Joe Ann Rohlman

This week we continue our sermon series called "By Their Fruits You Will Know Them: 8 Core Characteristics of Authentic Followers of Jesus" by exploring what Jesus said about End Times and how that should affect our lives right now. From this we'll draw a third great characteristic of authentic followers of Jesus. Join us for a thoughtful dive into End Times prophecies.

This Sunday we resume our sermon series entitled "By Their Fruits You Shall Know Them: 8 Core Characteristics of Authentic Followers of Jesus." In the first installment in this series, we saw that God has given each of us a Superpower -- the Superpower of Grace! This week, in the second installment, we'll explore what we're supposed to do with all that power God has given us. Our core questions will be: Why did God create me? According to Jesus, what's my reason for being?

As the New Year begins, how are you feeling? For many of us, life feels overwhelming -- so many personal challenges coupled with deep worry about what's happening in our nation and world. Do you need a reset? On Sunday we're going to talk about why we should have hope and, even more importantly, how to have hope in times like these.

This Sunday we'll begin a new sermon series called "By Their Fruits You Shall Know Them -- 8 Core Characteristics of Followers of Jesus." This series will give each of us an opportunity as we start the New Year to do a personal assessment of where we are in our walk with Jesus and where we might want to focus for further growth. We'll begin this week by exploring the single most important characteristic of an authentic follower of Jesus, which also happens to be the single greatest power God has entrusted to us. Do you know what it is? You'll probably never guess.

A few weeks ago (on December 7, before the great snow storm), we saw how Jesus' birth, life, and death solved humanity's Single Greatest Problem -- alienation from God. This Sunday we'll see how his birth, life, and death also has the power to resolve our Second Greatest Problem -- alienation from each other.

This week is our Annual Christmas Program, which will feature a variety of drama, wonderful Christmas music (including a couple numbers from our kids), and a brief homily from Pastor Jeff that draws it all together. Last Sunday got snowed out, so let's pack the house this week, as we celebrate the birth of Jesus!

On Sunday Pastor Jeff will launch a three-part sermon series looking at Christmas from a very different angle. If Jesus' birth marked the beginning of something new, that means it also marked the end of something old. To fully appreciate the beauty of the new, we first have to understand the old it was replacing and the vivid contrast between the two. Let's learn something important together!

The Bible tells us that God is love, and that we should love as God loves. So what does "love" mean in the Biblical sense? What does it look like to love the way the Bible envisions? Those are the vital questions we'll explore this Sunday.

It seems like most of our lives are spent waiting for something. Oftentimes progress feels painfully slow, and we grow frustrated. "God, why all this waiting? And if I have to wait, how do I wait well?" Those are the questions we'll explore this Sunday as we conclude our study of the life of Moses by focusing on all those years Moses and his people wandered in the wilderness.