Sermon
Worship June 20, 2021
Father's Day
and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice,
because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life;
he was lost and has been found.’”
Father's Day June 20, 2021
We often mistake Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son as being about the wayward son returning home. Instead, Jesus' parable is about the father who celebrates the return of his son, who had insulted and rejected him and his values. It is a parable of the great hope we have in God's faithful love and grace, that we can return home to our Heavenly Father who welcomes us.
The preacher this Sunday is Rev. Richard Black.
Pastor Black is no stranger to our congregation. In years past, Pastor Black preached at our church a number of times, and Pastor Paul has preached for him at Westminster Towers. It is wonderful to welcome him and his wife Midge (Margret) to share God's word with us on Father's Day.
Pastor Black served as a chaplain with the Marines in Vietnam, and later retired as a Navy Captain. This iconic photo was taken of him at Con Thien in September 1967. He later served as the Chaplain at Westminster Towers.
Worship June 13, 2021
Fresh Start
in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven;
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
Acts 2:38
A fresh start is a great gift that we all need. Being human, we all make mistakes, and need the opportunity to start fresh. Peter preaches to a crowd of devote Jews that were gathered in Jerusalem, revealing that Jesus' crucifixion was the end, but only a new beginning in His resurrection. They were cut to the heart and cried out, "What must we do?" Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus, and you will receive the Holy Spirit."
Repentance is more and better than a fresh start, it is a fresh start in the right direction rather than repeating the same mistakes hoping for a different outcome.
Worship June 6, 2021
I See it Now!
that God has made him both Lord and Messiah,
this Jesus whom you crucified.
We often assume that God agrees with us, instead of our seeking God's will. As a result, we often miss God's greatest purposes and blessings.
Those who called for Jesus to be crucified thought that they were serving God by getting rid of Jesus, who was interrupting many of the things they thought were so important. The great news is that God gets his way, and not only was Jesus raised from the dead, but God made him both Lord and Messiah.
May we discover new and abundant life as we seek God’s will, rather than our own, not that we get our way, but that God get’s his.
Worship May 23, 2021
I See it Now!
Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God,
and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit,
he has poured out this that you both see and hear.
Sometimes the thing we need most is right in front of us. Unfortunately, what we think we know often obscures what we most need to know.
When Peter preached after receiving the Holy Spirit, he had the difficult task of helping people to see something that was right in front of them - Jesus as Messiah and Lord. Peter uses the Prophet Joel and the Psalms to show how Jesus, including his death and resurrection, was the fulfillment of Scripture.
What would it take to reveal to us something amazing about Jesus?
Worship May 23, 2021
Who? Me?
and began to speak in other languages,
as the Spirit gave them ability.
Jump to Scripture and Sermon: https://youtu.be/zBs5t3U7idM?t=323
Pentecost is often referred to as the birth of the church. Before ascending into heaven, Jesus instructed his disciples to remain in Jerusalem where they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them. But Jerusalem was just the starting point. From there Jesus said that they will be his witnesses spreading into Judea and Samaria, and from there to the ends of the earth.
This is a big step for a group of previously fairly ordinary fishermen, tax collectors, and other common people. They had followed Jesus for three years as his disciples, but having received the Holy Spirit, Jesus sends them out to continue his work of the kingdom of God.
Our knowing about Jesus is a testimony to the Holy Spirit empowering ordinary people over the centuries to do God's extraordinary work.
God's purpose for each of us is to live and speak the message of Jesus, not to sit in a pew. There are no Christians on the sidelines.
Worship May 16, 2021
Hungering for God
long for the pure, spiritual milk,
so that by it you may grow into salvation.
Jump to Scripture and Sermon: https://youtu.be/u2museO72PU?t=807
Children bear a resemblance to their parents. Eyes, hair, mouth, height, and many other traits each carry little links to the people whose DNA shapes us. Similarly, our attitudes are influenced by the people we spend time with.
In what way do you, who you are and they way you live, resemble your Heavenly Father and are shaped by the time you spend following Jesus?
Worship May 9, 2021
In With the New
set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ
will bring you when he is revealed.
Jump to Scripture and Sermon: https://youtu.be/Zl4HrVVChyw?t=685
Cemeteries are often the best place to make big decisions. They remind us that our bodies have an expiration date. As the saying goes, “no one on their death bed wishes they spent more time at the office." Many of the things that felt so important are exposed as worthless and many of the things that seemed undesirable as invaluable.
Today's passage urges, "Do not be conformed to the desires that you formally had in ignorance." We live in a world where many worthless things captivate our attention, and we seek to avoid some of the most valuable.
In Jesus we find the example and grace we need in order that we might release the things that hold us captive so that we might be freed to receive the abundant life Jesus came to bring.
Worship May 2, 2021
Sprinkled with His Blood
and sanctified by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ
and to be sprinkled with his blood:
May grace and peace be yours in abundance.
People in the 21st century are squeamish when it comes to blood, and yet it is vital for us to understand the place of blood in scripture, both the blood of animal sacrifices and that of Jesus.
Fast Forward to Scripture and Sermon: https://youtu.be/MxG25A2dV8U?t=449
Sermon April 25, 2021
Faith is a Fork in the Road
and sanctified by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ
and to be sprinkled with his blood:
May grace and peace be yours in abundance.
Life is full of forks in the road, the choice to go one way or another. Some may not make much of a difference in life and eternity, and others will.
Jesus is a fork in the road that affects everything – a beginning in a new direction. To be a Christian is not a one-time event, but life itself. To be a Christian opens amazing opportunities, but it results in a different path than we were on previously. Jesus said, “If we want to be his followers, we must deny ourselves and take up our crosses daily to follow him.” Faith in Jesus is far more than knowing about Jesus, it is having enough faith in him to dare to live what he taught and how he lived.
Sermon April 18, 2021
Not Our Home
and sanctified by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ
and to be sprinkled with his blood:
May grace and peace be yours in abundance.
Do you ever feel out of place?
In 1st Peter 1:1-9 scripture speaks of the Christians living in what is now Turkey as exiles - they are away from their homeland. The Jews knew something of exile. Scripture tells the story of their exile in Babylon. Scripture, including later in this chapter, also uses exile to speak of Christians now living on the earth - this is not our home.
Over history, Christians have sometimes removed themselves from the world around them, cloistering with other Christians and pursuing their faith in isolation. This is not the example Jesus gives us.
Jesus is our great example of living in exile, and the Apostle Paul urges us to think and live in exile as Jesus did.
