MGCLT Sermons

Where do I belong? Who is my family? Who can I count on? These are all questions that Harry struggled with. Where can we find the answers to these questions and more?

Harry wears a scar on his forehead that marks the greatest tragedy of his life. We all walk around with our own scars. Some of them are visible and others are hard to see. Trauma and what it leaves behind can be the source of inspiration to achieve great things or a burden that weighs us down. Listen along as we look deep into the meaning of trauma in the wizarding world and our own.

Love or the lack of love has the power to influence who we are and who we can become. Love goes beyond things we know or can always explain. That is why love is one of the deepest of “magics” in the wizarding world and our own.

The Church has always looked to culture and the power of stories outside the Bible as a means to make sense of and digest the deepest ideas and questions about life. Whether it is the ancient tale of Beowulf or Tolkien and C.S. Lewis’s worlds of fantasy in these larger than life tales we wrestle with concepts of good and evil, life and death. For a generation of children and adults all over the world, J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series has filled them with the same questions and sense of wonder. Enter with us into the Wizarding World of Harry, Hermoine, and Ron as we seek to find the magical place where truth meets fiction.

We all put up barriers and walls between us. Ho does Jesus teach us to tear down those walls? What does a story about two men from different walks of life and the afterlife show us about who is our neighbor? Listen for answers to these questions and more on this week's sermoncast from Missiongathering Charlotte.

Missiongathering Charlotte is heading into our 5th year as a church. What does the future hold for us? How is God preparing us for the next step? How can we all be a part of something bigger than ourselves? Listen along to find the answers to these questions and more.

Jesus is hanging out with a group of people who all had made some pretty big mistakes in their lives. But the religious elites grumbled about it. So Jesus then tells a story about things that are lost being found. Listen along to Missiongathering Charlotte's Lead Pastor Andrew Shipley as he dives into these stories and more in this weeks sermoncast.

"Dear God" released in 1986 by XTC, written by frontman Andy Partridge took the radio by storm. Causing religous boycotts and anti-religious fervor to break out in the US and UK. But in this song is the honest questions many of us have about faith in God and the problem of suffering. Listen along as Pastor Rich Vreeland of Missiongathering explores just what this controversial new wave hit can teach us all about God.

So there is this story about Jesus going to a party put on by some rich guys. In that story might be the secret to learning how to navigate our current cultural divide. Listen along and be sure to let us know you are listening by visiting missiongathering.com/charlotte

It seems like all we hear is bad news like the stories never seem to end how we want them to anymore. But there is a truth that stands out against all of the bad endings. The End of the Story in Acts provides us with an insight into how each new chapter contains a message of hope rooted in reality. Listen to the Final Chapter of The God Beyond Religion.