The Wise Men followed a star and visited Jesus in Bethlehem. What if this well-known story is not about sentimental nativity scenes? What if it’s about political and personal revolution? What if it’s about seeking God’s kingdom rather than the influence of politics and money in our lives? Listen to Pastor David’s sermon on Matthew 2:1-12.
What to Expect This Sunday, December 13
Our worship services are planned carefully and thoughtfully. I (Pastor David) take a couple of hours each Monday morning to plan the next Sunday’s worship service. Each week I have a theme or an idea in mind, and my hope is that the theme or idea is conveyed and experienced by everyone in the worship service. But I am realizing that may not always be the case.
So each week I hope to give you a little description of the structure of our upcoming worship service, in order that you might have an idea of what to expect and how to prepare yourself spiritually for our weekly encounter with the ever-living God. Continue reading
Celebrating the Light
Angels proclaimed the birth of Jesus to the shepherds. Or…did they? What were the angels really celebrating when they sang “gloria in excelsis deo”? And how are we like the shepherds? Listen to Pastor David’s sermon on Luke 2:8-20.
Hypocrisy and “Thanksgetting”
Today’s Chronological Bible reading includes this verse, Romans 2:24, from the New Living Translation:
No wonder the Scriptures say, “The Gentiles blaspheme the name of God because of you.”
There’s a problem among Christians, especially in North America, and that problem goes by a one-word name: hypocrisy. Echoing the words of Romans, it is no wonder that people outside Christianity have no room for God in their lives, especially when Christians are so adept at saying one thing but doing another. Continue reading
What’s Going On in the Church of God?
Earlier this month, several of us from Mt. Haley attended the Michigan General Assembly of the Church of God. This annual meeting gives us the opportunity to learn about what is happening in ministries around the state and even around the nation. The main speaker this year was Jim Lyon, the General Director of the Church of God in the US and Canada.
He shared some amazing news with us, and I’d like to share those updates with you, too. Continue reading
The Pattern of the World
A couple of weeks ago, on November 1, I preached on Romans 12:1-2. The sermon, part of our series on evangelism, was a call for us to experience deep transformation in Jesus Christ and then to live into the perfect will of God. The sermon led directly into sharing the Lord’s Supper together, an experience of deep transformation in which we encounter the crucified and living Christ in a mysterious, powerful way.
In the sermon’s conclusion, I spoke these two sentences:
The world’s way of living is to ignore the mercy of God and to live for our own comfort and preservation. When we separate ourselves from those who are not like us, we are simply accommodating to the pattern of the world.
I would like to expand on those thoughts with you now. Especially now, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Paris. Continue reading
Drawing Near to Jesus
The woman reaches out to touch Jesus’s cloak. Jesus stops in his busy day to look around and see the needs around him. How is the healing story in Mark 5:25-34 related to our work of evangelism? Listen to Pastor David’s sermon, the last in our series on evangelism.
Breaking Free From Spiritual Inertia
Are you busy, or are you a busybody? Are you spiritually active or spiritually inert? What roles do you play in your church? Listen to Pastor David’s message on 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15.
Avoiding Cultural Accommodation
Mercy: receiving a gift of something good when you deserve something bad. Evangelism is all about diving deep into God’s mercy and allowing his love to overflow into the lives of those around you. Listen to Pastor David’s sermon on Romans 12:1-2.
Letting Scripture Breathe
What are you reading in the Bible these days? What is your routine? Do you read a lot, or a little? We can get tied up in a lot of questions like these when we think about our spiritual lives.
Here’s a different sort of question to ask yourself: Where does scripture breathe into your life? Continue reading