
LET’S TALK ABOUT IT – HOT TOPICS!
April 26 & 27, 2025 // Pastor Mike Berry
1. THE BIG ISSUE TO GOD IS
“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit,”
Ephesians 5:18, NIV
2. WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
Ephesians 3:16–19, NIV
3. THE BIBLE IS CLEAR
“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Galatians 5:19–21, NIV
4. IT’S NOT THAT HARD TO SAY
“Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.”
Lamentations 3:40, NIV
“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!”
Revelation 3:15, NIV
“He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate— bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts.”
Psalm 104:14–15, NIV
5. WE SHOULD
“For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.”
1 Timothy 4:4–5, ESV
6. WE SHOULD BE CAREFUL THAT OUR
“Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak.”
1 Corinthians 8:9–10, NIV
7. IF WE CHOOSE TO DRINK, WE NEED TO DRINK
“Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.”
Proverbs 20:1, NIV
“Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine. Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. Your eyes will see strange sights, and your mind will imagine confusing things. You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging. “They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt! They beat me, but I don’t feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?”
Proverbs 23:29–35, NIV
“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.”
1 Corinthians 6:12, ESV
8. YOU CAN BE
“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
John 10:10, NKJV
Action Steps: What and who are you filling your life with that you need to look at? How can you do a better job of being filled with the Holy Spirit? What behaviors do you have that could be a stumbling block to others? What do you know that you need to give up in your life?