A Humble Vessel

Friendship Community Church

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A Humble Vessel

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March 29, 2020 • Pastor Logan Ames

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When you think about the current pandemic, what do you fear most? Do you worry about being infected with the virus yourself? Death? Infecting others? Not being able to pay bills or buy groceries due to loss of income? Watching your savings or retirement plan go down the drain? Your children missing school and extracurricular activities? While these are all concerning things, I believe there is one thing that ought to concern us more than any other - losing sight of God's goodness and grace! Throughout history, God has allowed awful things, far more terrible than a pandemic, to happen to His chosen people. Each time He allowed something horrible to happen, it was for a purpose, generally to urge them to turn away from idols and back to Him. Could God be urging us to the same right now? In the past, these seasons of suffering often didn't change until someone was willing to risk personal loss, pain, and death to overcome oppression and lead the people back to righteousness. This week at Friendship, we'll look at the story of an Old Testament heroine who realized that failure to follow God's will and allow Him to use her as "a humble vessel" was actually worse than death. She risked her life for the people of God, and God responded to her obedience by saving them all as only He could do.

As most of you know, our church gatherings are currently canceled due to the health crisis, so we are conducting the worship service online only. We encourage you to gather with friends or family, have your physical Bibles ready to read along, and worship and learn with us! You can view the service live on Sunday at 10 a.m., or anytime after it's posted, at www.friendshipcommunity.org! Just scroll down and click on "view services". If you are having trouble getting through on the website, you may find us by going to YouTube.com and searching for our church's channel, or by going to a backup website at www.friendshipcommunity1.org. Join us and be blessed!

More from Previous Sermon Series "Journey From The Empty Tomb"

Eyes On The Prize

May 31, 2020 • Pastor Logan Ames

As we've entered into the period between Memorial Day and Independence Day, between remembering those who sacrificed for us and the freedom they provided, it's a time when many will be thinking about our blessings in this country. One of the symbols of our great nation is the bald eagle. I remember learning once about the unique ability of the eagle to focus on its prey. The eagle already has vision that is 6 times better than that of humans, but it can be flying up to 100 mph over 200 feet above water and still spot the fish that it wants for a snack swimming beneath the surface. That's why they usually time it perfectly, swooping down to grab the fish just as it gets to where the eagle thought it would be and then returning skyward again. The biggest reason the eagle has this laser-like focus as its secret weapon is because it rarely, if ever, gets distracted by what else is around it. The eagle doesn't look back or side-to-side, but remains singularly focused on the goal, which is to win the prized prey. The eagle is always looking ahead and working as such. This week at Friendship, we close out our post-resurrection series by considering the goals of the Christian walk and how we might remain focused with our "eyes on the prize". We must endure hardships and challenges to the end because we know our full reward is with Christ in heaven. This message will challenge you to do away with any earthly gains that our temporary and to live for the eternal prize that is promised us if we remain faithful.

The Resurrection Memorial

May 24, 2020 • Pastor Logan Ames

Before becoming the pastor at Friendship, I rarely, if ever, used a calendar and it certainly wasn't part of my routine. When God gives you a great ability to recall information, it's easy to be overconfident in it. As a single person with very few others depending on me or anything I do, it wasn't hard to remember meetings or other important things. But in the past 4 years, I've gotten married, had two children, took over as pastor in a congregation with hundreds of regulars, and bought our first home. To say the least, I'm now in the real world like the rest of you and absolutely depend on my calendar or others to REMIND me of certain things. We always think we'll remember the important stuff, but how's that working for you? I find that it's getting harder and harder, especially with more things keeping me busy. I share this because I'm sure most of you can relate. This week at Friendship, for Memorial Day weekend, we'll consider what it means to REMEMBER the sacrifices. How easily we forget! We'll also talk about Jesus, who bled and died and then rose from the grave, yet is just as easily forgotten by the world and even by his followers. What does it mean to be his living, breathing "resurrection memorial"? How can we live in such a way that others see us and think of Jesus? Find out as we gather in person - for the first time in 2 http://months...yes LORD! - to worship and hear the word this weekend.

Entertaining Angels

May 17, 2020 • Pastor Logan Ames

There are times when what God commands in His word and through His apostles flies in the face of what we are taught by the world, and even by well-meaning and kind people around us. When it comes to strangers, for example, we are taught as children not to speak to them. Then, as we grow up and become more aware of the evil that is out there, we still do our best to avoid strangers even though we have more capacity for protecting ourselves. Jesus tells us to be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves - when dealing with the WORLD! But God's word calls us to a different reaction to those with whom we may not be familiar in the body of Christ. This week at Friendship, we'll talk about hospitality; not the kind you show your best friends and family members, but the kind we are commanded to show to the body of Christ even when we don't really know someone well. Too often, even in church, we are hesitant to get to know new people and show personal love and hospitality to them. But God says that when we are hospitable to Christian strangers, we may be "entertaining angels" without even knowing it. Gather with us online Sunday for this challenging, yet very practical message!