Christian Ethics

Weekly Update – September 3rd, 2026 

Let’s start off this week’s update with a scenario. Let’s say that you buy a house, but before you move into it, you want to do some remodeling. One of the things that you want to do is to knock out the wall between the living room and the kitchen. You are going for this open floor plan model, meaning that knocking out the wall in this certain spot makes the most sense. As you are tearing out the wall though, you come across some money. Not just a few dollars, but as you begin to collect it, it adds up to thousands of dollars, all hidden in the wall. What do you do?

Let’s ramp this scenario up a notch, perhaps on a more serious note. It is unlikely that any of us will tear down a wall and find thousands of dollars, but encountering another man or woman by yourself on a work trip might be a bit more likely. So then, you are on a trip for work, you are all by yourself, you have a hotel room, expense account for dinner, and nothing to do this one evening in a city where no one knows you.  What do you do? Well, you go out and have a nice dinner by yourself before you head into your hotel room for the night. But as you are eating, you meet a beautiful woman or a handsome man. Very nice, charming and well put together. You all seem to hit it off in conversation and it is obvious that this person is interested in you. Nobody will ever know what happens next because you are all alone on this business trip. Furthermore, you will never see this man or woman again. What do you do?

For the first scenario, you might say, the right thing to do would be to report the money. But why is that the right thing to do? For the second scenario, you would likely, immediately, say the right thing to do is to say no and go straight back to the hotel room, by yourself. The question again is, why? These what and why questions are the questions of ethics. What is right or wrong and then why is that given decision right or wrong. Beyond this, we do not merely approach each situation in life with a rote right or wrong answer, with our given answer coming from what we have been told in the past, but we approach the way we make decisions and how we think about the questions of morality from a certain belief system.

On Wednesday nights, starting on September 9^th, we will dive into the topic of Christian Ethics in our discipleship training class. The last time we had a class on Wednesday night was our Biblical Counseling Class back in the 2023-2024 fall/spring year. Yet, after taking a two-year break, the plan is to resume our discipleship training classes on Wednesday nights. The goal of these discipleship training courses is not merely to provide our adults with something to do during youth and Awana. Instead, we want to see these nights as an avenue for deeper growth in the faith through teaching and discussions on various important topics of theology.

As we take a look at Christian Ethics this upcoming year, we will spend 28 weeks exploring how to think about decision making, why we think the way that we do, and then what the Bible says about important topics such as: abortion, euthanasia, race, war, capital punishment, sexuality, IVF, and more. We will seek to answer questions such as: is it ever right to terminate a pregnancy? Is sex before marriage permissible? Is the death penalty a morally acceptable method of punishment?  Is it ever right to go to war? Is it wrong to end the life of someone who is suffering? All of these questions and topics may be theoretical in the moment of the discussions that we will have, yet they are all very applicable to the situations we may encounter and the conversations we have with others.

I hope that you will make plans to join us on Wednesday nights! We will meet from 6:45pm-8:00pm, starting September 9^th. There is great importance in being able to defend the faith, but beyond that, there ought to be a priority to grow deeper in our faith as well. Let Wednesday nights foster that ability to not only defend what you believe but aid you in growing deeper in your understanding of God’s word and in the hope that you have in Jesus Christ.

Serving Him with You,

Pastor Michael Nelson

Written by Pastor
Michael Nelson

Fighter Verse for the Week

"Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him."
James 1:12

Announcements:

New! Awana Meeting: There will be a brief Awana meeting for all volunteers immediately following the worship service on Sunday (9/6).

New! Discipleship Training: There will be a new adult study on Wednesdays from 6:45-8:00pm. The study will be over the topic of Christian Ethics. Join us, starting on September 9th.

All Church Work Day: On Saturday, September 5th at 8:00am there will be an all church work day. Come and help us clean, make minor repairs and get our building ready for all of the fall activities that will take place. You can find a list of projects HERE.

All Church Picnic: An end of summer church picnic will be at 5pm on Sunday, September 6th, at Mapleview Park. Truw Oquendo will be smoking brisket for us. Bring a side or dessert to share.

Ladies’ Night: On September 29th, from 5:00-9:00pm the ladies will be having dinner and attending Beholding Christ, with Nancy Guthrie at Ascend Church in Olathe, KS. Tickets are $10. See the bulletin board in the hall to sign up.

Ladies’ Bible Study: This will be a 9-week study of Romans by Courtney Doctor. Morning and evening sessions will be held on Tuesdays, beginning on September 8th. Details are on the bulletin board.

Home Groups: Home groups typically meet on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month. We will have sign-ups available in the hall throughout the month of August if you are interested in joining a group. We request that everyone, regardless if you have been in a group or not, sign up.

Family Discipleship Guides: These guides are designed to help equip parents further engage with what our children and youth are learning. You can find a guide for AWANA, HERE and for our Youth, HERE.

Men’s Study: Our Men’s study meets on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday nights at 8:00-9:15pm. The book for this study will be The Case for Christ. See Matthew Klika for more information.

Building Remodel: If you would like to give to our remodel fund, there are commitment cards available in the welcome center. Feel free to pick up one and return it to one an available basket. If you would like to give a one time or a reoccurring gift, you can do so HERE and select “building remodel.” You can also give through one of the offering boxes at church. Be sure to mark your envelop, “building remodel.” Check out a video highlighting the work done so far.

Food Pantry: The food pantry is currently in need of some food items. For a complete list of food pantry needs, click HERE.

Awana Bible Club

Awana will begin on September 9th this fall. Dinner is at 6:00pm with Awana Clubs starting at 6:30pm. Children can be registered HERE.

Equipping Hour

We have three classes held at 9:15am on Sunday mornings. “A Survey in Church History” meets in the Sanctuary, a study in Isaiah in the Fellowship Hall, and a Ladies’ class studying the Old Testament meets in the classroom next to the nursery. You can find more information HERE.

Giving

To Give Online, Go HERE. 

You can also mail your offering to: 1416 Main Street, Grandview, MO. 64030

Home Groups

Home Groups typically meet on the first and third Sunday of each month. Please contact Pastor Michael if you would like to join a Home Group. You can find more information HERE.

Prayer

An updated Prayer Guide can be accessed HERE.

Prepare for Sunday

Guide for Worship can be found HERE.