Last week, we talked about the joy, the hope, and the promise of God's Kingdom. It is important to remember that because the church is a sign of that kingdom.

This summer was held Round Robin services at seven of the United Methodist Churches in Columbia, Union, Calhoun and Ouachita Counties. This is my sermon at Norphlet UMC.

I grew up hearing Hellfire and Brimstone sermons about the coming apocalypse. They warned of fiery pits and terrifying beast. Those sermons were pretty scary then I read the scriptures they left out, like the 365 times the Bible tells us "do not be afraid." Today we talk about end times with a different vision intended to give us hope.

For God so loved the world that God gave God's only begotten Son so that whoever believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.  We have all been asked, " Have you been saved?" like it is a one time transaction. That is not how Paul describes it and it isn't really the overall picture in the Gospels so what is salvation?

Today, we are talking about the third person of the Trinity: the Holy Spirit. Who is the Holy Spirit and what do it do for us?

Today we talk about Jesus. Who was he and what did God accomplish through him? How are we called to follow him? We look at the seventh chapter of Daniel for the earliest concept of the Son of Man then look to the Christ Hymn in Philippians to understand how to follow him.

Sin was not created by God. It is dischord and it is noise and humans participate in it every day.

Who are we as humans that God is even mindful of us. We were created by intention as instruments of God's grace to care for the earth and to care for each other.

Today, we are talking about Providence or how God interacts in our world. There are sopme who believe God directs everything and on the oppostie end, there are those who see God as creator but totally inactive in our world. Most of us are somewhere inbetween. 

Today, we talk about the Creation. Did you know the Hebrew verb "to create" is used in the Old testament many times but when it is used, there is only one subject and only one creator, God.