Melbourne Heights - Sermons

There is an old adage that tells us, "You never get a second chance to make a first impression." This piece of advice is true whether you're interviewing for a job, going on a date, or just introducing yourself to someone for the first time.

And it's even true for when we're first introduced to God in the Bible. When we're first introduced to God in Genesis 1, God wants to make an impression that we'll never forget.

In Exodus 3, God tells Moses that God's name is "I am." And this isn't a one time thing, this is the same name for God that is used more than 6,500 times in the Bible.

But it still seems like a strange way to introduce yourself. So why does God introduce himself as "I am"? Well, that name has a lot to teach us about who God is.

When we think about the future, there are a lot of things that we could worry about. We can worry about problems we'll face, people we'll have to deal with, or our performance at school or work. And all of these worries can feel "heavy," as Marty McFly might put it.

But, in this sermon, we'll be reminded that Jesus tells us not to worry because God is always with us no matter what the future may hold.

What does it mean to be rich? Is it about having so much money in your bank account? Or earning so much money every year? For the Goonies, being rich means having enough money to keep developers from destroying a neighborhood.

But, as the movie plays out, the Goonies realize something we all need to learn. Money doesn't make you rich...love does.

When Rocky Balboa stepped in the ring with Apollo Creed nobody thought he would last longer than three rounds. But in spite of the odds, Rocky believed in himself. He put his faith in himself into action, and did what no one had ever done before.

As followers of Jesus, we are called to put our faith into action as well, trusting that God can help us no matter what challenges we may face.

The new Super Mario Bros. movie reminds us that there are times when we mess up and make mistakes, and don't feel super about ourselves. So we end up wondering if God could love someone like us.

But despite our imperfections, God's love for us never wavers. No matter how many times we mess up or how unworthy we feel, we are precious in God’s eyes.

When you're a kid, life seems to be filled with things to celebrate. You celebrate losing a tooth or finding a toy. You celebrate every holiday that pops up on the calendar.

But when you get a little older, you only seem to celebrate life's biggest moments. But God never wants us to hesitate to celebrate everything that he does for us from the big things to the small ones.

When we're little, we learn to make quick assessments about a lot of different things. We learn to quickly pick out which box of cereal we want to eat, which cartoon we want to watch, or which book we want to read. The problem is, we also learn to make quick assessments about people.

But when we learn to look past a person's cover, we can recognize the inherent value and worth in every individual as children of God.

Whether we see a classmate fall on the playground or see a friend cry when their toy gets broken, we learn from a young age that we need to comfort people who are sad. But, as we get a little older, we learn that not all of life’s problems can be solved with a hug or a band-aid.

In this sermon, we'll talk about how we can move beyond band-aids to offer real comfort when people are sad.

From the time we're young, we learn that people won't always get along. But in our world today it seems like we're more divided than ever. So, as followers of Jesus, we need to shine His light when people disagree.

But how do we do that? In this sermon, we'll discover the best way to shine Jesus' light when people disagree is to learn to be empathetic with everyone we meet.