertainties under the sun while calling us to look beyond the sun to the eternal God. This morning, we come…

Two Journeys We're gonna dive into the opening moments or paragraphs of the Avraham story. Just to give us a macro view, the first big section is from second half of 11, 11:27, all the way up to the Sodom and Gomorrah story. The hyperlinks, we're gonna follow the vocabulary and imagery of Genesis 1 to…

Introduction Good morning, church. We've been spending time in Ecclesiastes, a book that resonates deeply with anyone who has ever wondered, “What's the point of all this?” It shows us how easy it is to spend our lives chasing after things that ultimately leave us empty. In our culture, we're often told…

Abraham and Sarah in the Biblical Imagination Abraham and Sarah Key Figures in the Bible. Abraham is mentioned in nearly every part of the Bible, and the story of his journey from Babylon to Canaan, the tales of his failures and his faith, and the covenant promises that God makes to him are all foundational…

Introduction Good morning, church. As we continue our journey through Ecclesiastes, we arrive at a passage that confronts us with a sobering reality: the futility of labor when disconnected from God's eternal purpose. The Teacher, Qoheleth, wrestles with the same questions that haunt many of us today:…

Abraham and Sarah in the Biblical Imagination Abraham and Sarah Key Figures in the Bible. Abraham is mentioned in nearly every part of the Bible, and the story of his journey from Babylon to Canaan, the tales of his failures and his faith, and the covenant promises that God makes to him are all foundational…

Introduction We live in a culture that prizes wisdom and knowledge. Countless books, podcasts, and courses promise to make us wiser, better decision-makers, or more successful. The Teacher in Ecclesiastes—the Qoheleth—also sought wisdom. Yet, as we've seen throughout our study, his reflections often…

The Reversal of Babylon in the Scriptures The biblical theme of the "Reversal of Babylon" unfolds across the Old and New Testaments, tracing God's plan to restore what was scattered at Babel and unify humanity in worship of the one true God. This theme is grounded in key passages from Genesis to Revelation…

The Tower of Babylon in Ancient Near Eastern Perspective “In a polemical vein, [the biblical author] named the Babylonian claim an instance of hubris and filed it in the incrementally growing catalog kept since the beginning of history. Babel is the apex of arrogance. It involves the harnessing of all…

We live in a world that celebrates wisdom and knowledge. From technological breakthroughs to self-help philosophies, human achievement often gives the impression that we can solve any problem. Yet, despite our progress, we find ourselves grappling with life's profound questions: What is our purpose?…

The Founding of Babylon Notice that a repeated theme in Genesis 10 , it was repeated three times. And it was at the conclusion of each of the three that, "these were all separated into their lands, everyone by their tongue." Their language 5 From these descendants, the peoples of the coasts and islands…

Ecclesiastes 1:4-11 4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. 5 The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. 6 The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. 7 All streams flow into the sea,…

Blessing and Cursing Noah's Sons 25 So he said, “Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brothers.” 26 He also said, “Blessed be the Lord , The God of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant. 27 “May God enlarge Japheth, And let him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant.”…

Blessing and Cursing Noah's Sons Let's talk about a hungover dad doling out curses and blessings on his sons and then let's talk about a long genealogical table about those sons. So whatever decision we make about Noah's motives, he's setting out a program of sorts here for the destinies of his children…

Ecclesiastes 1:1-3 1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: 2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” 3 What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? Introduction Imagine a treasure map handed down…

46 And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. 50 His mercy extends to those…

The Importance of Family Family has been described as “the glue which holds the fabric of society together.” From the very beginning, family has been central to God's plan. 18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” In Genesis 2:18 , God says,…

Noah's Garden and a Family Failure So We are in a second cycle after the wind has brought about the new creation God's wind, caused the wind to blow over the waters, recession of the flood. We've got a new Adam and Eve, Noah and his wife be fruitful and multiply. This is gonna go great, right? We're…

Introduction Like I said last week, this year I've decided to approach Christmas a little differently. Instead of focusing on the usual joys surrounding the birth of Jesus, I want to address a struggle many of us face: the feeling that we've lost the joy of Christmas. This week we will be discussing…

Noah's Ark and the Flood Debate What I wanna do is for us to reflect on the flood story as we just experienced it, and to let that re-frame how we come to consider these questions, or at least inform how we come to these questions. If you don't have, like worked out conviction about this subject that…

God's Covenant With Noah Noah sacrifice becomes the gateway or the pivot which releases divine blessing. And God's first covenant in the story of the Bible. Genesis 9:1–7 (LEB) And God (Elohim) blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth(land). And fear…

Introduction As Paul closes his letter to the Romans, he offers a beautiful doxology, praising God for revealing a mystery hidden for ages, now made known through the gospel of Jesus Christ. This mystery, once concealed, now empowers us as believers to live in God's strength and bring glory to His name.…