One of the important ways we practice experiencing and being the faithful presence of God in the church, at home, and in the world is by proclaiming the Gospel to others. If we don't speak it the world can't hear it.

This sermon explores how we experience the faithful presence of Christ when we become conflict resolvers and peace makers at church, at home, and in the world. Reconciliation is a core spiritual discipline for those who truly wish to follow Jesus Christ, deeply rooted in his own birth, life, death, and resurrection. 

Last week one of our special Shepherds, Henry, passed away. This sermon celebrates his legacy at Northwest and challenges all of us to consider how we are living and what legacy we will leave.

This week is our first week studying one of the spiritual disciplines that Christians can practice together in the three circles of the church, their homes, and the world. The Lord's Supper or Lord's Table is designed to be a place where we come together to experience the presence of Christ in a way that helps us reflect on our relationship with Jesus and our relationship with others around the table so we can reorient ourselves into Kingdom living. There are different ways to do that in the three circles, but all focus on the presence of Christ and our relationships with one another.

God is present everywhere. And we are called to embody and become the presence of God by joining in God's redemptive mission everywhere. But we do that differently in different contexts. How we experience and embody the presence of God is different in the church, our homes and neighborhoods, and in the world. In this sermon we consider David Fitch's description of these contexts as the "close circle," the "dotted circle," and the "half circle."

This sermon takes a lengthy look at John 14-17 and how important the ideas of God's presence and the Holy Spirit shaping us into the embodiment of God's presence in the world are to Jesus and his understanding of his role and the role of his disciples.

Jesus, Peter, John, and Paul all provide different insights into how we can be the presence of God in the world. Once we realize our job isn't to force the world into God's image, we can instead focus on becoming people transformed by God's presence who then begin transforming the world around his as the embodiment of God's presence. That does mean we need to trust God more and politicians, companies and laws less.

This series is going to explore how God's presence is the greatest promise in Scripture and that if we can learn how to become God's faithful presence in our chaotic world, we can help the world to truly experience and perhaps open themselves to God's presence in their life. 

What do you want to be when you grow up? If your answer was a job then perhaps that's too much of your identity. Christians should think first and foremost about being a transformed disciple of Jesus Christ. Everything else is a side-job.

This year at Camp Rock Creek our theme is "True Story." This sermon on the same topic discusses how Christians should know that God's story is true, be able to simply communicate it to others, and understand their own part in God's ongoing story.