As the church... - June 2024 - New Apostolic Church USA

New Apostolic Church USA

As the church... - June 2024

Perhaps you have heard the phrase - "We are all the church, all the time." What does it mean to "be the church"? How should it impact our individual lives?

This month, as the church, we will explore the following:

•We preserve and profess - through the example of Peter, we understand how to preserve and profess, and what it means to belong to the church.

•We magnify the Lord - through the example of Mary and her song, we learn how to praise God.

•We worship God - the first commandment teaches us who God is and how we worship Him.

•We remember the Sabbath - the third commandment opens up a teaching on what the Sabbath means in our lives and how we can commemorate it.

•We believe and pray - in anticipation of the Service for the Departed, we understand our responsibilities to believe and pray.

•We self-reflect - the Parable of the Two Sons (Matthew 21:28-32) urges us to reflect on our confirmation vow.

May our actions, inspired and empowered by the Holy Spirit, bring glory to God in the church (Ephesians 3:20-21).

He is coming!

Advent - a time of waiting and anticipation: "In Advent... it's the waiting that's hard, the in-between of divine promise and its fulfillment. Most of us find ourselves dangling in this hiatus, which in the interval may seem a waste of time... But the longer we wait... the more joyful our expectancy. With such motivation, we can wait as we sense that God is indeed with us, and at work within us, as He was with Mary as the Child within her grew." From "God is in the Manger" In this month of waiting, we will celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ - the King, the Son of God, the Giver of Mercy, the long awaited Messiah, the Immanuel, or "God with us," and the Christ, who will return to establish His kingdom. May you feel in your preparations, the wonder of Jesus' coming and lead your congregation into experiencing the presence of "God with us" on Christmas Day.

Thank God

This prayer of David continues to inspire our Season of Thanksgiving: Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and glory, the victory and majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all, and You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. Now therefore, our God, we thank You and praise Your glorious name (1 Chronicles 29:11-13). In the month of October, we contemplated the works of God in the past, present, and immediate future: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. Now, in November, we turn our eyes to the events of our eternal future and express our thanksgiving to God for what He will do, as we continue awaiting Christ's return. Thank God: for His salvation for both the living and the dead, for His promised return as we continue readying ourselves, for His mercy as the kind Judge, for His care revealed in the continuing rhythms of this creation and His promise of the new creation, and for His time, a gift that we receive from His hand.

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

This month's sermon theme focuses on how God is working in the world and in our lives... yesterday, today, and tomorrow. In this month, as we stand in awe of what God is doing, let us also join Him in His work, creating(10/6), renewing(10/20), redeeming(10/27), and uniting (midweek). We give thanks for His great works yesterday, we worship Him for who He is today, and we strive to join Him in moving the kingdom forward tomorrow.