“More to the Story: Noah” (July 3, 2016)

from Genesis 6:5-22

In week 3 of our “More to the Story” series, we look at one of the most well known stories in all of Scripture…the story of Noah.  While there are any number of questions surrounding this account of Noah’s building of the ark and God’s bringing of the flood, we find that there is a questions posed to us…

In this world where we might say (save for a promise and a rainbow) we’re probably due for another wiping of the slate…what if in looking back at the account of Noah, we begin to see it, not as an issue of morality, but one of theology…does creation still allow God to be God?  Does humanity still allow God to be God?  Are you, in your life, allowing God to be God?

w/ Vern Collins

“Rhythms: Worship” (March 20, 2016-Palm Sunday)

from Matthew 21:1-11

It has been said that your doctrine determines your doxology…that is, what you believe about God or Who you believe God to be dictates your worship of God.  While there is truth to this, it places an awful lot of ownership on you to keep God at the center of your life in order that your worship might flow in the direction it needs to.

Perhaps worship is not only meant to be a response, but a means of focusing our attention and affection on God, that God might continue to reveal Himself to us through His Son Jesus.

What if worship weren’t just your response, but it also dictated the direction of your focus?

w/ Vern Collins

“Revelation: Worship” (Christmas Eve 2015 6:00pm service)

from Luke 2:1-20

Order.  We spend a great deal of time and energy in our lives seeking to achieve and maintain some sort of order.  And yet, all it takes is a phone call, a meeting at work, a notice in the mail, a visit to the doctor to realize that at any given moment we are a breath away from chaos breaking in and disrupting our safe, calculated lives.

The good news is, as a census was being taken in the Roman Empire…as order was being set…Jesus was entering the world…not in the midst of order, but on the fringe of it…on the edge of chaos.

In unexpected ways to unlikely people the birth of Jesus and news of His birth came…with a proclamation that through Christ, God is coming to make peace in the midst of the chaos…

w/ Vern Collins

“Foundations: Worship” (November 1, 2015)

from Revelation 7:9-16

Silent Mediation.  Old Hymns.  Traditional.  Contemporary.  Praise and Worship.  There are as many different opinions about what worship should be as there are people worshiping…or as there are people in church.

As we begin our “Foundations” series by looking at both foundations of the faith and foundations of who we are as a church and how we accomplish our mission of, “Loving our Community and inviting all to discover life in Christ,” we begin with worship as being a vital piece of that identity.

What your worship were not a matter of preference of style, but was the, “True Worship,” Jesus refers to in John 4, and that we catch a glimpse of in the vision of the throne in Revelation 7?

 

w/ Vern Collins

“Overwhelmed: Life”

from 1 Timothy 6:11-19

Time, Relationships, Headlines, Money…these are just SOME of the things in life that overwhelm us.  For the past four weeks, we’ve considered what it looks like to navigate those times when you feel overwhelmed by one or any number of these things.

What if the key was not just to navigate the overwhelming things, what if the goal was not just to get through them…what if the goal was to live an overwhelmed life?

A life overwhelmed by the reality of the goodness, and faithfulness, and love of God…present right in the midst of the rest that you are carrying.

Perhaps then you would find as Paul says, “the life that is truly life.”

w/ Vern Collins