Great events don’t happen in a vacuum. They are great events because things led up to that moment in time. The birth of Jesus didn’t just happen from God’s plan and perspective. God had been making promises to not just His people, but to the world that Christmas fulfilled. We look back and see the fulfillment. Those before looked forward wondering when God was going to act. We can be encouraged that when it may seem to us God isn’t at work, He still is … because He promised.
The Disabled God (Accessibility Sunday)
December 3rd is recognized by the United Nations as the International Day for Persons with Disabilities. As the church, we have a greater mandate to recognize, value and learn from those who struggle and live with disabilities. We have this mandate because we follow a God who disabled Himself, so that He could bring healing to our greatest disability as human beings… Our spiritual disability. Jesus became disabled (limited himself), to enable us to live and become like Him today, and in full when He returns.
What Does our Gospel Produce?
In our culture, we have various flawed versions of the gospel. Each version of the gospel produces certain results in the lives of those that believe and follow them that fall short of the life Jesus invited people into through His good news message. In this sermon we will look at these flawed gospels in the light of Jesus’ gospel by looking at the fruit of each gospel in our lives.
Living in Freedom
Teaching evangelist Lloyd Vandenburg brings a powerful message, based in Scripture and personal experience, about how to live free from the lies we believe. Lies will always lead us into bondage, but Jesus promises that if we know the truth, we can be set free. Being free takes Faith in what God’s says about us, Radical humility, Extravagant grace from God, and Extracting the poisonous influences from our lives.
Invite, Steps to Freedom #7
The final step to freedom is possibly a unexpected one. The final step to helping a person find lasting freedom is to share the path to freedom with someone else. By speaking about it and living it out. Unfortunately for many Christians this is a step of following Jesus that gets left to others or when others initiate a conversation.
Persevere, Steps to Freedom # 6
Getting free of what keeps us stuck is not an easy journey, at least most of the time. Neither is following Jesus, when we understand that following Jesus means actually cooperating with God to become like Jesus. It takes perseverance, our 6th step to freedom.
Repent, Steps to Freedom # 5
Part of the journey of finding freedom is making amends with those we have wronged. This is a key aspect of the biblical practice and command of repentance. Jesus’ interaction with Zacchaeus and Zacchaeus’ response are a great example of what repentance looks like and how God responds to repentance.
Confess, Steps of Freedom #4
After surrender, commit and examine comes the step of confession. Confession means to admit what is really happening in our lives, good, bad and ugly. This requires being vulnerable and open with God, ourselves, and at least one other person, so that there is someone (or a group of someones) know everything about your life.
Examine, Steps to Freedom #3
Work your way through this message in dealing with guilt, accepting responsibility, asking God for forgiveness, admitting your faults to another person, accepting God’s forgiveness, and forgiving yourself.
Commit, Steps to Freedom #2
After we surrender ourselves to the idea that there is a God, and we are not God, we need to take the step of committing ourselves to living a surrendered life. What does commitment look like, and what kind of commitment is needed. We look at the example of Elisha and the words of Jesus about what commitment to surrendering to Jesus looks like.