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"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.' Hebrews 12:1-2a
Throughout the years, the people of God have set to music their thoughts and experiences of their relationship with God. Each Sunday we pick our favorites to sing our worship to our beloved God. While our church has preferred the contemporary over the traditional, we still use the old hymns. In this series, we will sing a few of the classic hymns of the Church and hear the stories of their authors. These witnesses, some ancient, will encourage us in our efforts to be a faithful witness in our time.
For the first day of the new year, we will focus on God's re-creation of everything. John is given a vision of the end of the age where God finishes redeeming his ruined creation. The heavens are new, the earth is new. This is where all things are headed. Today we worship him who is making all things new. This year we will join him in his work of redemption, knowing the outcome is secure.
Jesus' birth was heralded by many angels. From Gabriel's visit with Zechariah, to Mary's visit with an angel. An angel spoke to Joseph multiple times in his dreams. An entire chorus sang to the shepherds. This Advent we will hear from these messengers from heaven and join in the heavenly chorus.
Jacob began as a most unlikely Patriarch. Grandson to Abraham, Jacob was a trickster from the beginning. His name literally means "to grasp the heel" which was exactly what he was doing as he was being born. He grasped the heel of his older twin brother Esau. This phrase means to take by deception, to sneak up from behind. Ignoring his status as the younger brother, Jacob uses bribes and deception to obtain both Esau's birthright and blessing. Paul uses Jacob and Esau to illustrate God's sovereign choice of who is to be saved. Jacob boasted no merit superior to his brother. Yet Yahweh chose Jacob to shape into his servant Israel. Our series will use Jacob to illustrate our God's amazing grace. We will focus on God's unmerited favor on us unlikely children of God.
To walk in the light is to walk like Jesus. This sums up the entire letter. Simple to conceive, difficult to achieve. John knew Jesus intimately. John walked with Jesus, John listened to Jesus, John followed him so closely, he leaned upon Jesus at the last supper. John was known to the early church as the one Jesus loved. What better person to listen to as we spend the next few weeks learning how to walk with Jesus in the light.
The Book of Nehemiah chronicles how God used a man to lead the Jews to rebuild not just the walls of Jerusalem, but also to restore their community as God's holy people. This book answers the questions, "What do you do after the worst happens? After the sin has been committed, after the thief has come and left, after your home and community, your life has been destroyed, what then?"
This was the state of Israel after their sin led to the invasion of the Babylonians. The cities of Judah including Jerusalem were in ruins. The Jews believed their lives as God's chosen people were over. But God's call remained. He still had plans for his people, greater works then ever before.
This record of restoration resonates deeply with our present condition as Americans and particularly with our mission to Capitol Hill. The book of Nehemiah will help equip us as leaders to restore our lives and our neighborhood.
The words of James, the leader of the first century church in Jerusalem, hit hard. He was a leader seasoned by many years of working with redeemed sinners. Doubtless he had seen all the pride, vanity and sheer foolishness of God's people. So he wrote a short letter containing his practical council on how we can walk in holiness.
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
As life progresses, routine and daily struggles can dull us to the significance of each day, of each hour. How casually we treat our time here on earth. Yet each hour, each day, each year we are given is a gift that will never be repeated. Opportunities to love, to be generous, to delight in each other, pass us by often without being seen. How can we live into the fullness of each day, of each moment? How can we live our lives with such attentiveness that we will look back on these days with satisfaction?
I propose that what is missing is a sense of urgency. With this series I intend to help urge us to take hold of each day by focusing on the fast approaching end of time and on the all consuming romance Jesus is drawing us into. Think of it as the stick and the carrot, judgment day smacking us from our lethargy, and the divine lover awaking our hearts.
I want us to spend the 40 days of Lent learning and practicing hearing directly from God. We will begin with Jesus' promise of speaking to us. Then we will discuss the sound of God's voice, then the purpose of listening. Then what if we disagree with God and finally keeping in step with God. Jesus is our supreme example of how to listen to our heavenly Father. As he listened and obeyed, so we are to listen and obey. It's a simple concept. It's the key to unlocking the revolutionizing power of the gospel.
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Matthew 13:44
This treasure will be the focus of our next worship series. My hope in this series is that we will all become more in touch with the inestimable riches we have as members of God's kingdom. Inestimable riches are for whosoever receives Christ, for in him are all that is best. Not just the gifts of God, but the very person of God.
There is much misunderstanding of the person of God. This is a natural consequence of our being cut off from God. The world sends us all sorts of distorted ideas about what God is like. The devil labors to convince us of various lies of who God is. Our flesh resonates with these distortions and lies. For this series we will use the 9 fold fruites of the Spirit to focus our attention on the truth of God's character namely: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Break out your bathrobes and Christmas lights it’s that time of year. After all, Christmas is one time of year when tradition and nostalgia are embraced without irony. We will using an old dramatic device of taking a story and then looking at it from the point of view of each character-Rashomon. Each character’s point of view with give the central incident different perspectives adding depth and detail. As revolutionary as God’s invasion of planet earth, the incarnation is at heart God’s great sign of his love for us.
There is much misunderstanding of the person of God. This is a natural consequence of our being cut off from God. The world sends us all sorts of distorted ideas about what God is like. The devil labors to convince us of various lies of who God is. Our flesh resonates with these distortions and lies. For this series we will use the 9 fold fruites of the Spirit to focus our attention on the truth of God's character namely: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Entering into the supernatural life - We will spend early Fall telling the miracles of Jesus in order to inspire this supernatural dimension of ministry for the life of our church.
For midsummer, we will return to the stories of the Old Testament, 1 Samuel. Of all the characters in the bible, we have more information on David than any other person. In this series, we will focus on David's rise from the sheepfold to the throne. These dramatic stories are vivid illustrations of the dramatic adventure of faith God calls each of us to as we follow Christ.
The Five Fold Design for Ministry
"So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastor and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." Ephesians 4:11-13
"I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received." 4:1. Paul uses the second half of the letter detailing how we are to grow up as followers of Christ. He goes from the general to the specific. All of these new behaviors are not ways to earn God's acceptance or approval. The first half of Ephesians speaks fully and forcefully of our how our heavenly Father loves us and has blessed us. The second half of Paul's letter merely lines out how we can respond to God's great love in behavior befitting the children of God, ways that say "I love you" back to the great "I love you" from our Father in heaven.
Lent will be a break from the New Testament letter to the Ephesians. We will focus on worship for 6 weeks on the Hebrew scriptures, the bible Jesus taught from. I hope that our time in the soil of the Old Covenant will more firmly root us in the reality of the New. "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law ..." John 1:45 Philip to Nathanael.
Paul's letter to the Ephesians provides the church with the basics. It was a general letter summarizing Paul's teaching. Paul wrote it to be sent to all the churches in Asia. As such, it does not have many personal references. What is does have is a dense, powerful course in our Christian faith. With our new emphasis on adult formation, worship will cover the basics of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ, how we are to live our lives in response, and finally, how to withstand opposition to our faith.