This Sunday at Faith City

Getting Free From Shame

Pastor Keith Brown
October 18, 2026


MAIN SCRIPTURE - Isaiah 61:7 (NIV)

“Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.”

1. GOD’S HEART—HE DESIRES TO RESTORE HIS PEOPLE


For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)



2. GOD’S PLAN—TO RESTORE THEIR INHERITANCE AND CALLING


3. GOD’S PROMISE—SHAME WILL GIVE WAY TO JOY



PAST SERMONS



THE PRIDE POPPER

Pastor Keith Brown
October 11, 2026


Understanding Pride
Pride doesn’t always sound like:
 “LOOK AT ME!”

Sometimes pride sounds like: 
“WHAT DO THEY THINK ABOUT ME?”

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Pride isn’t always thinking too highly of myself.

Sometimes it’s thinking about myself too much.


Ask yourself the question:
HOLY SPIRIT, WHERE IS PRIDE HIDING IN ME?


Definition of Pride:
Pride is that ugly part of your heart that makes you and your reputation more important than Christ and His. It is a root sin—hiding beneath the surface in what we think and feel, while feeding other sins in our lives.

Personal Reflection Questions
  1. I struggle admitting when I’m wrong.
  2. I’ve gotten offended because I wasn’t recognized for something I did.
  3. Sometimes I care more about how I look to people than what God knows about me.
  4. I’ve had a hard time apologizing because part of me still felt like I was right.
  5. I’ve secretly compared myself to somebody else and felt better because I thought I was doing better than them.
  6. There are times I don’t ask for help because I don’t want anybody to know I need help.
  7. I’ve rejected correction because of WHO it came from.

WHERE IS PRIDE HIDING IN ME?


1. PRIDE IS A ROOT ISSUE

Pride is the soil in which all manner of sin germinates and grows. That means pride is a breeding ground for other issues in our lives.

Sometimes, we’re trying to deal with the fruit, while God is trying to get to the root.

Scripture — Proverbs 16:18 (AMPC)
“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

Scripture — Proverbs 16:18 (MSG)
“First pride, then the crash—the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.”


2. PRIDE PUTS “ME” AT THE CENTER

Pride isn’t just thinking too highly of myself.

Sometimes it’s thinking about myself too much.


3. YOU HAVE TO EXCAVATE THE HEART

Sometimes you’ve got to dig beneath the behavior.

DON’T JUST ASK “WHAT?” ASK “WHY?”
  • Why did that bother me?
  • Why do I need to be right?
  • Why do I need their approval?
  • Why do I need control?
  • Why is it difficult for me to receive correction?

TRANSITION

Pastor Keith Brown
September 28, 2026


Transition presents a unique set of circumstances, challenges, and opportunities.

Transition is not only about what is ending. It is also an opportunity to step into the new things God is doing.


In every season of transition, never forget:
God is concerned about every detail of our lives.
  • He is not only present at the destination; He is present during the transition.
  • He is concerned about every step, stumble, uncertainty, and need.


Main Scripture
“The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand. I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.”
 — Psalm 37:23–25 NIV


Transition may change our circumstances, but it cannot change our identity, cancel God’s purpose, or remove His hand from our lives.


Main Point
Don’t Cry Because It’s Over; Smile Because It Happened

“I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken…”
— Psalm 37:25


Our identity is not rooted in what we do, what we possess, or what happened to us. Our identity is rooted in WHOSE WE ARE.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” —  1 John 3:1 NIV



reverence - Part 2

Pastor Keith Brown
September 13, 2026


PART 1 RECAP

1. Reverence is taking God Seriously
- When you fear the Lord, you take God seriously-with appropriate respect, reverence, honor, and awe for His person and position.

BECAUSE GOD LOVES US,
HE WILL HOLD US ACCOUNTABLE FOR OUR ACTIONS.


2. Reverence A Personal Observation:
- Where in my life am I currently not reverencing God?


3. The Fear of the Lord brings LONGEVITY.
- I HONOR GOD, TOO MUCH TO LIVE MY LIFE AS THOUGH WHAT HE SAYS, DOESN'T MATTER.

GOD IS GOD AND WE ARE NOT.



Exodus 3:5
“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

Moses Realized:
  1. I am standing before Someone greater than myself.
  2. There is humility in taking them off.
  3. There is surrender in taking them off.
  4. There is a relinquishing of personal rights in taking them off.

 
Remember: Reverence is a response to a revelation of God.

Before God gave Moses an assignment, God required an adjustment.
Before Moses could stand before Pharaoh, he had to learn how to stand before God.


We want God to send us, but are we willing to adjust ourselves before Him?

We want revival, but where is the reverence?

We want renewal, but where is the reverence?

We want God to move, but are we willing to take our shoes off?


Isaiah 6:1-8
“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of His robe filled the temple.”

“Above Him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.”

“And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!’”

“And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.”

“And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’”

“Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.”

“And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’”

“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here I am! Send me.’”

Acts 5:11–12
“Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events. The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.”

2 Corinthians 5:9–11
“So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.”


The Fear Of The Lord


1. MAKE IT OUR AIM TO PLEASE GOD 
  • Reverence For God Produces A Desire To Please God.


When you have eternity in mind you will walk differently.    

2. We Live With An Respect And Awareness Of God’s Power
  • “FOR WE MUST ALL APPEAR BEFORE THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST… SINCE, THEN,WE KNOW WHAT IT IS TO FEAR THE LORD…”
  • The fear of the Lord reminds me to take God seriously. How I live matters to God.


3. WE PERSUADE OTHERS
  • People who take God seriously, take reaching people seriously.


Because we fear the Lord:
We aim to please Him.
We remember we answer to Him.
We persuade others to know Him.


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Weekly Reflection: 
Read this week's scripture again. Pray for understanding, write down what God is teaching you, and choose one practical way to live out his word this week.

Don't just read the word, be transformed by it.


DEPENDENCY

Pastor Keith Brown
October 4, 2026


Resources can change. Streams can dry up. But God, our Source, never runs dry.

God has a way of showing us that the thing I’ve become more dependent on has dependencies of its own.


Main Scripture
“Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, 
“As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.” Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah: “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.” So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath.... "
— 1 Kings 17:1-10 NIV


Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.”
— 1 Kings 17:7 NIV

Elijah is at a brook that God led him to. This brook has become part of God’s provision for his life. He drinks from it. He needs it.

But here’s the tension:
Elijah needs the brook… but the brook needs the rain.

In other words:
He needed something… that needs something.


We’re like that sometimes. We find ourselves depending on something that has dependencies of its own. The thing sustaining us is itself being sustained by God.
I’m thankful for what He uses to sustain me—but my trust is in the God who sustains it.


The brook was provision, but it was never the Provider.
  • The brook was a resource, but it was never the Source.
  • Sooner or later, every brook has the potential to dry up.


1. Every Brook Has a Source
There is nothing wrong with needing a brook. God sent Elijah to it! The problem begins when I take something God gave me as a resource and start treating it like my Source.
Never confuse what God uses with who God is.

2. God May Let the Brook Dry Up
  • Not everything that dries up is necessarily an indication that you did something wrong.
  • Sometimes God-ordained seasons simply come to an end.
  • And sometimes God allows the brook to dry up because what started as provision has become dependency.

3. Don’t Let What You See Move You Before God Speaks
The hardest part may not be when it dries up—the hardest part may be watching it dry up while God seems to remain silent.
  • Sometimes God will allow you to see the resource diminishing before He reveals what’s next.


Don’t move. God hasn’t spoken yet.
A changing circumstance doesn’t automatically mean a changed instruction.


Don’t allow panic to make a decision that requires a Word from God.
  • Elijah’s responsibility wasn’t to keep the brook flowing.
  • His responsibility was to stay where God put him until God told him where to go next.
  • Low water doesn’t cancel the last Word.