Sermon

Growing into the Fullness of Christ

As humans, all of us have grown up from infants. We start with simple things like learning to turn over to our stomach or back. We learn to crawl. We begin to pull ourselves up and eventually take some tottering steps. But it isn't long until we can run, skip, and jump. What was once impossible becomes ordinary.

Our faith similarly develops over time, indeed over our entire lives. We were not created and saved to remain how we are, but to grow into the full stature of Christ. This is God's lifetime work in us, and this side of heaven we will always have room to grow.

Where are you growing in your faith? What step is God calling you to take? How is God using you?

Our life in Christ is a journey of saying "yes" to God's will in our life.

Scripture: Ephesians 4:7-16

United in Baptism

1 Cor. 12:13
For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

In Over Our Heads Together

Faith can be scary. If we can do it on our own, it doesn't take faith. Faith is following Jesus in ways that are beyond our own ability - over our heads. Not only that, God invites us to take these steps of faith together, not alone.

Essential Unity

God's love and blessings for you far exceed your expectations. However, most people pray and hope for God to bless their own plans, rather than seeking God's. One of the great calls for God's people is to unity in worship, fellowship, and service. Is this unity something you for pray and work for?

Worship, scripture, and prayer are vital parts of the Christian life. Growing in a living relationship with Jesus blesses and transforms us. The living presence of the Holy Spirit empowers us.

But until we commit to living out the second greatest commandment and the fulness of the last six commandments, until we, as the first verse of today's scripture describes, lead a life worthy of the calling to which we have been called, baring with one another in love, we are only partaking of a small part of God's plans for his people.

God calls us not only to himself, through Christ's work on the cross, but inseparably he also calls us into unity and community with each other.

We cannot have live in full relationship with God without relationship with others.

Race to the Bottom

Humility, gentleness, and patience are not what the world or our own short-sightedness lead us toward, and yet they are indelible characteristics of Jesus, and essential to being worthy of the calling to which we have been called.

Boundless Love

Sermon August 8, 2021
Acts 4:32-37

The lives of the first Christians were radically changed by the great grace they received and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. It was a revolutionary transformation of their hearts and lives, as God's love for them directed their lives, rather than self-interest.

Standup and Walk

Sermon August 1, 2021
Acts 4:1-22

The man healed in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth needed to do something he had never done before, to stand up and walk. The formerly lame man leaping and praising God created a problem for the religious leaders in Jerusalem. They had ancient traditions and accumulated power. They recently pressured the Roman governor to crucify Jesus. Not only were people now talking about Jesus' resurrection, they themselves were witness to a man that had been lame for over 40 years being healed in Jesus' name.

Jesus disrupted the Jerusalem religious establishment by proclaiming the kingdom of God, acts of healing and compassion, and decrying the abuses of the religious leaders. Now Jesus followers were doing the same thing.

The formerly lame man could have returned to his stretcher and begging, but he didn't. If we have been set free of sin and death, we too must enter into the new life this makes possible.

Now I See It!

Sermon July 25, 2021

In faith, as in life, we not only need accurate information, but must also know what it means.

The people in Jerusalem who watched Peter and John heal the lame man in Jesus' name came to a number of faulty conclusions. Seeing this healing, they thought Peter and John had healed them, something Peter quickly credited to Jesus. Prior to this, the crowds in Jerusalem had cried for Jesus to be crucified, not comprehending who Jesus truly was. The crowds were used to the ordinary, not the extraordinary power of God.

Peter calls for them to repent, to have a change of heart and faith, their sins to be wiped out, and enter into a time of refreshment that comes from the presence of Jesus.

Scripture: Acts 3:11-21, 26

Expecting too Little

Sermon July 18, 2021

As Peter and John were heading to the Temple to pray, a man lame from birth asked them for alms. Peter explains that he doesn't have any cash, but he will give him something far better - healing of his life-long infirmity.

We are often tempted to settle for far less than God offers. Rather than going through the motions, what would happen if we take the steps God is already leading us toward?

God's plan is to make us "new" people, not just better people.

Scripture: Acts 3:1-10

Boundless Love

Sermon July 11, 2021