Grace Alone Online

Ephesians chapter 3 is our next chapter as we work through St. Paul’s amazing Epistle. Chapter 3 is the middle of the letter, and in this middle, we take a breather, a pitstop. In Ephesians 1-2, we see how God has made us new. In Ephesians 4-5 Paul describes our walk with Christ. Chapter 3 is an important chapter: it teaches us how to move from being born in our new life to walking. It’s our fuel and energizer for living.

As we continue to preach through Paul's letter to the Ephesians we look at the second half of chapter 2: Ephesians 2:11-22.  You can't have peace with others until you have peace with God and, understandably, with yourself.  How can you achieve this peace, and how does it happen.  There are so many walls built up by nations, ethnicity, and personal walls that leep us from living in peace with others.  No matter how hard WE try, they are impossible to bring down complete. How, then, can we possibly live in peace with each other.  Listen in....

We continue our study of Ephesians.  This week Ephesians 2:1-10.  Do you like what you see when you look in a mirror?  There are houses that intentionally have no mirrors.  I don't think I need to explain why.  We are not perfect, and we know it.  But, we cannot give ourselves a makeover.  A makeup artist can only use the tools at their disposal; there's nothing new, and it won't do the trick.  God does not give makeovers, rather, He creates totally new.  Listen how He does it.

During the summer we are studying the book of Ephesians. Sermons will be based on topics as we read through them.  Today, in Ephesians 1:15-23, Paul tells the Christians in Ephesus to live in that power.  Many times those of us who wear glasses look for them, only to find that we are wearing them.  We forget that we already have them on.  So with the power of God in our lives; we forget that we have it, and we begin to search elsewhere for it.  Listen in to Paul.

Today is Trinity Sunday.  Customarily the topic of the Trinity is approached discussing complicated doctrine of the unity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in one essence.  This is difficult to comprehend and only grasped by faith.  BUT TODAY, I want to approach it differently.  I want to focus on how God has revealed himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit as LOVE.  God invites us to live in His love triangle as He has revealed himself to us through his love as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Listen in.

This is the third part of a three-part sermon series on "turns."  We began with U-Turn that churches have to make when they discover they are straying from their purpose in God's mission.  Last week we look at the We-turn, what our congregation needs to make in order to spot Satan's lies that would distract us from God's purpose.  Today we call this I-Turn.  Although we can turn as a congregation to understand and adopt God's mission as our central purpose, there is no WE, if each of us do not turn to revisit our faith, the reason we're here, and the gifts we have been given to bring others to Christ and support the needs in our community.  How do you and I turn individually? listen in.

Last week we started a three-part sermon on turning around.  We called it a U-Turn.  Churches make U-Turns, or they should, whenever they lose their direction.  Today, we make it personal.  We-Turn.  How does the individual congregation make that turn.  Large or small, congregations always run the risk of making things about themselves and not about god's mission.  The difference is that the congregation most likely does not realize this until they are challenged with their dwindling size, commitment from parishioners, or lack of funds for maintaining and preserving the building and their fellowship.  Larger congregations can't even imagine that one day they might be faced with the same challenge.  It should take a dwindling congregation to discover the right road and challenge to make sure they area part of God's mission.  We-turn....how do we do it?

Everyone knows that when you are driving in the wrong direction, you need to make a U-turn and perhaps start over, or at least change your route.  Do churches need to make a U-turn?  Churches need to assess the route that they're on: their reason for existence.  We are challenged in this day and age to re-examine who we are and what we are as Christian congregations as more and more people leave the church, and on the coasts churches are closing left and right.  What will we do?  Do you and your congregation need to make a U-turn?

Baptism is God's mask of mercy and grace, through which he reveals the forgiveness and salvation his son accomplished through death and resurrection, defeating evil, Satan and death itself.  Why a mask?  Listen and find out.

Our normal interpretation of Psalm 23 is that of a shepherd careful and caring, cuddling the sheep.  But, King David actually describes a shepherd who is not just loving, but one who is strict and sever with the sheep to keep them out of danger in life.  The shepherd is more like a policeman hunting down lawbreakers but with the ultimate goal of saving them from self-destitution.