The bumper sticker reads, “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.” Jesus says, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” – WHAT? Is this God’s standard? In this message we discover that this is not a summons to perfectionism but God’s vision for us to become all He created us to be as we live with Him today, tomorrow and forever.
Sermons by Dean Wertz (Page 17)
If you have ever felt excluded, Jesus’ Beatitudes are GREAT NEWS! Those who don’t fit elsewhere are included among those who belong with God in His family. Rather than telling us how we need to behave to receive the good life with God, the Beatitudes are God’s declaration that all who embrace Jesus as Lord (King), including those who are excluded elsewhere, are welcomed into God’s home and invited to His table.
What shall we do when we feel stuck and discouraged? Moses’s transformation from despair to hope shines a light on how all of God’s children can awaken to receive God’s gift of hope in times of difficulty. Even more helpful, Moses points us to the One “greater than” himself who lives in hope and inspires hope. In Christ alone, our hope (a good feeling awakened by embracing God’s plans for the future) is found!
The compass, map, owner’s manual, Siri and the Bible have this in common – they show the way. Yet, better than a map is a guide. In this 2nd message in our August series entitled, Gifts for God’s Children, we see Moses’ prayer for direction as well as God’s plan to be his and all of His children’s personal guide in this life and the life to come!
Like so many, Moses discovered that God’s presence is God’s greatest gift to God’s children. In His presence God’s children are most like who we were created to be and most capable of bringing glory to God. In this message we consider how to more fully avail ourselves to the gift of God’s presence personally and corporately.
Measuring the right things is an essential part of life. In this closing section of Paul’s letter to the Galatian churches we discover what God measures among His people within a local church. While we tend to count a variety of things, what matters to God is His vision for “new creation.”
(Due to technical issues, the first several minutes of this message are missing.) How can we become all that God created us to be when temptation is so strong? In this part of his letter to the Christians in Galatia, Paul explains that followers of Jesus have two opposing natures within. He also reveals how we can cooperate with God’s Spirit’s desires rather than our flesh’s destructive desires that we might become all that God has created us to be.
Is there anyone with whom you have an unresolved conflict that seems impossible to repair? If so, you are not alone. In this 4th message from Paul’s letter to the Galatians we discover that God’s plan to increase our relational intelligence is just as unexpected and needed today as it was in the 1st century.
Sometimes God moves His people to achieve something greater than what anyone could do on their own. Hope is in a phase in which we sense God is calling us to expand. Other examples of this type of season include the building the tabernacle, forming of the early church and constructing the campus we enjoy and steward today. As we enter this final week of our Expand Hope campaign, may God give us all stirred and generous hearts for His glory, our joy and our community’s good!
Things are not right in the world and in us. The Bible reveals the cause of this reality to be sin and the remedy to be faith in Jesus as Lord. This remedy is good news and is difficult for us to accept. In this second message from Paul’s letter to the Galatians we discover that, though hard to believe, the gospel in a word is Jesus.