Sermon
Sunday Worship, February 21, 2021
Dare to Live Faith
“We have never seen anything like this!”
Often, the very things we think are interruptions are exactly where God is at work. All too often we expect God to do things the way we think he should, and if we do we can easily mistake God's purposes and presence as an interruption rather than the whole point.
In today's scripture Jesus' preaching is interrupted, but the interruption reveals Jesus as the Son of God.
Sunday Worship, February 14, 2021
Jesus Chooses
Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him,
and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!”
The many choices we make every day, both big and small, reveal what is most important to us. A man with leprosy says to Jesus, "If you choose, you can make me clean." Jesus chooses to do something others were afraid to do, he reaches out and touches this man others regarded as untouchable and heals him.
Jesus' choice to touch an unclean outcast reveals a powerful truth about the value God places on those in need, people regarded as unclean, and humility.
May we receive this grace for ourselves and generously share it with others - particularly those others avoid.
Sunday Worship, February 7, 2021
Into the Quiet
Jesus got up and went out to a deserted place,
and there he prayed.
We live in the midst of a busy and chaotic world with never ceasing demands for our attention and efforts. Faced with demands and expectations, Jesus found a quiet place and prayed. May we do likewise.
Sunday Worship, January 31, 2021
Divine Interruptions
“What is this? A new teaching—with authority!
He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”
We all miss gathering together, hugs, and the fellowship of those we love. We all long to return to the way thing were, and there much of eternal value to that, but God never leads anyone back to the way things once were. Instead, God’s purposes and path fully embrace the present while leading toward what is yet to be.
Sunday Worship, January 24, 2021
Faith on the Edge
“Follow me and I will make you fish for people.”
And immediately they left their nets and followed him.
The call of Jesus, by its very nature, takes us far beyond what we can do on our own, so God can accomplish, in and through us, what only God can do.
Sunday Worship, January 17, 2021
Bigger and Better
you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending
and descending upon the Son of Man.”
Philip and Nathanael recognized Jesus as the Messiah and had high expectations for him. What they did not expect was that God had big and better plans for them. And, if we dare, for us too.
Sunday Worship, January 10, 2021
I have called you by name, you are mine.
Endings and transitions bring change, and very possibly fear, anxiety, and sadness. But let us remember that God is at work fulfilling God's good will.
We may be reluctant to close a chapter in our life, but let us trust God together. God was here before us, God is here with us in this moment, and God will see us through.
Sunday Worship, January 3, 2021
Epiphany Sunday
Epiphany refers to something being revealed or a sudden insight.
What would happen if we experienced an epiphany revealing Jesus beyond our tame expectations? Why do we often avoid what we consider "costly" steps of faith that are actually the path following Jesus?
Sunday Worship, December 27, 2020
First Sunday of Christmas
was the light of all people.
Christmas, the birth of Jesus, does not end with Jesus laying in a manger. It is an amazing revelation of God's love, that he would send his Son into the world so that we might live through him.
Christmas Eve Worship, December 24, 2020
Christmas Eve
God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.
Like the shepherds, let us go an see the Christ-child that God has given.
Our worship service tells the story of God's great expression of love through, song, scripture and the sacrament of communion.
Please consider gathering communion elements from your home for communion such as bread, crackers, water, juice or wine and a candle to light later in the service.
Scripture passages for this Sunday:
* Isaiah 9:27-
* Luke 1:26-38
* Luke 2:1-7
* Luke 2:8-20
