A message from the series “All Saints.” All Saints Sunday is a tradition observed annually in the Church. It is on this first Sunday of November that we celebrate the lives of persons in our lives who have died this year and are now with Christ in eternity. An important part of understanding for us regarding our identity as God’s beloved people includes learning about our place within “the communion of saints”. We, the Church, believe there is a spiritual connection that unites those who have gone before us, ourselves, and those who will come after us. How mysterious and amazing our God is, that he bonds us together in his love in such a community. Today, we pause to honor and reflect on those saints among us whose lives have pointed us to Jesus. As the Apostle Paul writes in-depth about the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15, may we be reminded that we belong to Christ and in him we share in the resurrection of glory that is to come.
Archives: Messages
A message from the series “Luke.”
A message from the series “Jesus Preaches.” One of the greatest signals to Jesus’ human relatability is his willingness to “be real” with his disciples in the ministry to which he called them. There are moments in his preaching when Jesus lays out what the hard reality of life following him looks like… and it isn’t always pretty. But there are plenty of worthwhile things in our own life that aren’t always pretty – right? For Christians, “ministry” isn’t limited to being ordained… but rather, it is for each one of us. This is why Jesus prepares his followers, through his preaching, that there will be moments of difficulty. There is a cost that comes with discipleship. There is no sugar-coating way around it. We follow Jesus and practice being truth-tellers about the story of our faith that is founded in the reality that God sent his Son to earth in order to begin the redemption mission of God’s that includes modeling for us a way to live that honors God, then dying on the cross to atone for our sins and was raised on the third day in glory by conquering death. That is the story, the reality, that we tell as Christians. And it is a massive one, that invites all sorts of responses from others. As Jesus preached to his followers, he brought a message of assurance for us all…that in our ministry, we must prepare ourselves to face whatever comes our way. When we rightly focus ourselves on serving God, it may seem to the world that we are “losing ourselves”. We need to focus on the one thing that will always remain: God. In his loving and enduring strength, God will sustain us and calls us to charge forward with unwavering dedication to this story. The story of Jesus. The story of true love.
A message from the series “Jesus Preaches.” One of the greatest signals to Jesus’ human relatability is his willingness to “be real” with his disciples in the ministry to which he called them. There are moments in his preaching when Jesus lays out what the hard reality of life following him looks like… and it isn’t always pretty. But there are plenty of worthwhile things in our own life that aren’t always pretty – right? For Christians, “ministry” isn’t limited to being ordained… but rather, it is for each one of us. This is why Jesus prepares his followers, through his preaching, that there will be moments of difficulty. There is a cost that comes with discipleship. There is no sugar-coating way around it. We follow Jesus and practice being truth-tellers about the story of our faith that is founded in the reality that God sent his Son to earth in order to begin the redemption mission of God’s that includes modeling for us a way to live that honors God, then dying on the cross to atone for our sins and was raised on the third day in glory by conquering death. That is the story, the reality, that we tell as Christians. And it is a massive one, that invites all sorts of responses from others. As Jesus preached to his followers, he brought a message of assurance for us all…that in our ministry, we must prepare ourselves to face whatever comes our way. When we rightly focus ourselves on serving God, it may seem to the world that we are “losing ourselves”. We need to focus on the one thing that will always remain: God. In his loving and enduring strength, God will sustain us and calls us to charge forward with unwavering dedication to this story. The story of Jesus. The story of true love.
A message from the series “Jesus Preaches.” One of the greatest signals to Jesus’ human relatability is his willingness to “be real” with his disciples in the ministry to which he called them. There are moments in his preaching when Jesus lays out what the hard reality of life following him looks like… and it isn’t always pretty. But there are plenty of worthwhile things in our own life that aren’t always pretty – right? For Christians, “ministry” isn’t limited to being ordained… but rather, it is for each one of us. This is why Jesus prepares his followers, through his preaching, that there will be moments of difficulty. There is a cost that comes with discipleship. There is no sugar-coating way around it. We follow Jesus and practice being truth-tellers about the story of our faith that is founded in the reality that God sent his Son to earth in order to begin the redemption mission of God’s that includes modeling for us a way to live that honors God, then dying on the cross to atone for our sins and was raised on the third day in glory by conquering death. That is the story, the reality, that we tell as Christians. And it is a massive one, that invites all sorts of responses from others. As Jesus preached to his followers, he brought a message of assurance for us all…that in our ministry, we must prepare ourselves to face whatever comes our way. When we rightly focus ourselves on serving God, it may seem to the world that we are “losing ourselves”. We need to focus on the one thing that will always remain: God. In his loving and enduring strength, God will sustain us and calls us to charge forward with unwavering dedication to this story. The story of Jesus. The story of true love.
A message from the series “Luke.”
A message from the series “Luke.”
A message from the series “Jesus Preaches.” This week our scriptures include excerpts of Jesus’ preaching that are less than clear. Have you ever wondered why many of these Biblical teachings include everyday objects, settings, or items? In Jesus’ day, a speaker needed to have oratory skills in conveying a message with enough interest and relatability that it can be remembered, so to then be passed down orally to the next person. When Jesus is on the mount, preaching his famous sermon documented in Matthew 5-7, he speaks about ordinary settings and items, like a gate on a road. There are times in scripture when it is when it is important for us to take the bible seriously, but not literally. This is one of them. Jesus’ preaching of the narrow gate and the road to leads to life, is attractive. The phrase of “life” in this sense, is to highlight the abundant life (John 10:10) that Jesus. This is referring to the flourishing, sustaining, growing, and nourishing life that is found when we have faith in Christ. The narrow gate addresses the reality that we have a choice to make when living day to day… we can choose to follow Jesus or not. It is not a promise that the decision will always be easy, but for those who do choose God, it will always be worth it.
A message from the series “Jesus Preaches.” This week our scriptures include excerpts of Jesus’ preaching that are less than clear. Have you ever wondered why many of these Biblical teachings include everyday objects, settings, or items? In Jesus’ day, a speaker needed to have oratory skills in conveying a message with enough interest and relatability that it can be remembered, so to then be passed down orally to the next person. When Jesus is on the mount, preaching his famous sermon documented in Matthew 5-7, he speaks about ordinary settings and items, like a gate on a road. There are times in scripture when it is when it is important for us to take the bible seriously, but not literally. This is one of them. Jesus’ preaching of the narrow gate and the road to leads to life, is attractive. The phrase of “life” in this sense, is to highlight the abundant life (John 10:10) that Jesus. This is referring to the flourishing, sustaining, growing, and nourishing life that is found when we have faith in Christ. The narrow gate addresses the reality that we have a choice to make when living day to day… we can choose to follow Jesus or not. It is not a promise that the decision will always be easy, but for those who do choose God, it will always be worth it.
A message from the series “Jesus Preaches.” This week our scriptures include excerpts of Jesus’ preaching that are less than clear. Have you ever wondered why many of these Biblical teachings include everyday objects, settings, or items? In Jesus’ day, a speaker needed to have oratory skills in conveying a message with enough interest and relatability that it can be remembered, so to then be passed down orally to the next person. When Jesus is on the mount, preaching his famous sermon documented in Matthew 5-7, he speaks about ordinary settings and items, like a gate on a road. There are times in scripture when it is when it is important for us to take the bible seriously, but not literally. This is one of them. Jesus’ preaching of the narrow gate and the road to leads to life, is attractive. The phrase of “life” in this sense, is to highlight the abundant life (John 10:10) that Jesus. This is referring to the flourishing, sustaining, growing, and nourishing life that is found when we have faith in Christ. The narrow gate addresses the reality that we have a choice to make when living day to day… we can choose to follow Jesus or not. It is not a promise that the decision will always be easy, but for those who do choose God, it will always be worth it.