Sermon
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.
Easter Worship, April 4, 2021
Christ is Risen!
He is not here, but has risen.
Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,
that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners,
and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.”
He is risen indeed!
How is your life be any different because of Easter? Is Easter a day on the calendar or the unveiling of great hope?
The resurrection of Jesus, breaking the power of sin and death, reveals that God's power and purposes far surpass human expectations.
The women who went to the tomb that morning were prepared to anoint Jesus' cold, dead body. They were confounded and confused to not find Jesus' body where it had been laid.
It wasn't until the two men (angels) asked them a key question, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen."
The women then remembered all that Jesus had told them, about how the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.
Their mourning was turned into dancing as they raced to tell the others that Jesus had risen from the dead.
Good Friday Tenebrae Service 2021
Approaching the Cross
while we still were sinners Christ died for us.
Walk with Jesus from his time of prayer and betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane, through his trials, suffering, death on the cross, and burial in the tomb, using the words of the Gospel of John.
You are invited to listen to the words of Scripture, not just with your ears and mind, but especially with your heart and imagination as we walk alongside Jesus.
The word Tenebrae means darkening or shadows. In a Tenebrae service, as the scripture approaches Jesus' death, candles are extinguished and the darkness grows. People traditionally celebrate this type of service on the Thursday or Friday preceding Easter.
We encourage participants to designate four lights (or sets of lights) to extinguish at times designated on the screen -- moving your room into deeper darkness. Ideally when you extinguish the fourth light, your room will be mostly dark apart from the dim light of the screen for the final readings and musical piece.
Sunday Worship, March 28, 2021
Exceeding Expectations
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Jesus, Son of God and the Messiah, taught, healed, lived, suffered, died, and was raised, not so things would improve, but so that all creation would forever be different.
Many in the crowds shouting, "Hosanna!" welcomed Jesus as God's means of removing Roman rule and restoring Israel to its glory. Instead, Jesus' journey to Jerusalem, on the way to the cross and resurrection, is a work of God's great love and grace, offering new and eternal life and revealing the kingdom of God.
It isn't that we expect too much from Jesus, but that we expect too little.
