Saint John Community Church

Pastor Tom Grieb preaches a stand-alone message, "Plenty to Eat."

There is one miracle that is recorded in all four gospels.  It is a miracle about God’s great provision.  The Feeding of the 5,000 is a story that encourages us all about God’s sufficiency.  Having spent a full day of teaching the masses, Jesus is concerned that the people hadn’t eaten.  The disciples were content to send the people away to fend for themselves.  Jesus wanted to meet their needs then and now.  “Five loaves and two fish” were presented to Jesus, representative of the food that was available.  Jesus took that meager offering, multiplied it, and fed the multitude.  The adage, “a little is a lot in the hands of Jesus” rings true.

Not only did everyone eat to the full, but there was plenty left over.  In fact, there were twelve baskets filled with leftovers, speaking directly to the twelve disciples about their lack of faith.

The message is this:  Jesus wants to provide for all our needs—spiritual and otherwise.  He wanted to get that point across to the 5,000.  He wanted to make that point with his disciples.  He wants to make that point with you and me.

Pastor Tom Grieb concludes our series “Making a Difference.”

In our church’s Vision Statement, we sayabout ourselves that we will be a people who will “make a difference by following Christ, offering hope, serving others, and loving everyone.”  This week we concern ourselves with what it means to “love everyone,”  taking a close look at the Great Commandment from Matthew 22:34-40, which calls on us to “love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength” and “to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.”

For Christ, love for God leads to love for neighbor.  One follows the other.  In Christ’s mind, the proving ground of our love for God is meted out as we offer love to other people.  In an often mean-spirited and divisive world so in need of love, it comes to us, with Christ’s help, to love those around us.  It comes to us to receive God’s love and then share the same with others.  I John 4:19 puts it well, “We love because God first loved us.”  As we allow God’s love to become more a part of our lives we are empowered, if not enabled, to love as he wants us to, thereby making the Great Commandment possible in our lives.

Pastor Ashlee Adkins continues our sermon series "Making a Difference."

There is much mystery about God – and as Christians, we love and appreciate that mystery honoring the truth that God is God and we are not. But when it comes to serving others, God is very clear. The Son of Man, Jesus Christ, paints a very transparent picture of what the expectation is of service in his last teaching before his death.   Matthew 25:31-40 delivers a hard, yet essential truth.

Pastor Tom Grieb continues our sermon series "Making a Difference."

It seems as though hope is in short supply these days with all the depressing news that floods us on a daily basis.  It’s easy to become despondent over it all.  The press of our daily lives can leave us dry and parched.  We are left to ask, “Where’s the hope?”  And even as we ask that question, we know our hope is in Christ.  Christ is our hope for this life and the next.  The fact that Christ is in us helps us face things with the assurance that he is with us and fast at work to bring about his good purposes.

The Apostle Paul talks about the divine mystery that is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”  The hope that is ours in Christ helps us see beyond our present circumstance to a brighter day.  That same hope is offered not only to us, but to others as well.  It comes to us to offer that hope, the same hope that emboldens us.

Pastor Tom Grieb begins our sermon series "Making a Difference."

Having a vision sets us in the direction we need to be going.  When it comes to the church, vision has everything to do with God’s leadership.  For the church, a vision statement is a short, memorable, challenging statement that unfolds God’s preferred future.  That vision statement then draws the church toward that preferred future.

Since the beginning of the year, the Administrative Council has sought God’s direction regarding a vision statement for our church.  In the end, we have said we will be a church that is “making a difference by following Christ, offering hope, serving others, and loving everyone.”  This month we look forward to reflecting on that statement during worship.

In Christ’s call of his first disciples as recorded in Matthew 4:18-22, he says to Peter and Andrew, “Come, follow me.”  His is an invitation not just to Peter and Andrew, but to you and me as well.  It is also an invitation to the church.

Pastor Tom concludes our series "Champions of the Church."

Paul was the sort of fellow who didn’t cut corners when it came to sharing the good news about Jesus. He was willing to invest in people, knowing that by building relationships we are better able to gain a person’s attention when it comes to the gospel.  Paul wouldn’t let simple inconvenience deter him.  He would scale whatever challenge so he could share the gospel.

Paul is one of those inspirational characters in the Bible who challenges us to no end.  Paul has been called by many “the greatest evangelist the world has ever known.”  We would do well to be more like him in that regard.

Pastor Tom Grieb continues our series, "Champions of the Church."

Priscilla and Aquila were true servants of Christ and his Church.  They were willing to do whatever it took to see that the Kingdom was furthered.  They often served behind the scenes and were content not to be the center of attention.  God, though, was a part of what they did and blessed it.  They were tentmakers by trade but were always about ministry.  The important thing here for us is that God uses people like you and me to make sure his purposes are done.

Apollos was a commanding personality.  He had a heart for the Lord, but as the scripture record, he only knew the baptism of John.  Priscilla and Aquila filled in the blanks for Apollos and offered a full account of salvation in Jesus Christ.  As commanding as Apollos was, he undoubtedly possessed a humility that allow him to submit to the teaching of Priscilla and Aquila.  He realized he didn’t have it all figured out and he went on to reap a great harvest for the Kingdom.  The important thing for us here is that humility goes a long way toward us growing in a full knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Tom Grieb continues our series, "Champions of the Church."

There is no doubt that the Apostle Paul took Timothy under his wing.  Paul was quick to recognize his heart.  He was well-assured of Timothy’s every desire to serve the Lord.  Having grown up under the loving influence of a faithful mother and grandmother, Timothy was ripe for the role of leadership he would play in the early New Testament church.  At the outset of his Second Missionary Journey, Paul had Timothy come along.  Along the way, Paul would install Timothy as the leader of the church in Ephesus.  Even though Timothy was young, Paul saw in him the potential to do great things for the Kingdom.

We can learn from Paul’s investment in Timothy’s life.  Paul was intentionally present to meet Timothy where he was spiritually and help him grow.  He gave him opportunities to learn.  He gave him opportunities to lead.  Above all things, Paul encourage him to be “prepared in and out of season” to share the gospel.  In this regard, Paul took his que from Jesus.  In effect, Paul did discipleship just as Jesus did it.  Paul invited Timothy into his life, just as Jesus invited the twelve disciples into his.  Paul and Timothy did life together and a true disciple of Christ was born.  We are challenged to do the same.  We are challenged to consider those persons around us with whom we might come alongside and encourage in the faith.

Jesus commissions us to “go into all the world and make disciples.”  This is our lot as Christians.  There is no plan B.

Pastor Ashlee Adkins continues our series, "Champions of the Church."

Scripture doesn’t tell us much about Cornelius, but what we do know is vital to early church history and the spread of Christianity. Cornelius was a God-fearing, faithful man but he was also a Gentile and a Roman soldier. Thankfully, God favored Cornelius and his care for those less fortunate and so he called Cornelius to an even deeper faith by having him seek Simon Peter, one of the twelve disciples, to speak to his household. And as a result, not only was Cornelius baptized but so was his household.

Cornelius’ story challenges all of us. Have we allowed our faith to be out loud and transformational? Have we lived with the type of faith that speaks when no one else will and acts when no one else wants to?

We’ll be talking about Cornelius’s faith and the obstacles the Holy Spirit assisted in overcoming that allowed him to pave the road that welcomed Gentiles to Christianity and changed the history of the church.

Pastor Tom Grieb continues our series, "Champions of the Church."

Saul was known far and wide by the early New Testament church, but for all the wrong reasons.  By his own admission in Philippians 3:6, he was a zealous persecutor of the church.  That all changed on the Damascus Road in dramatic fashion.  Jesus took hold of Saul’s life and never let go.  Saul would never be the same again.  Instead of persecuting the church, Saul would become its greatest evangelist.

Saul was not only blinded by a bright light from heaven but heard the voice of Christ speaking to him.  “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” has rung through the ages.  Saul’s life was turned around that day.  His was a true conversion, if there ever was one.  His heart was changed and his life transformed.  What Jesus did for Saul is no less available to you and me.  What Christ did on the cross offers light to our lives.  The guilt of our sin no longer weighs us down.  We are freed from its bond and empowered to live as God wants us to.  Our lives are changed as we are converted from one life to another much more glorious than the first.