Sermon

Sermon December 12, 2021

Bear fruits worthy of repentance.

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Scripture: Luke 3:3-18

What does preparing the way of the Lord Jesus look like? Are you ready?

Sermon December 5, 2021

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.
Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth.
And all people will see God’s salvation.”

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Luke 3:1-6

John the Baptist's message, preparing the way for the coming of the Lord, was a call to a new way of living in which God fills, levels, straightens, and smooths the obstacles between God and humanity in the birth of Jesus.

Sermon November 21, 2021

Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud
with power and great glory.
Now when these things begin to take place,
stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.

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Luke 21:25-32

The farther we can see ahead, the better decisions we can make. Jesus tells his disciples of the signs of his return in power, not to scare them, but to give them hope and a purpose. Our great opportunity is to live in the midst of God's work in the world leading toward this great event.

Sermon November 21, 2021

Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me,
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.’

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Luke 15:11-32

God invites us to celebrate the return of the wayward lost with him.

Sermon November 14, 2021

I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

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Luke 15:1-10

Out of love and grace, our God searches for the wayward and lost. We once were lost, but now we are found.

Sermon November 7, 2021

God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.

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Mourning, crying and pain are part of our lives and our world, yet it will not always be that way. We are told of a day when the creator of the universe, in an amazingly personal and intimate gesture, acknowledges our pain, comforts us, and welcomes us into his new creation.

Forks in the Road

Be careful then how you live,
not as unwise people but as wiser.

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If Jesus is Lord of our life, our path through life will be different because of it. There will be things we must say "no" to in order to say "yes" to others.

Scripture: Ephesians 5:15-20

Anger Management

Be angry but do not sin;
do not let the sun go down on your anger.

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Are you ever angry?
Do you ever do and say things you later regret when you are angry?

If you said yes to either of these questions, welcome to the human race.

Let us learn to deal with anger in godly ways, as well as learning to avoid the burden and danger of unnecessary anger.

Scripture: Ephesians 4:22-5:2

Godly Anger

Be angry but do not sin;
do not let the sun go down on your anger.

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Christians do not talk much about anger, and yet each of us experiences it. Even though we often avoid the subject of anger, scripture does not. Even Jesus gets angry.

Some people blow up and explode in anger, saying and doing things they otherwise never even dream of. Others avoid anger, stuffing it deep inside, unsuccessfully hoping it will go away.

In the big picture, when we consider that God is rightly angry toward sin, what does God's anger lead him to do? God gives his only son, not to condemn the world, but so we might live through him. God's anger resolves into our salvation.

Anger motivates us to action, particularly injustices inflicted upon others, but guided by the same love in which God sent his only son as a living sacrifice.

If that is how God responds to our sins, for which he is rightly angry, so it also is to be how we respond to those who sin against us.
Scripture: Ephesians 4:22-5:2

Taking Flight

Be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
and to clothe yourselves with the new self,
created according to the likeness of God
in true righteousness and holiness.

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Jesus calls us from our old ways and to a new self.

No matter how you look at it, this means change. Someone said, "God loves you just the way you are, but he also loves you enough to transform and heal who you are."

Scripture: Ephesians 4:17-24