Exploring Providence Part 1: Vision & Values

May 4, 2025 Pastor Dov Cohen

Thesis Providence Community Church is committed to truth and beauty in community, grounded in Reformed theology, gospel centrality, and the seven shared values of Sovereign Grace Churches, equipping believers to know God, live beautifully, and fulfill the Great Commission together.

PeoplePreacher For the congregation: reading plan, discussion questions, family and couples guides, memory verse.For the preacher: structure, outline, homiletic analysis, preaching context, and the full transcript.

Take it further

Discuss · apply

Small groups

6 discussion questions

The sermon presents Providence's vision as 'truth and beauty in community.' What do you understand by that phrase, and how does it differ fr…

Daily readings

5-day reading plan

This week we meditate on Providence Community Church's vision and identity: a Reformed church anchored in Scripture, centered on Christ's gospel, empowered by the Spirit, led by faithful elders, and commissioned to plant churches and pursue unity in the body of Christ.

Family table

Truth and Beauty in Our Church

In the sermon, Pastor Dov described the church's vision as 'truth and beauty in community.' This prompt invites your family to think concret…

Couples

Truth, Beauty, and Us

What struck you most about the vision of 'truth and beauty in community'—and where do you sense the Lord is calling us to grow in either of…

Memorize

Matthew 28:19-20

This passage anchors Providence's entire vision and missional identity—the Great Commission establishes that disciple-making through church planting is the church's primary calling, directly supporting the sermon's emphasis on how the risen Christ commissions the church to grow in maturity and number. It also grounds the church's work in Christ's present authority and presence, reflecting the Reformed conviction that God sovereignly accomplishes His redemptive purposes through His people.

Small-group discussion

6 questions for your group this week

The sermon presents Providence's vision as 'truth and beauty in community.' What do you understand by that phrase, and how does it differ from a vision centered only on doctrinal correctness or only on community feeling?

→ Can you think of a moment when you've experienced both truth and beauty together in our church — when right doctrine and genuine goodness were inseparable?
How does the Reformed conviction that 'God receives all glory for everything, sovereignly working all things according to his will' reshape the way we think about Providence's mission and growth?

Ephesians 1:11

→ What temptation does this conviction guard us against — and what does it free us to do instead?
The sermon claims that 'everything in Scripture relates to Christ — his preparation, accomplishment, or implications.' How does reading the Bible through that lens change what you notice or what questions you ask when you encounter an Old Testament narrative or a wisdom psalm?

Luke 24:27
Many of us have been taught that the Holy Spirit's work is mainly interior — conviction, comfort, growth in character. How does the sermon's claim that the Spirit is 'alive and active in the church today' with gifts like prophecy and healing challenge or expand your understanding of what the Spirit does among us?

1 Corinthians 12:4–11

→ Where have you witnessed or longed to witness the Spirit's power at work in ways that seem less common in our gatherings?
The sermon emphasizes complementarian roles — distinct and complementary roles for men and women — grounded in equal dignity and value. Where have you seen that conviction lived out well in our church, and where might we still need growth in honoring both the equality and the distinction?

1 Peter 3:7
If the gospel is the center of everything — the pinnacle of God's redemptive acts — then how should that shape the way we talk about church leadership, church discipline, missionary work, or even our daily struggles with sin and temptation?

Galatians 2:20

→ What would change this week if you returned to the gospel as the power and foundation for some challenge you're facing right now?

Daily readings · Monday–Friday

5-day reading plan

Monday 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Paul affirms that all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. As we embrace this vision of truth and beauty, we are anchored not in cultural trends or human opinion, but in the living authority of God's Word—the same Word that equipped the saints in every generation and equips us today for the whole counsel of God.

Tuesday Romans 11:36

"From him and through him and to him are all things." This doxology captures the Reformed conviction that undergirds Providence: God's sovereignty is not a cold doctrine but a ground for worship. All our plans, all our resources, all our church-planting dreams flow from his eternal purpose and return to his glory, filling us with gratitude and humility as we labor.

Wednesday Luke 24:44-47

The risen Jesus opens the disciples' minds to see that the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms all speak of him: his suffering, his resurrection, and the proclamation of repentance and forgiveness in his name to all nations. This is the theological north star for Providence: every passage we study, every sermon we hear, every doctrine we confess points to Christ as the fulfillment of God's redemptive purpose and the hope of our witness.

Thursday 1 Corinthians 12:4-13

Paul teaches that one Spirit gives different gifts—wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, prophecy, and tongues—to each believer as he wills, so that the body of Christ functions in vibrant interdependence. We affirm with joy that the Spirit is not a historical force but alive and active among us, filling believers with power for Christlikeness and for supernatural witness, cementing our unity as we steward these gifts in love.

Friday Matthew 28:19-20

The Great Commission is not a suggestion but a binding mandate from the risen Christ himself: go, make disciples, teach them all that Christ commanded. As Providence, we embrace this commission with joy, desiring to plant churches as God provides resources and to grow together in faith and witness—not for our own glory, but so that all nations might hear of Christ's redemptive work and bow before him.

Sunday-evening family table

Truth and Beauty in Our Church

For the parent

In the sermon, Pastor Dov described the church's vision as 'truth and beauty in community.' This prompt invites your family to think concretely about what that means — how Scripture shapes what we believe together, and how we pursue the good life as a church family. Listen for your kids' observations about what makes our church feel like a place where truth and beauty actually live.

When Pastor Dov talked about our church pursuing 'truth and beauty in community,' he meant we care about what the Bible actually says AND we care about living in a way that's beautiful and good together. What's one way you've seen that happen at Providence — maybe in a worship service, a community group, or just hanging out with church friends — where you felt like we were really living out truth AND beauty together?

works for ages 8+ — younger kids can listen and offer simpler observations; older kids and adults engage the fuller vision

Couples · three questions over coffee

Truth, Beauty, and Us

What struck you most about the vision of 'truth and beauty in community'—and where do you sense the Lord is calling us to grow in either of these in our own marriage?
How does understanding that Christ is at the center of all Scripture and God's redemptive plan change the way we read Scripture together or talk about our faith at home?
Where would you like us to pray for the Holy Spirit's filling and empowerment in our life together—whether in our witness, our sanctification, or our joy?

Memory verse this week

Matthew 28:19-20

Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'

Why this verse: This passage anchors Providence's entire vision and missional identity—the Great Commission establishes that disciple-making through church planting is the church's primary calling, directly supporting the sermon's emphasis on how the risen Christ commissions the church to grow in maturity and number. It also grounds the church's work in Christ's present authority and presence, reflecting the Reformed conviction that God sovereignly accomplishes His redemptive purposes through His people.

Series

Exploring Providence

Type

Topical

Tone

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Method

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What's in this sermon

The shape of the argument

13 units across exposition, application, illustration, theological claim, and conclusion. The pastor's argument is built from these moving parts.

Doctrinal loci· 11 surfaced

Ecclesiology · 5 Bibliology · 2 Pneumatology · 2 Sanctification · 2 Soteriology · 2 Anthropology · 1 Christology · 1 Doxology / Worship · 1 Pastoral Theology · 1 Providence / Sovereignty · 1 Theology Proper · 1

Illustrations· 2

hypothetical · unit #6 — The pastor provides two concrete examples of the Spirit's ordinary work: a believer enduring suffering with gratitude rather than complaint, and a believer growing in repentance. These illustrations clarify that the Spirit's activity includes sanctification, not only extraordinary gifts.
personal story · unit #11 — The pastor provides a personal example of the church's partnership with Sovereign Grace Churches: a recent regional call on evangelism where churches shared what they are doing to reach their communities. This illustrates the practical outworking of the seventh shared value and reinforces the benefit of not being isolated.

Theological claims· 8

The vision of Providence Community Church is "truth and beauty in community," meaning commitment to Scripture as God's authoritative Word and the pursuit of beauty, goodness, and the good life for God's glory. unit #1
Providence Community Church is Reformed in theology, meaning God receives all glory for everything, sovereignly working all things according to his will, with the redemption of sinners at the center of his purpose. unit #3
The Gospel is the pinnacle of God's redemptive acts and the center of the Bible story, and everything in Scripture relates to Christ — his preparation, accomplishment, or implications. unit #4
The Holy Spirit is alive and active in the church today, continually filling believers with power for the Christian life and witness, including both sanctification and supernatural gifts like tongues, prophecy, and healing. unit #5
Men and women are equal in dignity and value, both created in God's image, but are given distinct and complementary roles in the home and church that should be valued and pursued in joy and faith. unit #7
Jesus Christ gives the church elders to govern and lead under his authority, and the church's health is significantly dependent on the health of the elder plurality. unit #8
The risen Christ has commissioned the church to make disciples of all nations, fulfilled primarily through church planting, and the church desires to grow in maturity and number and to plant churches as God provides resources. unit #9
The unity for which Jesus prayed should find concrete expression in interdependence among churches, and Providence is part of Sovereign Grace Churches with fellowship and resources regionally and globally. unit #10

Read it

Full transcript

10,608 characters 13 units ~12 min reading time Listen instead →

0 · The pastor frames the teaching session as an exploration of the church's beliefs, expectations, and attitudes rather than a formal test, while emphasizing that life itself is the real test of convictions

Means, but that is our statement of faith that we adhere to, that we hold to. So I wanted to make sure that you had that so you can read that on the side. All joking aside, there. There will be no, like, you know, multiple choice test. But life is the test, right? In terms of what we hold on to, what we believe and what our convictions are. That's for you. But we're going to focus. We're going to focus mostly on really our beliefs and expectations and attitudes of Providence Community Church.

1 · The pastor articulates the church's vision statement — "truth and beauty in community" — and unpacks it doctrinally

And so the vision, the vision of Providence Community Church is truth and beauty in community. Truth and beauty in community. So what does that mean? First of all, we believe that God has revealed himself and his plans for his creation in His Word. And his word is truth. His word is truth. So we believe Bible is all scripture is God breathed. And so we believe in His Word being the truth and standard for our lives. And how we can know. How we can know God, what God is like, how we can be saved, how we can know the gospel and then how we can live. Like we heard about this morning in the sermon, Jesus saves us and then sends us with responsibility and then the truth and beauty value. Beauty is a nod to the classical transcendent values where we don't just celebrate truth, but we celebrate beauty as well. We love for beauty and goodness and we emphasize things like feasting and a grateful pursuit of the good life for the glory of God. So what does a true life look like? What does a beautiful life look like? We saw truth and beauty in community. That's the vision for Providence.

2 · The pastor invites questions and dialogue, sets expectations for the session's length, and pivots to the main content: the seven shared values of Sovereign Grace Churches

So now I'm gonna. Any questions on that real quick? And we can ask questions, we can dialogue throughout. This class will probably take about an hour and a half or so, depending on how quick we go. But feel free to ask questions as we go. And if you wanted more food, you can grab some more food too. So, all right, so what do we believe at Providence? What do we believe at Providence?

3 · The pastor introduces the first of seven shared values: Reformed theology

I'm gonna go over the seven shared values of sovereign grace churches. This is seven shared values of sovereign grace churches which will encompass and encapsulate the beliefs of our church. So we believe in Reformed theology. We are essentially reformed as a church, which really, when we boil it down to it, is that all glory is to God for everything. God receives a glory for everything. The glory for creation, the glory for salvation, the glory for towards, you know, the end of the age, everything we give God the glory for. So scripture presents the all glorious triune God as the source and end of all things. Sovereignly working all things according to his will. And at the center of God's purpose in the world is the exaltation of his glory through the redemption of sinners. So that's. So we are essentially reformed in our theology.

4 · The pastor articulates the second shared value: gospel centrality in doctrine and preaching

We also hold to a gospel centered value in doctrine and preaching. Gospel centered value in doctrine and preaching. So we believe that the Gospel, the good news of God's saving activity in Jesus Christ, is the pinnacle of his redemptive acts, the center of the Bible story and the essential message of our faith, life and witness. So we are gospel centered. We believe that the Gospel is the major overlying storyline of the Bible and that everything in the Bible relates to, you know, Christ or God's preparation for Christ or Christ's accomplishment, what he did by living perfect life, dying on the cross, rising from the grave, or then the implications of Christ's life and death. So everything centered on the gospel. And we are committed to preaching the gospel, singing the gospel, praying the gospel, building our churches upon the gospel.

5 · The pastor articulates the third shared value: continuationist pneumatology

Then we have continuationist Pneumatology. Continuationist Pneumatology. Couple big words for. We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity and is alive and active in the world and especially in the church. So with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, God's purpose to dwell among his people entered a new era. We believe that the Holy Spirit desires to continually fill each believer with increased power for the Christian life and witness, including the giving of his supernatural gifts for the building up of the church and for various works of ministry in the world. So we believe that the Spirit is active and alive in our sanctification. If someone's going through suffering and not grumbling, not complaining, but giving glory and gratitude to God, that is a work of the Spirit. If someone is growing and repenting of sin, that is a work of the Spirit. In addition to the extraordinary gifts, things like tongues and prophecy and healing, which we do believe are still active in the world. God bless you in the church. But we believe in broad activity of the Spirit. Continuationist, Pneumatology, Pneumatology, the study of the knowledge of the Spirit. And Continuationist. The Spirit is still working and alive. So we're not cessationists. So that's a big one. That can be always an area, an opportunity for discussion. Any questions on that or anything I've shared so far. Good.

6 · The pastor provides two concrete examples of the Spirit's ordinary work: a believer enduring suffering with gratitude rather than complaint, and a believer growing in repentance

If someone's going through suffering and not grumbling, not complaining, but giving glory and gratitude to God, that is a work of the Spirit. If someone is growing and repenting of sin, that is a work of the Spirit.

7 · The pastor articulates the fourth shared value: complementarian leadership in the home and church

All right, let's keep rolling. So one of our other values as A church is complementarian leadership in the home and church. Complementarian leadership in the home and church. What does that mean? We believe that men and women are designed by God to be equal to equality in dignity and worth and value. However, we believe that they are given distinct roles within the home and church. So we believe that it was God's glorious plan to create men and women in his image. So men and women both are in God's image, giving them equal dignity and value in his sight, while appointing differing and complementary roles for them within the home and the church. And because these roles give different expressions to God's image and humanity, they should be valued and pursued in joy and faith. So we could talk all, we could talk a long time about, you know, what are the distinct roles of men and women within the church. We can talk later. I can give recommendations for various books and resources that can help unpack what that means. But we do believe that men and women equal in value, equal in dignity, both in the image of God, but with complementary roles in the home and church.

8 · The pastor articulates the fifth shared value: elder governance and leadership

All right, number five, we believe that churches should be elder governed and elder led. And I'll introduce you to the leadership team a little bit later. Of this church, we believe that Jesus Christ reigns as head over his church and he gives his church elders or pastors to govern and lead local churches under his authority. We believe that men qualified with both character and gifting are to serve as elders, shepherding God's people as under shepherds of Christ. And a church's health is to a great degree dependent on the health of its plurality. So obviously the church's members are responsible for watching their lives, watching their doctrine and living for Christ. But certainly also the health of the church will very much be, say, dependent upon the health of the church plurality, the elder team.

9 · The pastor articulates the sixth shared value: church planting, outreach, and global mission

So, all right, six, we've got church planting, outreach and global mission. So our gospel centrality until it's not only treasuring the gospel personally, but sharing it passionately. And we talked about that a little bit today. We touched on a little bit today how God calls us and commissions us and sends us to share his message of salvation with to our family, friends, neighbor, community, workplace, to the ends of the earth. And as a church, we're committed to that. We, we will talk a little about our missions involvement and we'll talk a little about our evangelistic involvement in the community throughout today's class. But we are, we believe that the risen Christ has commissioned his church to make disciples of all nations. We believe that this commission falls to Us and all believers. And that is fulfilled in a primary way through church planting, whereby the gospel is proclaimed and converts are formed into communities of disciples. So we very much want to build up this congregation and see us grow in maturity and see us grow in number so more people are hearing the gospel, more people are hearing the Bible. We also desire, we long to plant churches as well. So we're not looking. We're looking. We're looking to plant churches as God allows and as resources people, time, treasure, talents God provides. We like to go out and plant churches in the Kansas City area and beyond.

10 · The pastor articulates the seventh shared value: unity in fellowship, mission, and governance

And the seventh shared value that we share with sovereign grace churches is we're united in fellowship, mission and government governance. So we believe that the unity for which Jesus prayed among his people should find concrete expression among believers and churches. Indeed, the New Testament testifies to a vibrant interdependence among churches in the first century. So Providence is part of sovereign grace churches. We are within the Midwest northwest region of sovereign churches. So we are friendly with, in cooperation with interdependent, with other churches in Minnesota, in Oregon, in South Dakota, that being our region, and then obviously also throughout the rest of the country and globally with sovereign grace churches. So we are united in fellowship and mission and governance. We're not just here, you know, kind of on an island, but we've got resources. We've got people there to serve us and help us and encourage us.

11 · The pastor provides a personal example of the church's partnership with Sovereign Grace Churches: a recent regional call on evangelism where churches shared what they are doing to reach their communities

This past Saturday, I got to sit on a call with some of the regional guys, just talking about evangelism and what we went around and shared. Each church got to share. What are you doing to reach your community? And I got to hear some good things from other churches, and I got to share some good stuff that we're doing as a church to share the gospel. So we're not here alone. We're in partnership other churches, which is, I think, glorious.

12 · The pastor concludes the presentation of the seven shared values and reminds the listeners that they have the full statement of faith in hand, which encompasses a wider range of theological beliefs derived from the church's partnership with Sovereign Grace Churches

All right, so those are our seven shared values, some of the core beliefs of Providence community church. You also have the statement of faith in your hands. So that also encompasses a wide variety of theological beliefs that we hold to as a church, that we have adopted as our church statement of faith, and that is derivative of our partnership and connection with sovereign grace churches. So I'll stop there. That was a lot of information. We've got the seven shared values, the doctrine of our church, any questions or anything.

Where this fits

Recent preaching context

The three sermons immediately preceding this one in the preaching schedule.

Feb 2, 2025

No One Ever Spoke Like This Man

Jesus Christ speaks and acts with unparalleled authority and grace because He came from God to save sinners and offer the Holy Spirit to all who believe in Him, and therefore we must adore, trust, and obey Him.

Feb 9, 2025

Eternal Divergence

Jesus draws an absolute line between light and darkness, freedom and slavery, children of God and children of the devil — and the health of your soul is revealed by how eagerly you long for his return.

Mar 30, 2025

The Divine Vinedresser

God will bear fruit through His children who abide in Christ, the true vine, and He will do whatever it takes—including painful pruning—to ensure that fruit is produced for His glory.

May 4 · This sermon

Exploring Providence Part 1: Vision & Values

Providence Community Church is committed to truth and beauty in community, grounded in Reformed theology, gospel centrality, and the seven shared values of Sovereign Grace Churches, equipping believers to know God, live beautifully, and fulfill the Great Commission together.

Where this was preached

About the church

Providence Community Church

Lenexa, KS
Sundays · 10:00 AM

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# Providence Community Church

A church preaching expository sermons through the books of the Bible.

## Sermons
- [No One Ever Spoke Like This Man (2025-02-02)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/no-one-ever-spoke-like-this-man-2025-02-02)
- [Eternal Divergence (2025-02-09)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/eternal-divergence-2025-02-09)
- [The Divine Vinedresser (2025-03-30)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/the-divine-vinedresser-2025-03-30)
- [Exploring Providence Part 1: Vision & Values (2025-05-04)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/exploring-providence-part-1-vision-values-2025-05-04)

## About
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