Message: Exodus 3:13-15 "Names of God"
God revealed his sacred, divine Name to Moses
and the Israelites as He called them to follow Him into the wilderness. This is
the Name everyone was careful not to speak in vain. God is known by many other
Names as well, which reveal His nature and Who is is for us in so many
different circumstances. What is God's Name for you in this season of your
life?
Message: 2 Peter 3:8-9 “Sayings of Saints: Mary of Egypt”
“Blessed
is God who cares for the salvation of all Souls”
In
this message we’ll look at God’s heart for all humanity. God does not like how
our sin destroys one another, but He love us endlessly. We can cultivate our
attitudes to be the same as God’s, who does not desire that any should perish,
but truly desires the healing and restoration of even our enemies. There is
great freedom in overcoming love with hate.
Message: Psalm 42:1-8 “Sayings of Saints: Augustine of Hippo”
“Our heart is restless until it finds its rest in You”
We
are often unsatisfied in life because we are looking for life in all the wrong places,
or we are needing life to be some certain way. The cure for finding fullness of
life is to find ourselves in God. In God we already have everything we need,
including unconditional love and meaning.
Message:
Romans 8:12-17 “Sayings of Saints: St. Benedict”
St. Benedict encourages us to “Listen and attend with the ear of your Heart” We are often searching outside ourselves for God’s wisdom and direction. But God is often speaking to us in a more personal, inner way. He shows up in many ways throughout any given day. He usually speaks to us more about ourselves and our own inner thoughts than He does about other people or external situations. He is always calling us toward Christlikeness. He is often showing us who we truly are and helping us to shed our False selves and judgments. How is God speaking to and shaping your heart these days?
Message: Psalm 139:1-12 “Sayings of Saints: Amma Theodora”
Amma
Theodora tells the story of a monk who thought if he left his monastery he
would leave all his troubles and struggles behind, but he discovers this is not
the case. There was something he was not considering. Amma Theodora’s word to
us is “Wherever you go, there you are.” In this message we discover that we
cannot run from our own issues and there is usually more to be learned by
‘staying’ than ‘leaving.’ Not only can we not outrun ourselves, but thankfully,
God gladly finds us wherever we find ourselves.
Message: Luke 5:15-16 “Sayings of Saints: Abba Moses”
As we
begin this new series, “Sayings of Saints”, we start off with the Desert Father
Abba Moses, who lived in Egypt between 330AD – 405AD. Abba Moses instructs
followers of Jesus saying, “Go, sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you
everything.” The “cell” was the monks place of silence and solitude, where he
or she would be confronted by the inner life, which would direct their
conversation with God. For the Christian who desires to grow in Christlikeness,
silence and solitude are essential. Only there are we able to pay attention to
our inner thoughts and feelings. Only there are we able to reflect on our
actions and motivations. And it is there that we are able to connect most
intentionally with God in prayer. The Gospels tell us that “Jesus often withdrew
to deserted places to pray.” It was in silence and solitude with the Father
that Jesus found his center and guidance for his life.
Message: Genesis 50:15-21 “God’s Hidden Hand”
In
this final message from our Genesis series we’re encouraged to let God be God.
Since we don’t have to play God, we don’t need to teach anyone any lessons or
put anyone in their place. We can also trust that God’s Hidden Hand is at work
redeeming even the broken actions and places of this world. We can trust our
lives to Him, especially when our lives aren’t going as we had hoped or
planned.
Message: Genesis 48:12-20 “Less is More”
Time and again in Scripture we see God lift up and even favor the unlikely and those who otherwise would have no position or status in society. There is little he can do for those who only seek their own benefit and advancement. But those who were at a disadvantage are more ready to realize their dependence on God. Even more, if they don’t become conceited, they will seek to lift up the underdog themselves. In this way God has always meant for humanity to be keepers of one another. How has God uniquely gifted you to serve others?
Message: Genesis 47:1-12 “Seasons of Life"
After discovering that Joseph is alive and ruling under Pharoah in Egypt, Jacob moves the whole family to this foreign land to survive the famine. Little do they know this move will last 400yrs for his descendants. But like other seasons of his life, this season also serves a purpose. We each have different seasons of life to go through, and each season serves a purpose. What are some of the seasons you’ve been through and how have they shaped you? What is the season you are in right now and how is God inviting you to grow in this time and place you find yourself?
Message: Genesis 37:1-11 “Dreams and Where they Lead Us”
Joseph
has his dream of his brothers and parents bowing down to him and they resent
him. The fact that Joseph had a special coat given to him by his father means
Jacob had big dreams for him. When Joseph receives the dream telling him that
his disgruntled brothers will one day bow down to him, he is excited for the
change. But the fulfillment of God’s vision for Joseph will not come easily or
as expected. The path to ascension will begin with a descent. The process will
transform Joseph. In the same way, God has a vision for our lives, and it is a
plan to prosper us, not to harm us. But the path toward the fulfillment of that
plan will be challenging and uncomfortable. Like Christ’s ascension through the
Cross, we too will be humbled before we become all that God dreams for us.
Message:
Genesis 35:1-15 “Looking Back, Moving Forward”
After
Jacob returns home, he makes it a point to return to Bethel, where he first
encountered God. There he looks back over his life journey and remembers how
God has faithfully brought him through. This gives him the courage to move
forward in the direction God is currently calling him.
Scripture passage: Luke 15 (the ProdigalSon)
Message: Genesis 32:22-31 “Wrestles with God”
In this passage,
Jacob wrestles with a stranger through the darkness of the night. The struggle
ends up being a blessing, though he’ll always walk with a limp. Our lives too
can be characterized as a struggle through a dark night, but also a wrestling
with God. To wrestle with God is to be forever changed.
Message:
Genesis 28:10-22 “The House of God”
While
Jacob is on a long journey, he makes a startling discovery. He has an encounter
with God and believes himself to have found The House of God, the place where
Heaven and Earth overlap. But the real revelation is much deeper than that. The
House of God is never far from any one of us.
Message: Matthew 4:18-22 “Called”
This
Father’s Day we are also celebrating the completion and graduating
Discipleship/Confirmation Class. In this message we will look at Jesus’ calling
of his first disciples and how He calls each of us to leave behind something
else and follow Him.
Message:
John 16:5-16 “Intertwined”
On this Trinity Sunday we’ll talk about how God exists in eternal relationship. God is not some distant, detached being, but is eternally personal and engaged. From the Love of the Trinity overflows the outpouring of humanity. Human beings are by nature relational beings. Our greatest wounds and greatest joys are experienced within the context of relationships. In this way, we are like the God who Created us.
Message: Isaiah 7:14, 9:6-7“Birthing and Co-Creation”
In
this message, we will talk about how each of us is called to birth the divine
vision in and through our lives. In this way, we are ‘co-creators’ with God.
This birthing includes our own spiritual formation and the personal ministry
God does through us.
Message: Duet 5:15, Luke 5:15 “Remembering Rightly”
In this message, we take a look at what it
means to Remember Rightly. There is a Redemptive way of Remembering, that looks
not only at the hurt we’ve suffered, but at the Restoration God brought and
brings about for us.
Message: Luke 1:39-56 “Birthing the Holy: Incubation”
After
the Annunciation came the Incubation period, where God’s Call on Mary’s life
began to form within her. In the same way, so much of our life is actually the
development of God’s Call on our lives maturing within and through us.
Message:
“Birthing the Holy” (Part 1) Luke 1:26-38
This
Mother’s Day we begin a two part series, learning from Mary’s relationship with
God. In this first part, we’ll be looking at Mary’s acceptance of God’s call
and the work God was doing inside of her. Her life is a pattern for the life
we’re called to have with God.
Message: Mark 16:1-8 “Becoming Human Again”
On
this third Sunday of Easter we reflect on the significance of Christ becoming
human and what Jesus’ fully human experience means for our fully human
experience.
Message:
Luke 24:13-35 “Tombs to Talks”
On
this second Sunday of Easter, we look at the place of the Empty Tomb in
Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre to the Talk on the Road to Emmaus. The
tomb is found empty and soon after Jesus appears to two disciples on a road
going toward the village of Emmaus. Jesus continues to appear to us on the many
roads of our lives, speaking life and hope.
Message: John 12: 12-19 “Palms”
On this Palm Sunday, Jesus makes a grand entrance as he comes riding into Jerusalem. His entrance is filled with meaning and understood properly, it is at odds with what the crowd wanted and expected. Even the disciples didn't understand the implications until after Jesus' resurrection. In the same way, our understanding and image of God continues to grow and be redefined as we grow in our relationship with Him. What are the old images of God that weren't accurate and perhaps continue to hinder you? How is your understanding of who God really is continuing to develop as you continue to get to know Him more?
Text: The Book of Esther
Main idea: God is always
writing a story in this world… often in unseen and unlikely ways. We
join His greater story as we courageously live into the role he has written for
us with integrity and grace.
Text: The Book of Ruth
Main idea: The story of Ruth
is the story of ALL of God’s people. It speaks to an extravagant and
beautiful redemption that invites those who are far away to join the story of
God’s family.
Message: Genesis 25:19-34 “The Gift”
Esau
was given a divine gift in being the firstborn of the family. Unfortunately,
his lesser pursuits gained his total devotion. In this way, Esau despised his
birthright. Jacob, on the other, desperately wanted this gift for himself. What
he didn’t realize is that even his desire for it was because God has already
called him to it. In the end, the birthright isn’t what mattered most. Instead,
it was the desire of one’s heart and what one pursues that matters most. Jacob
had always been chosen by God. Esau too was blessed by God. It would take a
long time for both of them to realize this. The question is, what are we doing
with this “Gift” of life that God has given us? What is it we are pursuing? In
what do we find our identity?
Message: Genesis 22:1-14 “Giving Up, Holding On”
During
lent people often choose to ‘give up’ something for time. In our passage this
week, Abraham is asked to give up the ‘Son of Promise.’ It doesn’t make sense,
since through Isaac Abraham was to have descendants as numerous as the stars.
God never intended to sacrifice Isaac, but He did intend for Abraham to decide
what was most central to his life, The Promise or his life with God? What does
relationship with God mean to us? Do we love God for the sake of the
relationship or love the relationship for the sake of something else? Is there
anything we need to give up so that we can embrace our relationship with God?
Message: Genesis 21:1-21 “Tears and Laughter”
In Genesis 21, the long-awaited Promise of a son is fulfilled, “at the very time God had promised him.” At the same time Sarah’s tears are being turned into laughter, Hagar’s laughter is turned into tears. But she too is given a Promise, though it too will take an extended time to come about. In this chapter we experience the reality of life’s tears and hardships, but also the hope of God’s Promise, that will one day turn our tears into laughterMessage: Genesis 20 "Faith of the Faithless"
Today's passage challenges our assumptions.
Abraham, a man of faith, lacks it, while a faithless man follows God's lead.
God is at work in the lives of unbelievers, while sometimes we might miss his
work in our own lives. Today's reading invites us to remember that we may not
be as faith filled as we think we are and others may not be as faithless.
Our Faith is not 'us vs them' but 'One God for one and all.' John Calvin
calls this 'Prevenient Grace.'
Message: Genesis 18 & 19 “Don’t Look Back”
When the cries of the oppressed in Sodom and Gomorrah go
unheard and unheeded, God steps in to deal with the injustice. The innocent are
sought out to liberate, but some find it difficult to leave the old ways
behind. This is a story about the justice of God and the self-destructiveness
of sin. It is a call to consider what we are ultimately living for and seeking
in this life.
Message:
Genesis 18 “The Visitor”
While
Abraham is at home in Hebron, near the Oaks of Mamre, three visitors make an
appearance. Abraham is quick to offer middle eastern hospitality. He seems to
realize that these visitors are more than mere strangers. He finds himself
playing host to God. Paul tells us to offer hospitality to the stranger,
because we may be entertaining angels unaware. Jesus takes the call to care
even further.
Message: Genesis 17:1-8, 17-22 “Covenant Strong”
God
establishes an everlasting Covenant with Abram. God changes Abram’s name to
Abraham, signifying that Covenant Relationship changes us. The change will be a
process. The process requires our focus, that we might be intentional about
following the practices of the Covenant. While we may deviate from the
practices of the Covenant, a lifelong focus continues to bring us back to it
and produces transformation in us and through us.
Message:
Genesis 16 ‘The God Who Sees Me”
In
this message we will discover that our working out of what we think is God’s
calling on our lives involves some guess work. We don’t always get it right,
but maybe that’s part of the plan. We don’t always see God clearly, but God
always sees us. This is a good thing, because God knows us better than we know
ourselves and his plan is to prosper us and not to harm us.
-Themes:
Journey, Trust, Learning/Growing
Message: Genesis 15:7-21 “The Struggle is Part of the Promise”
We
want God to part of our lives because we want better lives. With God, life is
better. But better does not necessarily mean free of struggles or even
‘easier.’ As revealed in God’s Promise to Abraham, his descendants would go
through great struggles as part of the Promise. Struggles will be part of our
life journey. God promises to be with us and ultimately bring us successfully
through these struggles. The success includes a bigger picture than this
present world offers.
-continued
theme of trust, especially through times of struggle.
When
Lot was captured, Abram set out to rescue him from his enemies. In so doing, he
happened to help out some of the local kings. When Melchizedek, king and high
priest of Salem, offers him his due reward of the land he liberated, Abram
declines it. Abram could have owned a large portion of the Promised Land after
conquering the foreign enemy kings. But he chooses to trust in God’s Time and
Way and apparently this isn’t it. In the same way, we are called to place our
trust in God’s promises and provisions and not in the grabbing, overpowering
ways of the world. Theme: Trust
Message: Mark 1:35-39 "Take the First Step"
New Years Message: Where do I want to go? What is something that I want to begin or pick up again?
