Pastor Dana’s continues to look at Jesus’ life in John and Luke, which sees Jesus welcome people, both respectable and socially condemned. In John 4:7-15, He invites the Samaritan woman at the well to living water. In John 3:1-3, the pharisee Nicodemus comes to Jesus in secret for answers. In John 8:10-11, He saves a woman accused of adultery and offers her forgiveness. In Luke 19:9-10, the tax collector Zacchaeus speaks to Jesus and is renewed. We do not need to be perfect to come before God. Rather, He welcomes us as we are and transforms us.

Pastor Dana’s continues to look at Jesus’ life in Luke 4:14-21 and John 8:12-20, where Jesus declares His identity through His words and actions. He is the Spirit-anointed liberator spoken of in Isaiah and the Light of the world. We can declare our trust in God as the source of true light in multiples ways, going beyond “good enough” to sharing the Good News in healing ways, and hearing the presence of the Holy Spirit remind us to live as liberators, healers, and restorers of peace.

Pastor Dana’s continues to look at Jesus’ life in John 1:43-51 and Matthew 4:18-22. First, Nathaniel is invited by Philip to see Jesus and overcomes skepticism as they are invited to follow Him. We also see Jesus meet fishermen brothers Simon Peter and Andrew, then James and John, and He calls on them to be fishers of men. These examples reveal what it means to be called by Jesus and what it means to follow Him. Some people are called slowly, through relationships, while others have a sudden awakening to the call. Regardless how the call of Jesus comes, it is an invitation to transformation.

Pastor Dana’s continues to look at Jesus’ life in Matthew 3:13-17, where Jesus’ cousin John baptizes Him in the Jordan River, and in Matthew 4:1-11, where Jesus goes into the wilderness to fast for forty days and is tempted by the devil. In baptism, He commits Himself to a life of following God the Father and proves it in the wilderness. Our commitment to faith in God won’t save us from trial, either, but it will help us through them.

Pastor Dana’s new sermon series looks at the life of Jesus and how we can receive guidance for our own lives. In Luke 2:41-52, Jesus is separated from His parents after the Passover festival in Jerusalem, only to be found 3 days later at the temple. There are times that we feel Christ is absent and all we know is anxiety, but if we remember to look in places He has promised to be, we know where to find Him – in the steady, faithful presence of God.

Pastor Dana’s Lenten sermon series wraps up in Micah 6:1-8. God brings a mournful case against His people for their disobedience, but they fail to understand what God wants. No, not more sacrifices or effort in devotion, but to do justice, love kindness, and to walk humbly with God. God loved us first, so we do not need to earn the gift of being wholly loved.

This Easter, Pastor Dana reads from John 20:11-18, in which Mary Magdalene is distraught to find Jesus’ empty tomb and does not at first recognize Him when he greets her. Only when He calls her by name does she realize that Jesus had risen from death. She then goes to share the news with the disciples, as instructed. The heart of Easter is faith. We must have faith that Christ is nearer than we think in our darkest moments, so we pray eyes to see, ears to hear, hearts and minds to understand, and feet ready to do with the Word for others.

Steve Tramel’s focus this Palm Sunday takes us through Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, as described in Zechariah 9:9-10, where he then spends the week denouncing sin and the pharisees, sets the bar which people will be judged by God, and ultimately offers His life for our sins. Yet, there will be another triumphal entry, described in Revelation 7:9-17. At that time, He will come to end the present age, sitting as our judge. Are you living to obey God’s commands to love others and bring them to Him?

Pastor Dana’s Lenten sermon series picks up in Haggai 1:2-6, 2:2-5, and Psalm 145:4-8. The people of Israel return from 20 years of exile to rebuild their lives yet neglect the temple. God uses Haggai to remind them of a promise of restoration. In their rebuilding the temple, they rebuild their identity as a covenant people. We find renewal when we center around faithful living in our community.

Pastor Dana’s Lenten sermon series picks up in Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-3; and 3:2. God’s people have turned away from God’s righteousness and normalized violence and corruption, bringing on an invasion from the Babylonian empire. But we see that God’s intentions are not to stand away from suffering, but to take it upon Himself, beginning the ultimate work of restoration of our brokenness through the resurrection.