Hosea 3:1-5
God keeps his promises—that we can count on. But there are times in the Bible, like with Abraham, where God makes a covenant with an oath even greater than a promise. God’s covenant shows just how much we can trust Him.
Knowing God: The God I Can Trust
Hebrews 6:13-20
God keeps His promises, that we can count on. But there are times in the Bible, like with Abraham, where God does makes a covenant with an oath even greater than a promise. God's covenant shows just how much we can trust Him.
Knowing God: The Majesty of God
1 Chronicles 29:10-16
When we make God small in our lives, everything else gets really big. In 1 Chronicles 29, David prays a prayer to a BIG God and everything else is kept in its proper perspective. How big is your God?
Knowing God: God with a Name
Exodus 3:1-14
Exodus 3 is a great place to start a series on Knowing God. Time and place matter to the Living God as He gets Moses's (and our) attention. And who He reveals Himself to be is foundational for us all.
Living. Faith.: Prayer and Care
James 5:13-20
James says that life is hard. We’ll look into prayer, healing and faith and find insights into a new perspective on life. How we respond to this different perspective will influence the people around us and determine our future. God’s Word will show us how this perspective can be ours.
Living. Faith.: Patience in an Impatient World
James 5:7-11
How patient a person are you? It seems ours is an increasingly impatient society and it's so easy to get caught up in it. And yet as followers of Christ, we're called to be patient. It's a fruit of the Spirit in us! James offers three ways we can grow in this key aspect of Living Faith.
Living. Faith.: The Bad and Good of Following God's Will: Does That Include Our Money, Too?
James 4:13 - 5:6
Living. Faith.: He Gives More
James 4:1-12
James 4:1-12 is another section where he begins by addressing a behavior issue (quarreling) but continues to go deeper until he identifies a root cause. Look in your own heart and you’ll see a lot of root cause. The antidote needs to be more. Thank God He gives more!
Baptism Service: Crossing the Starting Line
John 1:35-42; 15:4-5; 20:17
Baptism is often described as a 'public declaration of a personal decision.' But in baptism, we're not declaring that we’ve crossed the finish line. Baptism is actually declaring that we’ve just started out. When Jesus's disciples start out with him, he says, "Come and you will see." And the decision declared in the waters of baptism never anticipates all that will be seen.
* This sermon was presented at our annual park service. As such, the recording quality is not on the same level as some of our other sermon recordings. Also, the first couple minutes were not recorded.
Living. Faith.: Wisdom Works
James 3:13-18
After having looked at the damage our words can do (vv. 1-12), James now shows us how the meekness of wisdom works. Meekness of wisdom? That's quite a contrast from the behavior that's making headlines nowadays. Yes, and that's why it's desperately needed.
Living. Faith.: Words Matter
James 3:1-12
As we seek to live out what we believe, James calls our attention to a key area where we get tripped up: words matter. Our tongues get us into trouble. But more than just looking at the damage our tongues can do, James directs our attention to the source of the problem. Will we resolve to live what we believe?
* We experienced some technical difficulties with this recording. There is a section partway through where a few minutes of the recording are missing.
Living. Faith.: Like a Screen Door on a Submarine
James 2:14-26
Today's sermon title is from a song written by Rich Mullins, where he writes, "Faith without works is like a song you can't sing / It's about as useless as a screen door on a submarine." Do you find yourself wondering why your experience of faith falls flat? Maybe you need to change some doors on your submarine. Listen to the message to find out how.
Living. Faith.: A Community of Kingdom Justice
James 2:1-13
When we think about the attributes of God, does his impartiality ever make the list? We often recognize His omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence, etc., but do we recognize that He is not a respecter of people, in that He blesses and judges impartially?
Living. Faith.: Testing the Reality of Our Life in Christ
James 1:19-27
In today’s passage, James hits the bullseye with his pointed questions and commands. Ouch!
Living. Faith.: The Father's Firstfruits in a Suffering Society
James 1:1-18
We begin a series in James, a letter calling us to a living faith and to living our faith. Life is hard and we're often tempted to rely on things other than our generous Father to get us through. Let's let James guide us in living out what we believe.
Letting the Spirit and Scripture Do the Work
As followers of Jesus, we are "good-news-izers." We are to share with others the hope and forgiveness we have through Jesus. The trouble is, we don't always know how to do this well. This Sunday, we'll learn how to let the Holy Spirit and Scripture do the work when we join in the conversation.
Our Powerful Praxis
John 20:19-23
This Sunday is Vision Sunday where we look ahead to what God is calling us to be and do in the coming year, as well as celebrate all He has done in the previous year. God is calling us to live out a Trinity Way of Life. Crucial to this call is Our Powerful Praxis, where we walk in the Spirit, centered on Christ and sent into the world.
Holding Fast
2 Timothy 2:8-13
With all that's going on in life, we need to hold fast to the true Gospel, knowing that it is powerful in its working. The Apostle Paul writes this from a prison cell, so he knows what it means to rejoice in the 'unbound' Word!
Tomorrow Begins Today: Living the Blessing
Luke 24:50-53
As the resurrected Jesus physically leaves his disciples, He blesses them. The disciples, in turn, return to Jerusalem to continually bless God. When Tomorrow Begins Today, we adopt a posture of living the blessing with the whole of our lives.
Tomorrow Begins Today: Living as Witness of the Resurrection
Luke 24:44-49
Before heading out to demonstrate the love of Christ on Blessing Sunday, we first sit under His Word to equip us. He sends us out as witnesses to the resurrection, but what evidence would we point to if we were asked for "proof"?