The sermon theme for September is about seeking and recognizing the presence of God in our lives, how God comes near to us. Perhaps, like Jacob, we have suddenly realized, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it" (Genesis 28:16). When we come to such an awareness, we must also then understand that God was there from the beginning; He always was there and always will be.
Each Sunday will open our eyes to realizing God's presence...
•By experiencing Him, as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden.
•By preparing ourselves, like Elijah, to see God in the unexpected, in the silence.
•By allowing God's presence to be a life-changing experience, like it was for Zacchaeus.
•By looking back at our lives and remembering God's promised nearness, like Joshua.
•By finding God's presence in His messengers and those who proclaim His will and strengthen us.
As God comes near to us, let us also proclaim as Jacob did, "How awesome is this place!" (Genesis 28:17)
Moving the Kingdom Forward - August 2024
What does it mean to "Move the Kingdom Forward"? Truly, it is an individual as well as a communal task. As Ephesians explains, we are edified "till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God... to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children... but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head - Christ - from whom the whole body... by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in
love" (Ephesians 4:12-16 excerpts).
To move forward we need to mature, growing in the nature of Christ, and this happens by each of us doing our part in the body of Christ.
Growth and maturity mean moving forward, which is what each sermon this
month will focus on:
• The Samaritan woman will teach us what is means to move from
understanding to action for the sake of others.
• We will learn from Tabitha what it means to serve others with the goal
of moving them from need to dignity.
• A look at the early church will help us understand the importance of
moving from isolation to community.
• Paul will help us understand the need for suffering, and how we can
move from suffering to consolation.
• In our midweek sermon, the story of the tower of Babel will help us
move our language from division to unity.
Steps Toward God - July 2024
Our relationship with God is constantly changing. The decisions we make each day either draw us closer to Him, or perhaps, we lose sight of His presence in our lives and we drift further apart.
This month, we will contemplate the Steps toward God that we can take to cultivate and strengthen our connection with Him:
•Call on His Name - as an initial step, this sermon will focus on what we believe about God. (July 7)
•Don't confuse the messenger with the message - as we progress in our relationship with God, confusion about His messengers could distract us along the way. (July 14)
•Walk in the newness - Holy Baptism is God's act on a human being, pulling them nearer to Him and changing His relationship with them forever. (July 21)
•Join His whole family - God loves all humans and is the Father of all. When we respond to His love, we are adopted in His family with the expectation to grow in our resemblance to His Son. (July 28)
•Spread the Word - the midweek sermon explores the Parable of the Sower, and how we are called to sow, grow, and listen. (July midweek)
