Romans 6:1-11 lays out for the new Christians why continuing in sin is not the way to prove God’s power. Pastor Cana Moore elaborates that Jesus’ death offers us freedom from sin and raises us into new life. With this promise of new life, we are tasked with abandoning our old ways for the better freedom in Christ.

Pastor Cana takes us to Deuteronomy 28:1-6, which sees Moses, having taught the Israelites God’s law, address them with a blessing and promise of what their obedience to God would lead to. God’ blessings for obedience expect and accommodate human frailty. We receive God’s blessing without perfect obedience because of God’s intentional provision.

Pastor Cana shares Psalm 116, where the Psalmist suffers from an illness and calls of God for help and when they are saved from their suffering, they find themselves at peace and reflects on God’s truths. Even when we are suffering, God is our current salvation. In our suffering, we have comfort in confidently knowing that God is saving us.

In Numbers 22:7-14, and 23:4-8, Balaam is hired by King Balak to curse Israel but acts as God guides him to instead bless them. Balaam, not understanding God, followed Him over economic and personal safety. Pastor Cana implores us to also trust God’s prompting to follow Him, even when we don’t understand.

For the Epiphany, Pastor Cana speaks from Psalm 72, which serves as a statement of hope and aspiration for a new king and their nation. Jesus, the impossible King made known, is our example of how to bring God’s righteousness into the world. We are encouraged to bring about this impossible reign of God’s righteousness in the world with His power.

Meeting on Zoom, Pastor Cana delivers a homily starting from Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13, in which events have been going poorly, but the psalmist expresses confidence of a better world. Now is a time we know God has dwelled in the land through Jesus Christ and the reconciliation of all things is yet to come. We are encouraged to revel in the joy and assurance of the Psalm, of the promise of what is and what is to be, to let it foster peace in our lives.

The conclusion of Pastor Cana’s 2024 Advent series comes to us from Luke 2:8-15, where shepherds are visited by hosts of angels delivering the Good News of the Christ’s birth so that they could become the first to welcome Him. Through Christ’s coming, we are invited into the open spaces of a wider world of love, community, joy, and love.

The third of Pastor Cana’s 2024 Advent series, comes to us from Luke 2:1-5, where Mary travels with Joseph to his ancestral city of Bethlehem for government registration, just in time for Jesus’ birth on a not-so-silent night. God draws close to us amidst the noisy, busy journey of our human lives. Can you feel His presence?

The second of Pastor Cana’s 2024 Advent series, comes to us from Luke 1:39-45, where Mary in her early pregnancy with Jesus visits her cousin Elizabeth, whose own unborn child leaps for joy. God creates a welcoming home for Mary and for all of us. Do you feel God’s welcome? Let us also create a welcoming home for others.

The first of Pastor Cana’s 2024 Advent series, presented by Jennie Straight, comes to us from Luke 1:5-23, where the angel Gabriel appears to Zachariah in the sanctuary of God to tell him that his wife Elizabeth will bear a son, despite her advanced age. God offers us sanctuary in His presence, where we can focus on Him and be attended to by Him. Take time to notice your place of sanctuary and seek to focus on God.