Think about your own life. The people around you already know you are not perfect. They know your past. They have seen your flaws. What if you said to them: “I have a God who knows all of that… and still He died for me anyway. Come and see.” That is living water overflowing.
We do not climb up to find God. God comes down to reveal Himself. Not as a judge to destroy you, but as a Savior to redeem you. In Christ, the great I AM has made Himself known. And He is for you.
Your fasting will be imperfect. You will quit early, forget, snack, and fail; and none of that removes you from Christ. Your righteousness is not measured by what you give up, but by what He gave; His body and His blood for you to forgive your sin. (PAUSE) When you live like heaven is already yours it changes something as simple as how you view food. HEAVEN IS ALREADY YOURS!
Do not go searching for the Holy Spirit somewhere other than where Jesus promises He is to be given, and do not measure God’s presence by how strong or weak you feel. Remember instead where Jesus has already met you. You have been baptized. You belong to Christ. His Spirit remains with you. That means you are free to live your ordinary life in confidence: to love your family, to serve your neighbor, to speak forgiveness, to endure hardship, and to repent when you fall, knowing that God has not left you.
Ordination is not about the greatness of a man, but about the faithfulness of Christ. This faithfulness to present a pastor for ordination, to graciously give a congregation an pastor, and to preserve His one Church.
Look again at the 63,000 connections in Scripture. This is no ordinary book. This is no ordinary story. All of this points to the story of God’s faithfulness. It is the story of God’s victory. It is the story of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen for you. So today, let us proclaim the truth with joy: Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The same Jesus who filled empty nets can fill an empty heart. The same Jesus who turned a rough fisherman into a fisher of men is still at work today, calling sinners, drawing them to Himself, and using you to be part of that work. So don’t give up. Keep casting the net. Keep sharing the Gospel. Keep trusting that Jesus is at work, even when you can’t see it. Because remember, we worship a God of surprises.
In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul reminds us that love is like the unseen thread in the quilt of our lives. We might have impressive talents, big accomplishments, or flashy gifts, but without love, it all falls apart. Love is what holds it all together.
In the church, we are like the pieces of a quilt—different people, different backgrounds, different gifts. What binds us together isn’t how good we look or how much we know. It’s the love that God gives us through Jesus. That love is patient and kind, it doesn’t give up, and it holds fast even when things are hard.
(During the sermon at minute 17:17 the power went out at church and the sound system popped very loudly, that is the reason for the odd reactions.)
The reason communion is offered in a corporate setting is because God’s great desire for you is that you have a reunion with him, but that you’d have this reunion with Him in community.
“In him (all y’all) also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:22. Come, enjoy, and revel in the most beautiful reunion… us with Him and us with one another.
In the inevitable, uncontrollable storms of life, Jesus speaks and gibe you sudden peace. Peace be to you in Jesus’ name.
Today is Trinity Sunday, but note that this is first Sunday after Pentecost! We just celebrated the sending of the church to fulfill the mission of God and so this fits well. That the last things we engage in at the end of worship is a mini-Pentecost sending! To take the mission of the Church, because it doesn’t depend on your abilities either! This is your call story.
See how God has worked in your life and answer the question that God asks of you. “Whom shall I send on this mighty merciful mission, and who will go for us?” And we say, “thanks be to God for all of this… send me.”
Artwork certainly has been a means for sharing God’s Word throughout history, and still is today. Through his painting a man has shared the Gospel. He has shown how the Spirit came to the disciples on the day of Pentecost to lead them through the challenges they faced. And he has shown how the Holy Spirit comes to us today through the Word. And so, as we seek to have moments of holiness in our lives, we turn to the Word of God so that through it the Holy Spirit may lead us to our source of comfort and joy—our Lord and Savior Jesus.
St. Ignatius said, “pray as if everything depends on God, and work as if everything depends on you.” This is what the disciples have done. They have done their work to the best of their ability and now they are trusting God to do the rest.
Life can be challenging. Relationship can hurt.
Read the scriptures,
Trust in God‘s ways,
Confess your sinful human will,
Turn to the Lord who is still risen and ruling.
Coming together in worship, God makes us a big-hearted church that extends His hand of love to everyone. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly.
God wants us to say with the most famous of all doubters made into believers "Come and see for yourself, God loves you."
One day, if we persevere in this “catholic faith” – the veil of our sin will be completely removed from our eyes and we too will “see Him as He is” – no longer incomprehensible – every Creed made obsolete – we will know God fully even as He fully knows us.
The really amazing thing about Pentecost was not the show. It was the gift of the Holy Spirit: the Comforter in each of us that believes. He was given then, and remains with us right up to the present moment, that God's people may be filled to overflow with faith and hope and love.
This is not the end. We have merely come to the close of Act 2 in God’s salvation story.
Struggle always has a purpose…and that purpose is typically beyond the eyes of the one enduring it. The bigger view beyond the suffering that you endure for the faith is God at work in a world to reveal the reign and rule of God.
These scenes from the life of Stephen, then, invite us not to sit in front of a movie but rather to enter into the world, knowing that God is at work in the mundane and the marvelous in our lives.
