2023 Messages - Wonderful Mercy Church

The Iceberg and the Ladder of Integrity

December 31, 2023 • Dirk D

Much like an iceberg, all of us have things in our lives that are hidden from view. This message reveals the importance of taking time and effort to dive into what's invisible. Our emotions and our feelings are meant to be observed so that we can become healthier and more like Christ. We also work through a series of questions that will help you determine your values, especially when something is troubling you.

Mary, Mary, Extraordinary

December 24, 2023 • Graeme Sellers • Luke 1:46–55

Join us for an exploration of a remarkable shaper of history, Mary, the mother of Jesus. Question: when we think of her, why don’t we think of her intellect and her mindful contributions that helped shape history? We’ve had a reduced perspective of her. In early church traditions, Mary is an acknowledged evangelist, she’s involved in the leadership of the early church, and she is known for having a traveling itinerant ministry. There's more to Mary than we've been led to believe!

Getting Everything in a Nothing World

December 17, 2023 • Graeme Sellers • Ephesians 1:13–14

Paul makes an outrageous claim; he says “We’ll get everything God has planned for us” [Eph. 1:14, Message]. Really? Everything? C’mon! If we find ourselves dubious, it may be because we believe that we’ve disqualified ourselves with our behaviors, choices, or attitudes. We think that if what God has for us were an ocean vessel, that ship has sailed. Getting “everything” from God involves us but it doesn’t hinge on us. Its guarantor is Holy Spirit.

The Astonished Heart of Being Delighted In

December 10, 2023 • Tom Kelly • Zephaniah 3:17

One of the most astonishing moments in Scripture is found in Zephaniah, where we are told, "For the Lord your God is with you and he is mighty to save. He will take delight in you with gladness. He will quiet you with his love. He will rejoice over you with singing.” When God astonishes our hearts with who He is, it prepares us to receive all God desires to bring us. Even when...maybe especially when...we cannot imagine God ever being delighted in us.

“In Christ” Is Everything

December 3, 2023 • Graeme Sellers • Ephesians 1:11–14

Being “in Christ” is everything, for He is the Source of all that is and the Sustainer of everyone and everything. As Ronald Rolheiser puts it, “Anything else is merely a branch. Jesus is the vine, the blood, the pulse, and the heart.” “In Christ” is central in Paul’s thinking – scholars note that the term “in Christ” or “in Christ Jesus” is used in Paul’s letters 169 times. The term is not found prior to Paul and is rare outside his writings. So, what does it mean for us?

Now & Then

November 26, 2023 • Graeme Sellers

Think back to January 2023. As a church, where were we and what was true of us then? Where are we now and what is true of us that wasn’t then? These are the questions Holy Spirit put to WMC’s elders last week. It was an exhilarating conversation, moving us from a limited human perspective into reality as God—Father, Son, & Holy Spirit—experiences and reveals it. Join us for a fascinating discovery of what God is doing right now at Wonderful Mercy!

“I Have To” vs. “I Get To”

November 19, 2023 • Graeme Sellers • Luke 1:39–55

Today we take a one-week hiatus from our Ephesians 1 series to consider gratitude, words, and the life-shaping power of “I get to.” This matters, because the words we speak help shape and create the world we live in. Speak words of gratitude and it will color every landscape you see, no matter the circumstances. Speak dark, despairing words and you’ll find that’s the kind of world you inhabit.

I've Got Some Questions

November 12, 2023 • David Hammerslag • Ephesians 1

At the beginning of his letter to the Ephesians, Paul breaks out in effusive praise. Do we feel the same rapturous joy Paul expresses? If not, it may be because Paul knew something we don't. Paul knew that the gospel Jesus taught and preached was the good news of the Kingdom of God. The kingdom of God, available to us as it was to Paul, allows us to live our lives to the full, as Jesus promises. Then, we begin to experience the joy that was in Paul's heart.

The Monkey Haven Misfits

November 5, 2023 • Ephesians 1:3–5

1 Corinthians 1:27 “It is almost as if God deliberately handpicked the wacky of this world to embarrass the wise, the rejects to put to shame the noble.” (Mirror Bible) This is a timely word for those who have nagging thoughts that they don’t qualify to get in on the good thing God is doing in Christ. Surprisingly, our need is what qualifies us; that we are a consortium “of oddities, a menagerie of tragic rescues, an eccentric collection of broken backgrounds” is what makes us a perfect fit for God’s redeeming love and healing presence.

All Praise to God the Father

October 29, 2023 • Graeme Sellers • Ephesians 1:3–14

History inaugurates and consummates with the Father—why would we focus elsewhere? Western theology has talked about whether He exists and how He functions, rather than who He is. If we would recover devotion to the Father, we must look to Jesus, whose agenda was not written by the insatiable needs and demands of those who thronged to Him, but by His oneness with His Father.

A Lyrical Song for a Beautiful God

October 22, 2023 • Graeme Sellers • Ephesians 1:3–14

Theologians have described Ephesians 1:3-14 as a magnificent gateway, a golden chain, a kaleidoscope of dazzling lights, a snowball rolling downhill picking up life and force as it descends, an operatic overture, and the flight of an eagle. In this passage, Paul is piling description after description of what God has done in Christ. Paul’s cascading, exalted language has this aim: that we would find ourselves feasting on God, lost in his grace, his love, his mercy, his redemption.

The Revolution Begins Here

October 15, 2023 • Graeme Sellers • Ephesians 1:1

When Paul writes the words “in Christ,” as he does often in Ephesians 1, it is not possible to overstate the importance of this truth and the reality it reveals. It is not too much to say of "in Christ" that the revolution begins here. It’s revolutionary because it eviscerates the Western theological model of the last 450 years that has told us we’re separated from God and need to get our way back to God somehow.

God's Will & Our Astonished Hearts

Ephesians 1:1

We open our exploration of Ephesians 1 with this question: is the will of God active or passive? Does God have a general will for you that can be fulfilled in a number of ways, or does God have a specific will for your life that is fulfilled in one particular way? If we say the latter, it can lead to fear of missteps and paralysis by analysis: is this the exact right move I’m supposed to make? What if I’m wrong? If it is the former, we might feel adrift in a sea of options. For example, you may have confidence God wants you to work a job with no sense of which job or field or location.

Baptism—Does This Mean War?

October 1, 2023 • Graeme Sellers

When it comes to our understanding and practice of the sacraments—the Lord's Supper and baptism—none of us has it right. And when we get to heaven, we’re in for a big surprise: “Really? That’s what it meant?” Today we look at the biblical practice(s) of baptism and its importance for our life with Christ.

How Does God Work in Us?

September 24, 2023 • Mike

Today, in the final of our three-part series, we reflect on some of the ways God works in our lives. He is always about shaping and forming us to live as safe-place people—as individuals, in our Life Together groups, and as a congregation.