A Sunday sermon by Pastor Keith Hill.Check out the prayer list in any church or small group Bible study, and see what needs frequently crop up. Occasionally, there is a need for guidance and provision in some major life decision. But much more often the requests are about very down to earth matters – many of them physical needs.As we’ve made our way through the book of Numbers, the last two chapters we considered, 13 and 14, have been about the Lord's work with us in large life issues. But with chapter 21 we come back to more immediate physical perils and challenges – snakes!  Even though that’s not the peril we usually face, we can certainly connect with the physical vulnerability and the fear that come with it.  Such are the drivers for most of our prayer requests.Turns out that the large life issues and the basic perils of the moment are not so far apart.  So we will see in Numbers 21, and even more so in John 3, where we find Jesus’ comments on Numbers 21.  As those who experience such needs ourselves, and who have been sent to minister to people with such needs, these are important stories for us.So we'll see this Sunday.  Let’s prepare in prayer, for the Lord will meet us at the point of these most basic human needs, and address us in our calling to minister in his name to such needs.  

A Sunday sermon by Pastor Keith Hill.Have you ever noticed how the scripture is not prone to “photoshop” the pictures it gives of the people of God? It’s true. No retouching. We get them as they really were. Which makes the stories all the more relevant to us – as we really are.Numbers 14 is one of those “warts and all” pictures. It’s hard to look at, and it gets even harder when the Spirit turns this picture into a mirror, as the Spirit is prone to do.This Sunday I believe we’ll discover anew one of the mysteries of God's truth: even its hard edges, its bad news, is caught up in the Lord’s intention that we hear his good news all the better. Thus it presents not a threat, but an invitation.If you want to look ahead in preparation for this Sunday, check out Numbers 14, and the reflection on that story in Hebrews 3:12-19. I believe we will find God's truth jumping right into the middle of our lives – and not just for us as individuals, but for us as Eternity Church.Let’s prepare in prayer.  The Lord is ready to move! I look forward to joining with you in welcoming him into our midst with our praises this Sunday at 10:00.  

A Sunday sermon by Peter DuMont.We live in an Age of Depletion. Too often we feel overworked and overburdened. If we find someone full of energy and optimism, we want to know why, as we navigate our own needs and the needs of others.The mark of God’s presence and work is abundant life.  Jesus came proclaiming liberty to the captives and declaring, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10)  The Apostle Paul built upon this understanding when he wrote, “the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8) Encountering God and growing in our relationship with Him moves us from a place of depletion toward fulness, from heaviness toward freedom. For most of us, this is a process, but the hope of our journey is rooted in the life of God, and His promise to complete His work in us and the world around us.Let’s move toward worship this week eager to grow in the life of God!

A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor Keith Hill.Now that I’ve been with you for several Sundays, I’m getting into a Sunday morning routine.  I’ve been getting here in time to hear the Praise Team prepare for worship. It’s what you would expect – they make progress on a song and then get stuck. Finally, they sort it out and move on to the next song. As they say of legislation, it’s like with sausage – you don’t want to see it made.But actually, I do like to see it made, and in part because it’s fun to see the different musical giftings and ideas about a song come together. But again, as with sausage, it’s not fully appreciated until it’s served up. And our Praise Band “serves up” the worship music wonderfully well!Of course, they have a secret ingredient: the Holy Spirit enlivens their offering and uses the music to unite us all around the One who has come into our midst. I’ve seen the Spirit do so with far less gifted musicians too. But we can give thanks that the Lord has entrusted such musical gifts to our leaders, and that He works through them in the grand ways he does.This Sunday our praise will be preparing us to respond to God’s word in Numbers 13 and Hebrews 11:1.  You might check them out before we gather.  We’ll be dealing with the very basics of the faith, as we face both current and future challenges.

A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor Keith Hill.I continue to be very grateful for your kind welcome.  While I don’t yet know many of you well, it’s easy to recognize our main commonality: we’re very much taken with this One who has called us to be his own, and to follow in his way.Turns out that following in his way as a congregation includes some transition times.  That’s what’s happening with Eternity now, with David retired, and the next Pastor not yet here.  It’s my privilege to walk with you through this segment of the journey, and to discover together the good things that the Lord has in store right now.If you’ve been here the last two weeks for worship, you know that’s why we’re focusing on the book of Numbers this summer. It describes a time when God’s people were on their way from one season to the next, and what he did with them on the way.  This Sunday we’ll be considering Numbers 11:1-9 and John 6:31-35.  Think of these stories as a couple of pages out of the family photo album, taken some years apart.  Our likeness is there – and it’s not very flattering!  But it is instructive.There are also a couple of perspectives on the One who has welcomed us to travel with him.  We need both of these angles to understand who he is, and thus who we are as his fellow travelers.

A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor Keith Hill.We’ll continue in our focus on Numbers.  Despite its historical and cultural distance, Numbers describes how God works with his people in a transition time.  So it’s not hard to connect the dots for us from then to now.We’ll begin with Numbers 9:15-23, which describes how the people of Israel found their way in the wilderness.  Hint – it wasn’t with GPS – unless you want to recast the acronym as the God Positioning Service. But say we do. How can we make sure we’re dialing into his guidance?That’s a live issue for us as a church right now.  We’re in unfamiliar territory, and we want to move in the right directions. So how do we tie into this divine GPS?  And actually, it’s not just an issue for us as a church, but also for each of us as disciples.  Is there guidance for us day to day?  If so, how do we dial in?While most of our attention will be on the Numbers story, we’ll also hear a word from Jesus in John 10:27 about how he guides us as his disciples.

A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor Keith Hill.Ever since David asked me last summer if I might serve as Transitional Pastor, should one still be needed when he retired the following May, I’ve been praying about the possibility of serving with you.  A couple of months ago it became apparent that this would in fact come to be, and so my prayers changed.  I began praying that God would prepare me to serve in this role.  That’s because we’re not just killing time till God does the next thing at Eternity.  The Lord does a lot of his best work in transition times!  So it was in the biblical era, and so it is now.  With that in mind, this Sunday we’ll commence a focus on the book of Numbers that will carry us through most of the summer. Why Numbers?  Because it’s a book that describes how God worked with his people in a transition time.  I believe we won’t find it hard to discover the resonances with our own transition.We’ll begin with Numbers 6:22-27 – one of the more familiar passages, because it has the blessing God directed Aaron, the high priest, to speak over the people, and which we often use in worship to this day. We’ll also read 1 Peter 2:9, the New Testament verse which broadens that priestly function to all who follow Jesus.  That means you and I are not only “bless-ees” but also “bless-ers,” which will be especially important in this transition season. What does it mean to receive God’s blessing from each other, and to bring such blessing to each other?  We’ll see!I look forward to gathering with you on Sunday.  There will be blessing all around!

A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor Steve Hartman.To God's People at Eternity,                   A few weeks ago at a congregational meeting, the elders introduced us to Eternity's values. One of those values was this one: "We believe in interconnected life." In our gathering together from many backgrounds and life stages our common experience of God is the primary means by which faith is transmitted from one household to another and one generation to the next. We are called to pursue life together and not live in isolation.  Love is the greatest gift of the Holy Spirit, enabling us to live with differences, build bridges, and embrace tension. Our primary witness to the world lies in the life and proclamation of the community."What a great statement by Eternity's elders.  This Sunday we will think about why it is so important to pursue life together and not live in isolation.Specifically, we will think about how we grow as Christians. Can we really be all God intends for us to become--all God intends to make us--when we make our walk with God about just "me and God?"  How do we grow into maturity?  As we look at Ephesians 4:7-16, we will think about the answers to these questions together.

A Sunday morning sermon by Charity Cook.Jesus began his ministry by calling people to repentance and declaring that “the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matt 4:17). As He carried this message throughout Galilee, He “healed every disease and every affliction among the people” (Matt 4:24). Jesus preached the good news, and He demonstrated it by healing the sick. Before He left, Jesus prepared His disciples to continue this mission. Jesus sent His twelve disciples “to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal” (Lk 9:2). He then sent 72 others with the same assignment to heal the sick and say, “The kingdom of God has come near to you” (Lk 10:9). Just before His departure, Jesus commissioned the eleven to make disciples and to teach everything He had taught them (Matt 28:19-20). But before they went out, they were told to “stay in the city until [they were] clothed with power from on high” (Lk 24:49). By sending the Holy Spirit and empowering His disciples, Jesus’ ministry focus continued. He modeled the Kingdom of Heaven by healing the sick and casting out demons. He commissioned his disciples to do the same and told them to make disciples. Those disciples in turn discipled others, who in turn discipled others.We stand in this heritage of discipleship. As Jesus’ disciples, we continue in this mission through the power of the Holy Spirit. Wisdom and knowledge; faith, healing, and miracles; prophecy, tongues, and discernment are all given to help us walk in Christ’s authority and to build His church (1 Cor 12:8-10).  Theologian Jon Ruthven points to the Bible’s emphasis on both the Holy Spirit and the Kingdom of God to argue that these charismatic gifts remain until the second coming of Jesus. These gifts are essential because we have an assignment: to heal the sick, to proclaim that the Kingdom of God is at hand, and to make disciples of Jesus Christ. 

A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor David Singh.Bewildered, amazed and perplexed. These are the reactions of the crowd when they witness the coming of the Holy Spirit onto the followers of Jesus.  The visitors and peoples from different countries hear in their own language “the mighty works of God.”  Suddenly there is a unity of purpose and a common ability to be prophetic and proclaim God. Pentecost extends the border of God’s chosen people. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and even the uttermost corners of the earth become the venue for the coming of the kingdom of God. A clear mark of the Spirit’s anointing is when our horizon shifts to include all peoples. This is the vision of Eternity Church:  “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels stood round the throne and round the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God for ever and ever! Amen.”” Revelation 7:9–12 (RSV) Come Holy Spirit come and fulfill this vision in and through us!