Jesus was a man of prayer so we can learn much from Him when it comes to conversing with God. In this message based on what many people call The Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us a framework for prayer that honors God and includes several key priorities to be included our prayers.
"forgiveness" Tagged Sermons (Page 2)
Having invested the past 4 weeks focusing on our relationship with God, this week we begin to build upon this foundation as we spend the month of October growing in our love for one another. In this message we learn from I John 4:10-12 that grace is cyclical. When we discover God’s grace toward us, we can extend His grace to other…
The Prodigal Son just may be the best short story ever told. It’s incredibly concise, yet has both deep sorrow and joy in the midst of scandal and strained relationships. As we look at each of the story’s three characters in succession, it’s obvious that the one thing even more extravagant than the younger son’s self-indulgence, is the Father’s self-sacrificing love. Yet it’s all lost on the older son at the end of the story, and his reaction exposes our tendency to…
After announcing “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand” Jesus loved uninvited, overlooked, unwanted, unwelcome, disregarded, ignored, marginalized, unnoticed, discounted, passed over, sidelined, unappreciated, undervalued, misunderstood, misinterpreted, misjudged, devalued, ordinary, sick, demonized, sinful, shame-filled people. What a kingdom. What a King!
God loves His children whom He made to delight in Him and shine for Him. Yet sometimes God’s sons and daughters drift away and seek to evade Him. Just as God went to great lengths to bring Israel back to Himself so He has gone to great lengths to pursue us prodigals as well. Sometimes God even brings discipline into our lives in order to bring us back into communion with Him so we can join Him in serving in His harvest as we (like Israel) were made to do.
As we continue our journey through the Bible, we now meet Isaiah. Isaiah had a rare vision of God. Along with Isaiah we revel in some of the astounding realities which God revealed about Himself as well as God’s invitation to join in making His glories known among all nations throughout all generations.
In 931 B.C. God’s people tore into two nations and sometimes God’s people still divide today. Schisms destroy our joy and our ability to fulfill God’s call to bless all the families of the earth. With so much at stake, God reveals in I Kings 12-16 that relational division is actually the result of one or more people drifting away from God and His ways. For all who know the angst of relational conflict and division, in Christ there is help and hope.
Everyone loves a good story that begins with “Once upon a time…” Genesis 1 begins with the similar phrase, “In the beginning, God…” This message declares that God is the maker of heaven and earth and that He is devoted to relating with the humans whom He has created. When Adam and Eve turned from God for the first time, God unveiled that He is committed to restoring their relationship with Him. This was great news for them in the garden as it is for us today.
When it becomes hard to follow Christ in the world God has blessed us with community. This message proclaims the greatness of the union that all believers have through the gospel which has been planted in us as well as our responsibility to cultivate our relationships with one another.