Continuing our series of “gentleness,” today we get to talk about what good leadership looks like. It seems like good leaders are harder and harder to come by. Nearly everyone has stories of a difficult boss or an always-disappointed coach. Need we go into detail about the lack of enthusiasm in our country right now regarding the leaders of our nation? Peter brings an exhortation to leaders (and we’re all leaders to some extent!) that is counter cultural for his time and perhaps even more so today.
Sermons by Dan Kaskubar
Continuing our series, The Relevance of Christ, today we’re examining Jesus’s relevance to the world in our present age. In Colossians, Paul says that Jesus is “reconciling all things to himself.” Wow, what a big and bold statement! Can you really believe it? The state of our world during this “in-between time” – where Jesus ascended to the throne of Heaven but we’re waiting for him to come back to bring his new Kingdom in its fullness – has made this idea the subject of much debate, doubt, cynicism, and pure disbelief. In short: for many people from many generations, it can feel like God isn’t at work at all. A natural reaction is to try to take things into our own hands, just like Abraham after he was tired of waiting for God’s promise. But maybe we have a tendency to look for Jesus’s work in all the wrong places. In times like these, we need to hear the encouraging ongoing work of Christ himself: for us, to us, in us, and through us!
Bulletin
The 4th Sunday of Advent represents the message of the angels and symbolizes peace. Keeping in mind the Children’s play, I’ll be continuing on a similar theme to Rob and Dean, speaking of the miracle of Jesus incarnate, specifically as a baby. The message will address peace in the midst of a giving up of control – that peace comes from radical trust of the Father.
Bulletin
If and when we share the gospel message, what exactly do we share? What posture do we take? We do have good news to share, don’t we? This sermon addresses how we can start from a place of commonality with our neighbors and friends, no matter what their beliefs, to engage in a lively, heartfelt discussion and presentation of the Christian narrative and worldview – pointing to the One Hope for humanity.
Bulletin
We are exhorted to hold up the shield of faith in all circumstances, to extinguish the arrows of the evil one. Just what are those arrows? Attacks come in many forms, including accusations, deceptions, distortions, distractions, false assurances, and temptations. How does faith in God act like a shield in these attacks? We can draw on the heroes of our faith and on Jesus himself to consider how we, too, might stand against and be empowered to overcome these attacks to produce lasting fruit in the Kingdom of God.
Paul makes it clear in this text that the condition of our heart is what’s most important when we give financially. Our community has landed on the Biblical vineyard metaphor in regard to our 3 key priorities for this new ministry year, and our vision is that we all bear abundant spiritual fruit for the Lord’s glory and for our joy. This is an appeal to cheerfully respond to the opportunity to significantly invest in bringing the church’s vision to fruition, as we seek to be a community on mission together.
Wisdom is entirely different from knowledge: it’s the right use of knowledge. It is a skill developed over time, only through a posture of sitting at the feet of God Himself, in all humility and all joy. Developing this skill is even more critical in our information age, where knowledge abounds but wisdom is lacking. Jesus is the true wisdom of God, and He promises to give it to all who ask for it!