Epiclesis

The biblical story of Ruth is a multi-faceted one, filled with deep meaning at every turn. We may know her best as being in the lineage of Jesus. But at the heart of her story are revelations of God’s covenant faithfulness, both to and through Ruth and the characters who surround her.

Join Pastor Ellen as she reflects on the challenges and opportunities for Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz as they chose to say “Yes” to God. What lessons and encouragement do they offer us as we seek to live out our lives, “on display” of God’s love and manifold wisdom? And what might all this have to do with God’s Big Story?

The painting associated with this sermon is "Ruth Gleaning" by James Tissot, c. 1896.

What does the Bible have to say about life and death for God's saints? Pastor Chris took a couple of Sundays leading up to an All Saints emphasis at the end of October to talk about what Christians can expect.

How are we supposed to count something that’s uncountable? Normally, we can’t “know” our end, and normally we can’t actually "number" our days, as the psalm say. Just what does it mean to number our days?

One fascinating truth about Scripture is that very often, God calls us to count things that are NOT countable, and then He forbids us from counting things that ARE countable.

What does that mean for Epiclesis church, and for you, as we go forward from here? Join Pastor Chris for a wonderful and timely teaching on numbering our days.

Does it really matter how we worship? Does it make any difference what happens in our chapel each Sunday? The early church believed it made a tremendous difference. Join guest speaker Dr. Carl Peters as he gives a delightful teaching on why the way we worship is critical to our faith.

The biblical kind of remembering is not like our usual idea of remembering where we recall an event or reflect on happier times.

Biblical remembering involves bringing something from the past into the present in such a way that it does not lose any of its original meaning or power or import. It's an almost tangible way to connect past and present.

So much about worship—so much about living a life of worship—is about remembering rightly. How do we remember rightly and biblically?

If you knew a storm was coming, what kind of a house would you build? Join us as we learn how to “un-frenemy” our relationship with God, and explore the radical way James views troubles and testing that are guaranteed to happen to us all.

Find notes for this sermon here.

 

 

 

What should your goal be as a peacemaker? What is the #1 thing standing in your way of that goal? Join us as we explore the first half of James 3 and learn the S.A.F.E. way to manage conflict with the people around you.

Find teaching notes for this sermon here.

Do you know where the line of the old hymn "Jesus doeth all things well" comes from? It's from a passage of Scripture we looked on this day from the Gospel of Mark.

Pastor Chris began the teaching by asking what God has been up to since the Fall in the Garden of Eden. You could make a strong theological case for saying "re-creation." In Matthew 15, Jesus took His disciples to two far-flung regions. What might His ministry in those two places have to do with re-creation? Join us!

The Book of Ephesians was summed up by author Watchman Nee this way in his book by the same title: "Sit, Walk, Stand." On this final Sunday in our series on Ephesians, Pastor Chris used that phrase to recap Paul's letter. The teaching ended with a look at what Paul's admonition to "put on the armor of God" might ultimately mean.