Category: Sermon Series
UNstuck
Beginning the weekend of June 6th & 7th, I’ll be sharing a four week message series with our congregation entitled, “UNstuck.” I’m pretty sure it was 7th grade science when I was first introduced to the famous principles of physics discovered by Sir Isaac Newton. This idea has always stuck in my mind otherwise known as Newton’s first law.
“An object at rest remains at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced force.”
I’ve discovered that simple idea to be true in my life in so many different ways. When we think about our personal lives, perhaps we could simplify Newton’s law to just three simple words…
Change is hard.
I’m pretty sure that right now, all of us could list 3-5 things that we’d really like to change about our life. We don’t lack desire, but day by day, week by week, year by year, the change we long to experience continues to be delayed… and we find ourselves STUCK.
And the longer we wait, the harder it seems to get… because an object at rest… we’ll you know the rest…
But here’s the question I want us to think about during this series… Many of us want our lives “fixed.”We’ve already said that, but… Is it possible that God longs to do the fixing if only we have the courage to take the right steps? Could that be the “unbalanced force” we’re looking for? If so, what are those next steps?
And then… we might be interested in this question…
How might God use the momentum generated in our life when we finally do get “UNstuck?”
That’s what we’re interested in discovering during this series… If you don’t know this already, Jesus was the master at getting people “UNstuck.” He did it all the time. During this series, we’ll be looking at three of those encounters from the book of John as we consider how we might get “UNstuck.”
I hope you’ll join me for the following messages.
June 6th/7th: Let’s Start With the “Why”
June 13th/24th: The First Step in Getting UNstuck
20th/21st: New Ways of Living Require New Ways of Thinking
June 27th/28th: The Way God Sees Us
*Sermon audio will be linked here following each week.
Category: Sermon Series
Upside Living in a Downside Economy
Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:11-13
In February , the jobless rate in America climbed to 8.1%, the highest rate in 25 years. By the following month, it had crept to 9% nationally. In a recent survey, 1 in 4 Americans shared that they are worried about being laid off. For many months now, news of the economic downturn has dominated the national and global news, and for many months, the news seems to keep getting worse.
We find ourselves in a season of stress and worry about what tomorrow may bring, and many of us are wondering, “Is there any good news coming?”
During this series of messages, we will look at some of the qualities and practices of the “Upside Life” that have defined the Christian faith in seasons of “plenty” and seasons of “need.” Looking at the teachings of Jesus and the life of Paul, we’ll dive into the good news that Christ brings to any and all who respond to the invitation to live their lives in a new and different way.
I hope you will join us as we seek to discover how to live the “Upside Life” in a downside economy.
April 18th: “Does God Care?”
April 25th: “Are You Recession Ready?”
May 2nd: “When Enough is Enough” [audio not available]
May 9th : “Salvation Has Come to This House”
May 16th : “Hearing God’s Voice in an Economic Meltdown”
*Sermon audio will be linked here following each week.
Category: Sermon Series
Sons & Daughters
“Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.” Deuteronomy 6:6-7
Nurturing and supporting our daughters and sons in faith is one of the most sacred responsibilities for any family as well as the family of faith. Whenever a child is baptized in our community, we share these words as an act of commitment to the child and his/her family.
With God’s help, we will so order our lives after the example of Christ, that this child, surrounded by steadfast love, may be established in the faith, and confirmed and strengthened in the way that leads to life eternal.
Throughout the Bible, we hear God’s call upon all disciples to model and pass on the faith. Over the next four weeks, we want to challenge ourselves with this question: How are we empowering the children that God has entrusted to us to become men and women who will follow God’s heart?
Join us during this first series of the year as we explore this holy task of raising men and women who will follow God’s heart.
During this series, I’ll be sharing these four messages.
January 31st : “Job Descriptions”
February 7th : “We will so order our lives”
February 14th : “Surrounded by steadfast love”
February 21st : “The way that leads to life”
*Sermon audio will be linked here following each week.
Category: Sermon Series
The Year of Living Biblically
What would your life look like if you committed to making 2009 a “Year of Living Biblically?” What parts of your life would have to change? What would be the biggest challenge for you? How might your life look different in 365 days? We consider the Bible to be a book of incredible wisdom and promise, but do we really understand what it means to live Biblically? From the seemingly bizarre instructions we sometimes find in the Old Testament to some of the more radical ideas that Jesus offers, all of us are sometimes left to ponder, what does it mean to live according to the Bible? I want to invite you to join me on a special journey as we explore these questions and how God might be calling us to live in the new year ahead.
During this series, I’ll be sharing these four messages.
January 3rd : Experiencing the gift of Sabbath
January 10th : The Blessing of Boundaries
January 17th : Pursuing a lifestyle of Holiness
January 24th : Living in the year of Jubilee
*Sermon audio will be linked here following each week.
Category: Sermon Series
Engaging the Light of Christmas
John’s Gospel begins with these words…
In him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
It is evident that we live in a world that is often marked by darkness… A world that is filled with despair, anxiety, sorrow and fear. It is into this world that Jesus comes bringing something remarkably different…
Into the darkness, Jesus brings light.Into our despair, Jesus brings hope. Into our anxiety, Jesus brings peace. Into our sorrow and loneliness, Jesus brings joy. Into our fear, Jesus brings love.
To celebrate this special season… To participate in the retelling and the reliving of this ancient story is to engage the light that he has brought into our world and still brings to us today.
I hope you will join us during this season as we focus around “Engaging the Light of Christmas” with this series of messages.
November 29th : The Light of Hope
December 6th: The Light of Peace
December 13th: The Light of Joy
December 20th: The Light of Love
*Sermon audio will be linked here following each week.
Category: Sermon Series
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