Wake Up Now

January 7, 2024

Romans 13:8-14 — We should wake up from any spiritual sleep we may be in, and seize this time and make the best of it because we are living in the last days. This is the time to live the radical kingdom life of loving our fellow human beings as ourselves so that we can impact this world for God’s glory and proclaim the gospel in word and action. We can do this by putting aside the deeds of darkness and putting on the armor of light, that is, clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ. He, as Lord of all of our lives all the time, enables us to do this now, to love now. We should be fully present to what Christ has for us now, in this time.

This begins the sermon series now. pray, which is part of the 40 Days of Prayer of the Christian and Missionary Alliance.

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God Is Light, Walk in the Light

December 31, 2023

1 John 1:5-2:2 — God is Light. Jesus Christ is the Light of the world and the Light of life. In Christ, we are children of the Light. Therefore, we must walk in the Light and live as children of the Light. We are to be the light of the world that reflects God’s light into the world. Christ, who is the Light that is always with us, enables us to walk in the light and live as light.

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Simeon: God-fearing Love & Joyful Anticipation

December 17, 2023

Luke 2:22-35 — Are we filled with joy, thanksgiving, excitement, and God-fearing love because of Jesus’ first coming? Are we filled with God-fearing love, joyful anticipation, and excited expectation about Jesus’ 2nd coming? We should be because we have seen the Lord’s salvation. We have seen Jesus, the Lord’s Christ. We have the blessed assurance of God’s promise that He will return and we will see Him face to face. In the meantime, while we await his return in faith, hope, and love, we should live out the kingdom life with God-fearing love in word and action so that He will find us ready and busy at his work.

This is part of our Advent series for 2023, The Characters of Christmas.

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Joseph: Align Your Life to God’s Plan

December 10, 2023

Matthew 1:18-25; 2:13-14, 19-21 — As God’s people, we should live in the center of God’s will, obeying our Lord. This requires that we align our lives to God’s plan, His mission, and kingdom purpose. This may involve sacrifice, giving up our own ideals and plans, as well as persecution by the world for the sake of our Lord.

This is part of our Advent series for 2023, The Characters of Christmas.

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Zechariah: Hope against Hope

December 3, 2023

Luke 1:5-25, 57-80 — Zechariah believed and hoped … and yet wondered, doubted. God works through us despite our doubts, fears, and questions; despite what we believe about ourselves, the situation, or the problem at hand. No matter how long we wait, no matter how impossible it seems we must never give up faith and hope because God is faithful, in control, fulfilling his promises, and accomplishing his kingdom purpose.

This begins our Advent series for 2023, The Characters of Christmas.

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One Body in the Image of the Trinity

November 27, 2023

John 13:34-35; 14:15-27; 17:6-26; 1 John 4:7-21; 1 Cor. 12:12-14; Gal 3:26-29; Eph 4:1-6 — Church is not something we go to. Church is something we are. In Christ, being Christ-centered, we are the Body of Christ; we are community-concerned. As the one Body with many members we are the image, the likeness, of the Holy Trinity. We are an expression of the holy love, the fellowships and the unity of the Trinity. We represent, live out, and proclaim the self-expending, self-sharing, other-regarding, other-affirming, community-forming love of the triune God so that the world will believe that God so loved the world that He gave himself to save the world.

This concludes our series, Christ-Centered, Community-Concerned, exploring our church’s mission-vision statement in light of the book of Colossians. What does this mean and what does it look like in our personal daily lives and in our church life and ministries? How does this shape our thoughts, minds, attitudes, words, and actions? Credit is given to the following sources that informed and were used in this series: Dallas Willard’s Renovation of the Heart & The Spirit of the Disciplines.

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Put On Community-Concerned Practices

November 19, 2023

(Our apologies for the poor sound quality of this sermon due to technical problems we experienced.)

Colossians 3:12-17 — We are God’s chosen, holy, and dearly loved people. As such we must put on the clothes of his holy people. These are the community-concerned, pro-community practices; the practices that result from the virtues of our new selves in Jesus Christ. We practice these in and for the community. To put on and practice these virtues we must let the peace of Christ rule our hearts and His Word dwell richly in and among us. This produces thanksgiving and worship as we offer all of our lives, everything we do, as a living sacrifice to God.

This is part of our series, Christ-Centered, Community-Concerned, exploring our church’s mission-vision statement in light of the book of Colossians. What does this mean and what does it look like in our personal daily lives and in our church life and ministries? How does this shape our thoughts, minds, attitudes, words, and actions? Credit is given to the following sources that informed and were used in this series: Dallas Willard’s Renovation of the Heart & The Spirit of the Disciplines. The following commentaries served as important sources for this sermon: N.T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters; and R. Kent Hughes, Colossians & Philemon: The Supremacy of Christ.

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Put to Death Anti-Community Practices

November 12, 2023

Colossians 3:5-11 — We must put to death sinful sexuality and sensuality, evil and sinful attitudes and speech, and deception (lies). We must do so because we are new creations, living in new relationships in new communities of God’s people. Here, in the new self and in the new community, all traditional and worldly human distinctions are abolished. They do not matter anymore because Christ is all and in all. He is the Lord of all. He is present and active in everyone giving new life to us and our community. We are being transformed into Christ’s image, who is the full image of God, and so God’s image is restored in us.

This is part of our series, Christ-Centered, Community-Concerned, exploring our church’s mission-vision statement in light of the book of Colossians. What does this mean and what does it look like in our personal daily lives and in our church life and ministries? How does this shape our thoughts, minds, attitudes, words, and actions? Credit is given to the following sources that informed and were used in this series: Dallas Willard’s Renovation of the Heart & The Spirit of the Disciplines. The following commentaries served as important sources for this sermon: N.T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters; and R. Kent Hughes, Colossians & Philemon: The Supremacy of Christ.

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