Grace 4 All

This week, we complete our sermon series “The Passages of Life,” with the message “Never too Old/Young.”   This is a great conclusion to a series that has been so timely with COVID. 

As we pass through this life - our one constant is (or should be) our RELATIONSHIP with God.  I imagine God as always tapping on our shoulder, relentlessly pursuing us - and we should be thankful for this.  We make so many excuses for why God’s calling in our lives will not work.  This week, we will be looking at two examples of this - the Prophet Jeremiah - who when called by the Lord said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young,” and Sarah - who when promised a child by God laughed and said she was too old.

All things are possible with God.  What excuses do you have in your life for not being in faithful relationship with God?

I noticed the other day that my favorite coffee cup now has two chips at the top. I do not know when they got there, but I do know they were not here at the beginning of this year.

To me, that seems very appropriate for 2020.  By now, don’t we all have a couple of chips around our edges?

This week’s sermon is “God Always Makes a Way,” and it is an excellent followup to last week’s message “Through the Red Sea.”  Now, maybe “The Way” is not exactly as we would envision it - I think we can all identify with that.  And because it is not exactly how we would envision it, I hear a tagline behind that title. 

God Always Makes a Way - But Will You Take It?

When you read and study your Bible, how do you see it?  Do you see it as a history lesson, or a set of stories?  Today we discuss the Bible as a living, breathing book - one whose messages cross reference not only each other, but also apply to us today.

Join us as we walk through the Red Sea with Moses, and experience the message for our current day circumstances.

Part Two of our sermon series "The Passages of Life."

This week, we begin a new sermon series, “The Passages of Life,” and start with “Through the Narrow Gate.”

A word about passages for you this week - you may not have heard this, with the vast amount of news being thrown at us every day, but journalist and author Gail Sheehy died last month at the age of 83.  The vast breadth of Sheehy’s works is notable, but she is probably best recalled for her book "Passages: Predictable Crises of Adult Life,” published in the 1970s.  The book was the result of 100s of interviews with adults, combined with theories of human development by psychologists such as Erik Erikson.  The book was named “one of the most 10 influential books of our time” by the Library of Congress, and Sheehy received the Presidential Citation from the American Psychological Association.

I guess it is safe to say she knew her stuff. 

What Sheehy found in interviewing so many adults, is that there are predictable stages that we all go through in our lifetime.  This can be comforting because we tend to like order to things, and we always like to know we are not alone - that other human beings experience similar things.

Except that we are NEVER alone, are we?

Join us this week as we begin exploring our passages with our two constants - self and God. 

We all have walls in our lives.  The walls are all unique, but we can conquer them through God's help.  Join us this week as we discuss Paul's walls, and how they were conquered by both the right people being with him at the right time, and by Christ.

Saul/Paul was an unlikely person to be turned into a spokesperson for Christ.  His radical transformation proves that with God, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.  His life, and his letters, give us a template to live by even today.

Join us for thirty minutes as we relax, and calmly talk about the challenges we all face.

What does yeast have to do with our faith?  Yeast is a living organism, and it makes things GROW.  We have to be mindful and be on guard of false yeast - false teachings that make our taint our faith.  Join us this week as we practice what we preach and discuss that it is our faith in Christ, and this faith alone, that sets us free.

Take 20 minutes away from the stresses of the current day to renew your mind and your faith.

Do you walk by faith, or do you walk by sight?  It is a big question - especially right now with everything going on.  None of us has lived in a pandemic before.  

The people of Israel sent spies to explore the land of Canaan before they as a people would enter it.  They missed the signs and signals that God was already there before them, and everything was just as He had promised.  Instead, they focused on the negative information given by ten of the spies.

They focused on the negative.  Sound familiar?

Join us today as we discuss what it means to trust in God, and to not let our own fears and cognitive distortions destroy us.

Are you looking for signs from God?  What exactly are you looking for?

We have had the ultimate sign from God in Jesus Christ's death and resurrection.  Explore how this one sign - this Sign of Jonah is the only sign that we need.  Also see how nothing - not even the Coronavirus can destroy the Temple - which is forever in Christ Jesus.  

This week, learn about a Biblical relationship triangle - between Saul, God, and David.  See how we all exist in relationship triangles every day, and how to make these healthy.  With God as a point in our triangle, we can more easily navigate both our daily stressors, as well as enhance our connection to others.

Get away from the Coronavirus news for a half hour, as Pastor Tracy combines both her counseling and pastoral backgrounds in this unique look at the way things CAN be.

This is the second sermon of our sermon series, "Ichthys - The Jesus Fish."  Join us as we talk about those things that we hold on to, and the miracle that happens when we let go.

a href="https://audionautix.com/">Creative Commons Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com