Saint John Community Church

Pastor Tom Grieb continues our series Faith and...

All of us have doubts.  It is just a part of being human.  So often, the doubts we experience are borne out of the hardship.  Those hardships put us at a crossroads where we either grow in faith or become embittered.  In the mix of that Christ stands to see us through to the other side.  He is fast at work to bring us to a place of a deeper faith.  It comes to us to cooperate with him in that.

We’ll be talking about such things this week as we study from James 1:2-8.  We find there a word of encouragement about the hardships we face and the doubts that often follow.  You must believe and not doubt,” writes James, “because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed about.”  (James 1:6)   Such double-mindedness doesn’t do any of us any good.  That’s all the more reason to cling to Christ, especially when doubt comes our way.

Pastor Ashlee Adkins continues our series "Faith and..."

Throughout Scripture, there are stories about people having little faith in God. It’s not surprising that when a father approaches Jesus and asks him if he can heal his son because the disciples couldn’t, that Jesus becomes frustrated. When the disciples, after witnessing Jesus heal the boy, asked why they couldn’t heal him, Jesus responded that it was because of their little faith. Yet Jesus goes on to say that a little faith is all they needed in order to move the mountains.  What does Jesus mean by this juxtaposition and what are the implications of his answer for our experience of faith today?

Have we witnessed God move mountains because of our faith? If not, how can we?

Pastor Tom Grieb begins our new sermon series "Faith and..."

We are called to live by faith and not by sight.  That’s not always the easiest thing to do.  While we believe that God is worthy of our trust, living as if that’s true is another thing entirely.  Living by faith is often illusive.  We would rather not give up control.  Relationship with God, though, dictates that we do.  We are called to put ourselves in the care and concern of our Lord and when we do, we’ll find that he will never let us down.

This Sunday we begin a new sermon series that will center on faith and how it applies to our everyday lives.  This week we will be considering that great definition of faith from Hebrews 11:1 where it says, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”  Upon hearing that great definition of faith, we encourage one another to live by faith, day by day, moment by moment.

Pastor Ashlee Adkins concludes our sermon series "Christmas Outside the Box."

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and goodwill toward men!” Christmas has come and gone and we have celebrated the birth of Christ with lots of joy and meditation. So here we are now, preparing for the New Year, taking down our decorations, and contemplating what this good news means for us now and in the coming days.

The shepherds went with haste to seek the Savior and they glorified and praised him after they had seen him and told others the good news! Sharing is an essential part of being a Christian – but is there a one size fits all way to share? And what is it exactly that we are supposed to share?

Pastor Tom Grieb continues our series Christmas Outside the Box.

Doing Christmas outside the box might not be the easiest thing to do.  For good and for bad, we are tradition-bound when it comes to Christmas.  We are really stretched when challenged to do things differently.  That is particularly true when it comes to family.  This may be the very year though when we make an intentional effort to connect with family in ways we never have before.  That very well may mean taking the first step to that end.

We are called to family at Christmas.  We come by that honestly.  Much of the Christmas story revolves around family.  Mary and Joseph are center stage when it comes to family.  The relationship that Mary and Elizabeth had is also in the mix.  We know from Luke 1:39-45 that Mary visited her relative, Elizabeth who was also pregnant.  I am of the mind that Mary and Elizabeth needed one another.

Mary, upon hearing that Elizabeth was pregnant, wanted to find out what was going on with Elizabeth so she could better understand what was going on in her own life.  Without a doubt, Mary benefited from Elizabeth’s encouragement.

Christmas is a time for song.  The songs of the season uplift us to no end.  They immediately take us back to Christmases past.  They help us celebrate Christmas present.  We come by all of this honestly.  Songs are sung throughout the account of Christ’s birth.  Luke alone has four songs listed in telling the story of Christ’s birth.  Mary sings, Zechariah sings, the angels sing, and Simeon sings—all offering praise to God.  Singing at Christmas or any other time during the year helps us express what we can’t otherwise.  Singing is a wonderful way to worship God.  It is good to offer our praises his way.

We look forward to celebrating the season with song this Sunday.  In the midst of the singing, we will also be taking a close look at the song Mary sang in anticipation of Christ’s birth found in Luke 1:46-55.

Pastor Ashlee Adkins continues our series "Christmas Outside the Box."

Christmas is the time of year when we reconnect and spend time with family members and old friends. But are those the only relationships we should enrich this season? In Luke 6:27-36, Jesus challenges all of us to love in a way that we probably feel is impossible – but while this love may be hard and sacrificing, we must try, nonetheless.

As we prepare our hearts for Jesus this Advent season, we begin to understand that his love is meant to be shared – no matter how inconvenient, difficult, or impossible that may seem. This Sunday we dig into a familiar passage and talk about how we can do relationships outside the box this Advent season.

Pastor Tom Grieb begins our sermon series "Christmas Outside the Box."

The season is quickly approaching, the season of Advent and Christmas.  We look forward every year to hearing about the coming of our Savior.  There is no season of the year quite like Christmas.  While it is beautiful in every way, it is one of the most pressure-packed, stress-filled times of the year.  It might be that this year we will want to think “outside of the box” when it comes to Christmas.  And by so doing, we will certainly want to keep first things first.

It might be that doing things a bit differently will help enliven our experience of Christmas.  Jesus was all about doing things differently.  He all but proclaimed that when he stood to read at his hometown synagogue in Nazareth from the Prophet Isaiah.  Upon reading Isaiah 61:1-2 Jesus took on the mantle of the coming Messiah.  In fact, upon reading that great passage, he said about himself, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Isaiah 61:1-2 talks about proclaiming good news to the poor, offering freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, and setting the oppressed free.  We’d do well to consider these things this Christmas.  In a world desperate to hear good news, we not only have it, but need to share it.

Pastor Tom Grieb concludes the series "Our Grateful Response."

‘Tis the season to give thanks.  Here in this country we set aside the fourth Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day.  From the Pilgrims to George Washington to Abraham Lincoln, there has been an innate recognition of God’s good work and a desire to give thanks on the part of God’s people.  Today, Thanksgiving is as much as anything a matter of turkey and dressing, professional football, and families getting together.  It is all too easy to lose sight of why Thanksgiving Day is so special.

I have always found Thanksgiving Day to be a great time to take inventory of the things for which I am thankful.  At the top of the list is the presence of God at work in my life. Next comes family for whom I have a deep love.  I also give thanks for the ministry of the church.  I am indeed thankful for the ministry of Saint John.  I am thankful for our country.  I am thankful for God’s good work in the life of the world.  These things only begin to scratch the surface of my thankfulness.

If you and I can give thanks one day a year, why can’t we do that the other 364?  The answer might lie in Jesus’ encounter with the ten lepers, where only one of the ten returned to offer thanks.

Pastor Tom Grieb continues our series "Our Grateful Response."

We have been asked to pray the past couple of weeks a prayer that King David prayed as he and the people gave generously to the building of the temple in Jerusalem.  That prayer is found in I Chronicles 29:10-13.  In it, David was quick to extol the “greatness and power” of the Lord.  He was also quick to recognize that all that is, is on account of God.  “Everything in heaven and earth is yours,” he prayed.  “Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things.”  David was also quick to offer his thanks God’s way.

As we have prayed that prayer and others like it, we are awakened to how great God is and are led to look for ways to respond.  A Grateful Response is always pleasing to God.  As we prepare to make Our Grateful Response by making a pledge to help underwrite the ministry of Saint John Church, let’s do so with thankful and generous hearts, all the while looking forward with faith to the great things God will do in our midst in the coming year.