This Sunday is Youth Sunday! Sometimes we refer to our young people as the "future church," but on this particular Sunday we are reminded that they are also the church of the present. There is no Holy Spirit Junior! The same Holy Spirit who empowers us has gifted each of our students with special anointing to lead God's people, and this Sunday we have the opportunity to receive from them.
Read MoreThis Sunday we’ll look at the first words of Jesus in the book of Mark: “The time has come! The Kingdom of God has come near! Repent and believe the good news!” We’ll explore the nature of Jesus call and also look at his first invitation to a group of people to become his disciples.
Read MoreWe’re also beginning a new sermon series this Sunday on the Gospel of Mark called The Way of Jesus. From now through Easter, we’ll be looking at the person of Jesus through Mark’s eyes, learning about his identity and mission. We’ll kick off the series this Sunday by looking at the first 13 verses.
Read MoreThe book of Ephesians is all about the new things God has done through the gospel, and in our text this Sunday we’ll focus on two of those things. First, the new life God has given us in Christ, second, the new community God has created through Jesus, which we can now participate in through the work of the Holy Spirit in us.
Read MoreAfter spending the last month looking at the mothers of Jesus listed in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1, we widen the perspective this week and look at the surprises found in the genealogy as a whole.
Read MoreWe are nearing the end of our Advent sermon series on the mothers of Jesus with this look at Bathsheba. Typically, people look at this story from the perspective of David, but we’ll be looking at it from the perspective of Bathsheba, and what her role in Jesus’s lineage tells us about the hope of his coming. WARNING: This week’s text tells a story of rape, deception, manipulation and murder. These topics may be difficult for some individuals, including young children or victims of sexual assault or violence. Please listen with caution if you find yourself in that audience.
Read MoreThis week, we continue our study of the Mothers of Jesus - a look at the five women mentioned in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus. In the Book of Ruth, we find the ultimate outsider and we find ancient echoes of what would become Jesus’ most famous words - the Sermon on the Mount.
Read MoreThis Sunday we’ll continue with our Mothers of Advent series by looking at the next mother in Matthew’s genealogy, Rahab.
Read MoreThis Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent! We begin again a new cycle of the Christian year, retelling the most important story of our lives. Advent means “arrival.” We look back on those who waited for the coming of the Messiah, and we look ahead as those who continue to wait for his return. This Sunday we are excited to begin a new Advent series called “The Mothers of Jesus.” We’ll be looking each week at one of the five women who are named in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew chapter 1, and what each of them tells us about the mystery of the incarnation and the grace of God. Our pastoral resident Elisabeth Hayes put this series together, and she’ll be preaching the first message this Sunday on Tamar.
Read MoreThis Sunday is the last Sunday of the Christian calendar year, which has historically been called "Christ the King" Sunday. On this day we celebrate that Jesus is King over all nations and all creation, and that he will one day come to reclaim his Kingdom forever. It feels especially fitting this Sunday as we have been working through our series on 1 and 2 Samuel called “Longing for the True King.” We’ll finish the series this Sunday in one of the most significant chapters of the Old Testament, 2 Samuel 7.
Read MoreThis Sunday we’ll look at the climax that we have moving toward since 1 Samuel 16, when the young shepherd boy David was pulled from the fields and anointed as the future king. David takes a fragmented collection of warring tribes and pulls them together as a united Kingdom. We’ll look at what this tells us about the unique kind of unity that God creates for his people.
Read MoreThis Sunday we’ll continue the story of David the King. Pastor Fakhri Yacoub will be preaching on “A Merciful King,” looking at the remarkable way that David chose to show mercy in his role as King rather than behave like the kings of the nations.
Read MoreThis Sunday we will continue with the story of the kings of Israel. The story takes a surprising turn when just after David defeats Goliath and experiences great success in Israel, he is driven into the wilderness by Saul’s jealousy. We’ll look at what this says to us about our own Christian experience.
Read MoreThis Sunday we’ll continue in the story of the monarchy as the spotlight now swings to the king-elect David. In 1 Samuel 17, he is confronted with his first challenge, and it’s a big one: a giant of a man named Goliath. We’ll see this week how this same theme of God’s upside-down Kingdom gets played out in this story- that God’s deliverance is not based on sword or spear or any other human conventions, but that God delights in using the small to bring down the great, using the seemingly weak to turn the table on the so-called strong.
Read MoreThis Sunday we’ll traverse into the next great chapter of the history of the monarchy in Israel: we will meet the young man named David. This is a new chapter in what has been a sad and disappointing beginning in Israel’s monarchy, and it speaks of the hope that God always brings out of hopeless situations. God always sees beyond what we see- and this chapter invites us to see with the eyes of God.
Read MoreThis week we’ll see how a well-meaning and gifted person like Saul can go from being a promising young King to becoming a king “like that of the nations.” We see his rebellion against God’s command and his self-deceit as he justifies his behavior. We are given a warning that we share the same kind of heart, and to be watchful over our own propensity to self-deceit. And we are given a pointer to the God who saves us all from our self-destruction.
Read MoreThis Sunday we’ll continue our study of 1 Samuel by seeing the first major mistake Saul makes as king.
Read MoreThis week, we’ll continue the story as God concedes to Israel’s demand for a King and selects a young man named Saul to be the first official monarch of Israel. It’s a story of heartache as we watch God’s people dive headlong into their rebellious desires, but God’s fingerprints are also all over the story as he directs the events according to his purposes.
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