God is a Great King
Psalm 95:3 calls us to praise the Lord. This Psalm is known as the "Venite" and proclaims His greatenss through Creation.
Looking closely at verse 3 today, we discover that because God is a Great King, His Kingdom is infinite, just, and powerful.
To our great comfort, because He is our king, it is also a kingdom of love and welcome.
Priesthood
Every reformation and revival in the history of the church has placed all believers in the role of ministry - a doctrine called the priesthood of all believers. Priests are called to ministry and service.
Today, Bp. Andrew shows from Exodus, 1 Peter, and Matthew the beautiful calling that Jesus gives us.
A Great Invitation
Today, Paul shares with us from Amos and Matthew about a feast.
Jesus' parable of the wedding feast instructs us to be ready. To be ready, we must accept the great invitation and be prepared for the arrival of the bridegroom.
Saints and Martyrs
Since it's beginning, the Church has celebrated saints and martyrs - those who lived and died for their faith.
This faith tells us that we are blessed when we are persecuted - which is something we don't hear too often.
It's easy to be exhausted. We often feel like we don't have the energy we need to do the things God calls us to do, especially when the task is global.
Psalm 1 gives us a picture in response. Walking a Godly path can be lonely and difficult, but we have an inexhaustable source of life. The path to greater obedience and effectiveness is not burnout - it's growth.
Can a man rob God?
Today, we are talking about money. The prophet Malachi asks if it's possible for people to steal from God. Unfortunately, this scripture has been used to pressure people. But when we look more closely at this (and Matthew 22), we find that what God really wants is our hearts. He cares about how we use our momney because He cares about us.
In Matthew 22, Jesus tells a story of a wedding where the invited guests decide not to attend. Deacon Dave brings us through the parable today, and invites us to reflect on the beauty of Jesus, and our God that welcomes us to the feast.
Emotional Eating
All of us do it. We balance out the hard things with something nice. In Philippians, Paul talks about "enemies of the cross of Christ" whose god is their stomachs. They've taken emotional eating to its extreme, living a life of consumption in an effort to avoid the reality of death and the cross.
Setting our minds on the life of Christ, we can avoid this error, and realiz that the end is not as dreadful as it might appear.
The authoritative parent...
This is a baptism Sunday. In today's message, Deacon Lyn reflects on Philippians 2. This incredible passsage shows us not only about the incarnate Christ, but also about the love of the Father.
Is God fair?
Today, we look at one of Jesus' parables, in which a vineyard owner hires day laborers to work. He promises to pay them whatever is "fair". As the laborers worked different amounts, the parable insists that we consider what "fair" looks like, and we learn something important about God, and something important about ourselves.
Texts: Jonah 3:10-4:11, Philippians 1:21-27, Matthew 20:1-16