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?
