Sermons on Community
Dark Before Dawn: Sarah
The Dark before the Dawn There must be a God Doubt is not the end of faith Sarah kept walking in the dark Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. We hold each other’s hands in the dark Jude 22 Be merciful to those who doubt John the Baptist Matt. 3:11-12 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more…
Remember
Why Communion What happens when we don’t feel like worshiping? My self-perception, in part, depends on my ability to remember experiences My identity in Christ depends, in part, on my memories with God. Deut. 8:13-15 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of…
Playing the Movie Forward: Live life with fewer regrets
Play the Movie Forward: Live life with fewer regrets/ Making better decisions Any one thing you do is only a scene in a larger movie. To understand that action, you have to play it out all the way to the end of the movie. Henry Cloud Play the movie of our lives forward Proverbs 13:20b companion of fools suffers harm Our relationships determine our direction 1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” PR 18:24 A…
Faith
Faith II Faith “Lack of faith” was the only thing that Jesus ever reproved his disciples for Faith was key for Jesus’ ministry of healing, miracles, forgiveness of sin 2 Cor. 5:7 For we live by faith and not by sight Heb. 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God If we don’t understand what faith is, we don’t understand our Faith Heb. 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. How…
Surviving Earthquakes
Surviving Earthquakes: Security Change “All real change involves loss, anxiety and struggle.” Michael Fullan We all have an emotional platform that is held up by various pillars of dependance. I feel seasick on my emotional platform Ps. 33:22 Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone. Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. Zech. 4:7 Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.…
Locally Grown: Inward and Upward
Locally Grown – Inward and Upward God’s desire is to build a family/a nation/a gathering Psalm 34:3 Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together! Church = Gathering Colossians 1:24 I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church. The Gathering matters Our Christian faith is a team sport Somethings are better together Worship is Better…
Locally Grown: What is Church and Why Bother?
Locally Grown – Nov. 21, 2021 What is church and why bother? Jesus invented the church Church is the Gathering Matt. 16:16-18 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.…
Friendship Sunday
Friendship Sunday Oct. 24, 2021 The Roseto effect Good friendships extended our lives Asked to name the most exotic thing in the universe, most of us would mention either the very large black holes or the very small particles like quarks. But the most incredible structure in the entire universe may be what is sitting behind our eyeballs. Inside our heads is the most complex and sophisticated device in the universe. – Greg Peterson We are hard-wired for relationships Gen.…
Love Refreshed: Part III
Love Refreshed – Love the broken world May 23, 2021 Fire… Let me not be separated from him forever. This is eternal life, that they know you, the one true God, and the one that you sent, Jesus Christ… Let me never be separated from him… Eternally in joy. – Blaise Pascal “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each person which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator, made know through…
Love Refreshed: Part II
Love Refreshed – May 16, 2021 “After I had arrived in Ireland, I found myself pasturing flocks daily, and I prayed a number of times each day. More and more the love and fear of God came to me, and faith grew and my spirit was exercised, until I was praying up to a hundred times every day and in the night nearly as often.” “You’re going home your ship is ready.” “We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to…