Saint John Community Church

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

Living generously is a mark of a true disciple.  We come by that honestly.  Jesus gave and gave and gave again.  He offered himself, even to the point of dying on the cross, so that we might benefit.  Because Christ gave, we find ourselves in a much better place to give as well.

Living generously reflects God’s good work in our lives.  God blesses us immensely.  He meets our every need.  God always provides.  As we experience that, we can do no other but return praise and thanksgiving his way.  We seek to offer him a Grateful Response.  Offering him our time, talent, and treasure is a great way to offer him praise.  Offering him our very lives is as well.  In the end that’s exactly what he wants us to do.

Pastor Ashlee Adkins begins our sermon series "Our Grateful Response."

What does it mean to live steadfastly? It may feel like you are already doing that by facing each day and surviving the deadlines, errands, and all that life unexpectedly brings. Hebrews 12:-3 compares life as a disciple to running a race – a marathon that requires endurance and persistence.

This week we begin Our Grateful Response series and we look to Jesus for how to live life steadfastly.

Pastor Tom Grieb concludes our series "Life Songs."

All of us have a need to be known and God is always ready to oblige.  Jesus himself states that even “the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”  (Luke 12:7)   God knows us through and through.  He is aware of the currents of our hearts and is ready to meet us right where we are.  The God of all creation, the very One who has created every person, bends our way and seeks to involve himself in our lives.

Psalm 139 expresses a word about God’s involvement both eloquently and profoundly.  “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.  You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.  You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.”  (Psalm 139:1-3) 

Sometimes in our most vulnerable moments we wonder if we even matter to God, particularly when we consider the vastness of God’s creation.  The fact of the matter is that we do matter.  God loves us dearly and desires to be in relationship with us.  The fact that God sent his Son into the life of the world settles it.  I am thankful we have One who cares enough to take initiative like that so we might be together.  I am doubly thankful that God is constantly searching us out.

Pastor Tom Grieb continues our sermon series "Life Songs."

Those who are touched by God can’t help but worship him.  God has so transformed their lives that they can’t help but express themselves.  They long for God and worship gives them the opportunity to connect.  I hope we are counted among the number of those who long for that kind of connection.

Worship is not so much about us, but God and his wonderful presence in our lives.  It is an opportunity to celebrate that presence and be drawn more closely to him.  When the Psalmist writes in Psalm 100 about “shouting for joy” and “worshiping the Lord with gladness,” we are given good instruction about how to worship.  We learn not only about ourselves, but God.  “The Lord is God” says the Psalmist.  He is the One we worship.  “We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.”  We are the ones who worship.  Psalm 122:1 expresses it well: “I was glad when they said, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”

Pastor Ashlee Adkins continues our series Life Songs.

There are many quotes about time that try to put life into perspective so that people will live to the fullest! But what does this really mean for Christians? Psalm 90 shows us a glimpse of time in God’s perspective, which may prove to be difficult to comprehend. So, how do we reconcile this concept of God’s time and our time? To take that a step further, should we? How do we live in this tension?

Please join us as we dig into the tension of God’s mystery and the truth of life.

Pastor Tom Grieb continues our series "Life Songs."

You’ve heard it said that what’s done in secret has a way of coming to light.  That’s another way of saying that our sin has a way of catching up with us.  Try as we might, we can’t escape the consequences of what we’ve done.  The light of God has a way of exposing the darkness of our lives.  God doesn’t just leave us there, but seeks to make things whole.  His every desire is to offer mercy and the forgiveness that comes along with that.

We see that sort of thing no more clearly than in what David writes in Psalm 51.  David, with contrite heart, seeks the mercy of God.  He realizes that in the end he had sinned against God and the only remedy for that was God’s forgiveness.  David came on bended knee.  He laid himself prostrate before the Lord and poured out his heart.  David knew he had to get things right with God before he could ever begin to make get things right with others.  David had lived with the guilt of his wrongdoing for far too long.  He had gotten to such a desperate place that he could do no other but turn to God.

We read in Psalm 51 the deep lament of one who was truly sorry.  That contrition helped David confront what he had done and paved the way for God to heal his heart.

Pastor Tom Grieb continues our sermon series "Life Songs."

The 23rd Psalm is one of the most beloved scriptures in all the Bible.  It is familiar to almost anyone who has studied the scripture and even to some who haven’t.   The 23rd Psalm is often recited, if not wholly memorized.  It strikes a chord that touches us to the very depth of our souls.  It addresses the deep need we have for God and how God seeks to oblige that need with his undying love.

A recognition of God as shepherd puts us to thinking about the One who is the true guide of our lives.  Recognizing ourselves as his sheep puts us to considering just how much we need him.  We can all be thankful that “the Lord is our Shepherd” and in him “we shall not want.”  He seeks to meet our every need.  It comes to us to follow him in that.

Pastor Ashlee Adkins continues our sermon series "Life Songs."

This week, we are diving into Psalm 19, and in the first verse it begins with, “The heavens are telling the glory of God…” For most of us, that may be difficult to wrap our heads around, but Psalm 19 emphasizes how all of creation declares the glory of God.  So what does that mean for us; where do we fit in as part of creation?

Psalm 19 is a beautiful testimony and song of God’s glory that urges us to take part in declaring all that God is and will forever be.

Pastor Tom Grieb begins our sermon series "Life Songs" based on the Book of Psalms.  The Psalms have a way of engaging us.  They have a way of touching us right where we live.  They help us express what we are feeling.  They have a way of stirring heart and mind.

We start this Sunday right at the beginning with Psalm 1.  Psalm 1 offers two  images that contrast “the two ways” we can live our lives.  The first is that of a tree planted by streams of water.  It is well-rooted.  And because of its proximity to water is well-sustained.  This is the way of those who seek to follow the God’s way.  The second of the images is that of chaff blown in the wind.  The chaff was regularly separated from the grain by tossing it into the wind and letting it fly off.  Quite often it was gathered and burned.  This is the way of those who fail to seek God’s way for their lives.  They are left tossed about not only by the prevailing winds of the day, but their own inclinations.

On Homecoming Sunday, Missionary Will Partin preaches a stand-alone message, "Shema: Listen and Obey."  Will shares what it means to truly love the Lord.  He is a living testimony to the fruit that can be born for the Kingdom if we will only “listen and obey.”