Tag: Serve

(February 9, 2020) “Your Next Steps: Serving”

from Isaiah 58:1-12

When you think of worship or the practice of religion, what comes to mind? More importantly, what do you believe the purpose of our worship or the practice of religion is FOR?

Are we simply checking boxes, or are we placing ourselves humbly before God in hopes that we might be transformed…in hopes that we might moved beyond our self-focus in order to focus on those around us?

What if this week, you took a step toward serving someone around you? Recognizing where they might have need, and being willing to come alongside them…just as God, in Christ, has come alongside you.

w/ Vern Collins

(September 29, 2019) “Ambitious Church: Service”

from Matthew 20:20-28

What is your ambition in life? That thing, or those things that you so desire to see happen, that you are willing to work diligently toward making it a reality…

In that pursuit, do you find that your ambition in competition with the ambition of those around you?

What if the lens through which you saw those around you led you not to think, “I need to be better than that person,” but instead led you to have the ambition of serving them in a way that reflects Jesus?

w/ Vern Collins

“Jesus As: King” (November 26, 2017)

from Philippians 2:1-11

What determines your priorities?  What drives your life?

Is it Jesus?

Many who consider themselves Christians, while grateful for the saving work of Christ on the Cross, are still content to follow, “little kings,” as they work to establish their own, “little kingdoms.”  And yet, based on Paul’s use of what is likely an early church hymn, we find that there is really only One Who is worthy of being called King.

Imagine how your life might change if you not only looked to Jesus as Savior,  but submitted to Him as King!

w/ Vern Collins

“As For You: Submit” (November 13, 2016)

from Ephesians 5:21-6:9

How are we meant to respond when there is disagreement with those around us?  How are we meant to prove our point?  How should we go about winning the argument?  How are we supposed to convince others to see things the way we see them?

What if, even in the face disagreement that is so difficult, our goal is not to win the day, rather to offer a new way forward…not a way born out of a rock solid argument, but out of choosing a different posture?  A posture of submission…of service.

Perhaps the key to navigating relationship is not guarding what is right, but pointing to what is Good.

w/ Vern Collins

“Revelation: Power to Serve” (January 3, 2016)

from Ephesians 3:1-12

The season of Epiphany is about the hope of humanity being revealed in the birth of Christ.

Epiphany.  Revelation.  The Ah-ha moment.  The time when things become clear…when there is knowledge of something not previously possessed…if knowledge is power, it begs the question , “what kind of power are you in pursuit of?”

Paul has experienced a deep revelation of Christ…and it has empowered him in significant ways…but perhaps not in the way we tend to think of power…

w/ Vern Collins

“Foundations: Serve” (November 15, 2015)

from Joshua 24

Options.  Many live in a culture full of options.  Options for clothing, cars, the way you spend your time…upgrade options, warranty options, media options, options for the way you connect with others…it is a culture that caters to the consumer.

What if, however, we have become so accustomed to crafting this life to be the most comfortable it can, that we have made optional things that should not be?

Take serving and loving others for example…Jesus never presented it as an option…even in our Old Testament passage from Joshua, we see that amidst the options of lesser gods, Joshua makes it clear that those options are no option at all, really.

What if the way you served was a life style, not simply another option on your list?

w/ Luke Edwards

“Body of Christ: For Us” (June 7, 2015)

from 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

The call for the Christ follower to be Christ to the world can be at best confusing and at worst something that on you can make a quick mess of.  In an age when the church and the follower of Christ are seen as being judgmental, hypocritical, or more concerned with self than with a hurting world, is there hope of bringing the gap?
The invitation to Christ’s table is an invitation to a deeper understanding not only of the journey that led Christ to be broken for us, but a deeper understanding of who we are called to be in Him.
w/ Vern Collins

“Questions God Asks: Do You Love Me?” (April 19, 2015)

*This week’s message includes the announcement about our senior pastor, Jason’s Byassee new appointment starting July 1st.  We are incredibly grateful for his leadership, we love he and his family deeply, and pray God’s blessing on their faithfulness in this call.

from John 21:15-19

People do crazy things for love…quit jobs, move half way around the country, get tattoos, change lifestyles…what do you do to show love to those you in fact love?  What are you willing to do to show love to someone?
Are you willing to protect them, willing to commit to them, willing to challenge them…would you be willing to jump out of a boat for them?  Peter did all of these things for Jesus.  Perhaps, the greatest example of Peter’s we have to follow, however, is his willingness to meet Jesus on the shore of his need for grace, hear the question, “do you love me?” and be willing to follow Him once more into a life of surrender to the cause of the Gospel.
What are you willing to do?
w/ Vern Collins