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!
"gospel" Tagged Sermons (Page 5)
When heaven is silent we often wonder, “Where is God?” and “Does He care?” Beginning in the mid 400’s BC God’s voice was suspended from Israel and many gave up hope. Yet everything changed in 5 or 6 BC when God announced and then sent His promised Anointed One through a virgin in David’s town. Some received Him, others did not. This message travels from the days of Caesar Augustus to our own because He came not only to be with 1st century Jews but He came to be with you as well.
We all long for more peace, more joy, more fulfillment, and more of almost everything. Could it be that our longings are hunger pains for God? 700 years before Jesus’ birth the prophet Isaiah wrote, “…they shall call his name Immanuel.” Immanuel means “God with us.” Yet, can God really be with us today? The announcement in this message is “YES.” After Matthew recounts God with us walking on water, healing the sick, giving sight to the blind and raising dead children, he relays Jesus resurrected words, “…I am with you always, to the end of the age.” This is the promise of God’s enduring presence for all who believe in and follow Immanuel.
The word Advent comes from a Latin word meaning “to come.” On this 1st Sunday of Advent we celebrate the first coming of Jesus as the light of the world. Similar to the transformation from darkness to light that we all experienced when we were born, so everything changes when the light of Christ shines into our spiritual darkness and we experience our new birth from above.
As thousands of runners passed by mile 21 ½ for the Denver marathon this morning, many people encouraged them to keep going all the way to the finish. In our service we received 3 encouragements from God’s Word to “run the race with endurance that is set before you.” Endurance is the ability to continue in the midst of pain until the task is finished. If you ever consider giving up on Christ because it is too hard, first reflect on these encouragements and the huge reward at the finish line for all who run with endurance!
The Ten Commandments were unveiled when God called Israel to a family meeting at Mt. Sanai. While they initially showed Israel, God’s redeemed children, how they were to live among the nations, they have implications for us as well. In this message we discover that Jesus and His disciples saw the Ten Commandments as useful for both unbelievers and believers 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.