Series: Teach Us to Pray: Lessons from Old Testament Prayers 

Scripture: 1 Samuel 1-2 

Speaker: Pastor David Hallett

Does God really care? This is the question we often ask when things go wrong in our life. How should we respond in difficulties, in trials, in things that bring anguish and pain? Do we lash out? Do we feel sorry for ourselves? Do we pray? The story of Hannah and her son Samuel opens the book of 1 Samuel and tells us about not only God’s compassion and care for this forlorn woman, but also His love and care for His people as a whole. Her prayer comes from a heart that is broken, full of misery and despair. Hannah turns to the only One who can help her—God. Does God really care? Hannah tells us emphatically “Yes!”  

Series: Teach Us to Pray: Lessons from Old Testament Prayers Scripture: 1 Kings 18:36-37 Speaker: Pastor David HallettWe need to be faithful in prayer for our family and our friends to come to know Jesus and receive God’s gift of eternal life through faith in Him. Yet, many of us struggle with how best to present that message. Should we confront them with logical proofs for God’s existence? Should we present indisputable evidence for Jesus and His resurrection? Should we show the love of God to them through our actions? None of these things are bad or wrong, but the truth of the matter is God must show Himself to be the one true God through the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. When people are confronted with the truth of God in all His glory, He moves their hearts to believe in Jesus and declare, “The Lord, He is God.” In 1 Kings 18, Elijah had to confront the nation of Israel because they were drifting away from serving God alone and were happy to incorporate Baal worship into their lives. Who is the real God and who is fake? On Mt. Carmel, Elijah prayed and asked God to show His glory and reveal to Israel that He is God alone. We need to pray the same prayer today for our family and friends.

Series: Teach Us to Pray: Lessons from Old Testament Prayers

Scripture: Exodus 15:1-18

Speaker: Pastor David Hallett

What do you say when you pray to God? Many of us tend to pray for the same things over and over: the same requests for our loved ones and the same pleas for the difficulties in our own lives. Similarly, when we focus our prayers on gratitude, we tend to praise and thank God for the same kinds of things. In our new sermon series, we want to focus on some of the prayers found in the Old Testament. Sometimes these prayers focus on praise, while other times they focus on requests, and still others pour out emotions of grief, bewilderment, but also trust. The prayers we’ll study from the Old Testament can teach us to pray in new ways, bringing freshness to our routines. In many cases, we can even use the exact words of a prayer in the Bible. Today we want to focus on the Song of Moses. All the Israelites praised God for granting them salvation from the Egyptian army and from Pharaoh. What can we learn about praising God in our prayers from this song?

Series: The Mission of the ChurchScripture: Isaiah 6:1-8; Matthew 28:18-20 Speaker: Pastor David HallettIn our final message in this series on the Church and Missions, we want to bring it all home. We have shown that God DOES have a mission. Jesus commands us to fulfill that mission. He gave us the Holy Spirit to empower us for that mission. All that is left to ask is “What is our specific role in the MISSION of God?”

Scripture: John 15:9-10; 1 John 4:16

Guest Speaker: Ming Peng Gong

Series: The Mission of the Church

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:31

Speaker: Pastor David Hallett

During this series we have seen that the true story of the world is revealed and called forth as God’s mission. Then, we showed how, as followers of Jesus in His church that He is building, we have a duty to fulfill our mission under God’s grand mission. Last week, we saw that we as Christ’s church need to be engaged in extending the Lordship of Christ and the glory of God to ALL NATIONS. Now we must come to the key question, “To what end?” Why is the true story of the world that God’s cosmic renewal is accomplished through the saving work of Jesus spread around the world to all nations? The answer is the glory of God. All of this is accomplished to bring God glory. This does not make God some vain diva looking for attention. In fact it is just the opposite. When God is glorified in the universe and especially in His people, we begin to experience and enjoy all the beauty and greatness of God to our own ultimate satisfaction. That is why He is worthy of our praise—God’s glory gives more than it takes.

Series: The Mission of the Church

Scripture: Matthew 28:18-20

Speaker: Pastor David Hallett

Two weeks ago, we showed that the true story of the world revealed and called forth God’s mission. Last week, we showed how, as followers of Jesus in His church that He is building, we have a duty to fulfill our mission under God’s grand mission. The main focus of the message was on that mission to our “own place.” We do need to evangelize, disciple, show compassion, promote justice, and care for creation where we are. BUT, if we stop there, we fall short of fulfilling God’s mission for us, His church. We need to be engaged in extending the Lordship of Christ and the glory of God to all nations.

Series: The Missions of the Church

Series: The Mission of the Church

Scripture: The Whole Bible

Speaker: Pastor David Hallett

Some of the most fundamental questions in life seem to be the hardest to answer: “Who am I?”, “Why am I here?”, “Where am I going, both now and in the future?” Everyone struggles with these questions whether they are a Christian or not. Apart from God, people look for the answers to these questions in a wide variety of places. Sadly, in our culture today, most people look within themselves to find ultimate truth and reality. Where do the answers lie to life’s most fundamental questions? The answer is found in the true story of the world. The Bible tells the story of the universe from beginning to end and reveals to us the mission of God He is calling us to fulfill. What story are you living in?

Series: The Church and Missions