Blueprint for the Church

The Book of Acts offers us a blueprint for the church.  The Sermon on the Mount teaches us about a wise foundation in which to build a life and the Book of Acts teaches us about a solid foundation to build the church.   If we want to be more the church Jesus wants us to be, we only need to read and study the Book of Acts.  The Church is people so as we grow so does the Church!

Acts begins with the fulfillment of the promise of the Holy Spirit and then teaches us about the birth of the Church.   Amazing things happened with the birth of the Church!  3000 people were added in one day!  Think about that Jesus disciple 12 and the disciples were involved with the power of the Holy Spirit.  Acts 2:42-47 captures some of the essentials for the blueprint of the church teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer.   

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.   Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.  All the believers were together and had everything in common.   They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.   Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,   praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:42-47).   

What a great example in which to build the church!

“Jesus Gives the Heart of the Law and the Law of the Heart”

  This Sunday we will be preaching on Jesus and the Law.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches about a wide range of subjects…murder, adultery, divorce, oaths, turning the other cheek, and loving our enemies.  How does Jesus both affirm the law of the Old Testament and expand the teaching?  We will focus on that Sunday.

We will also hear some teachings that sound impossible.  How can our “righteousness exceed that of the Scribes and the Pharisees” who were known for being experts in the law?   How can we “be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect?”  The sermon will offer us some insight of how to live into these teachings.

In addition, Jesus affirms the law, expands the letter of the law to the spirit of the law, and offers the truth of the law with His teachings.  This  message where be both lofty and very simple in letting your “yes be yes” and your “no be no.  There is so much truth in this message of Jesus.  Our world needs these teaching of Jesus and we need his truth!   We will hear Sunday Jesus give the heart of the law and the law of the heart!

I hope to see you Sunday!

Philip

The Beatitudes of Jesus This Sunday

Our message this Sunday will launch our Lenten series of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.   The first week our focus will be on the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5:1-11.   There are eight beatitudes which teach us of different qualities that offer us glimpses of the Kingdom of God.  Jesus’ teachings transcends our ordinary attitudes and provide for us higher ideals in which to strive.  Is it possible to live into all of these?   This is part of our never finished journey in growing as a disciple.  We may not have all these qualities now or live these qualities fully but we can strive to be more like Jesus.

Another question we can ask…”what would the world look like” if we lived the beatitudes?  We can say if everyone lived the beatitudes we would flip our world upside down!   The transformation would be so dramatic!  Our relationships, experiences, motives, and outcomes would be so different.

We invite you to be in attendance Sunday, as we lift up Jesus’ teachings.  What does it mean to be blessed because of being poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, a peacemaker, and persecuted for righteousness sake?  Pray for us as we bring the messages and seek practical ways to challenge us all to live these words.   May God “bless us” as we seek to live more like Jesus!  Hope to see you Sunday!

Philip

“Where Can We Find Ourselves in Joseph’s Story?”

This Sunday, we will conclude the preaching series “Origins.”  We have been journeying through some of the great stories of Genesis such as Creation, Fall, and learning of God’s good plan with Abraham.  We will conclude with the story of Joseph.

Joseph’s story spans over 20 percent of the Book of Genesis.  Why is there so much focus on Joseph’s life?  What does Joseph’s story teach us?   There are valuable life lessons introduced including resentment, jealousy, wrongful accusation, “reaching the top”, “hitting bottom”, dreaming big dreams, and how to put your life back together again.

Where does our story meet Joseph’s story?   Are there jealousies and favoritism issues in our family?  Have we ever been wrongfully accused of something we did not do?  Have we ever hit “rock bottom?”  Have we been given incredible responsibility?  Are we chasing a dream?

In Joseph’s story we can find our story somewhere.  I invite everyone to be present Sunday as we learn the truth of God in the midst of this story!

How Good is God’s Plan? “Finding Rams in the Thicket.”

 This Sunday we will be preaching from one of the most dramatic moments in the Bible.   Can we imagine how Abraham must have felt that he was to sacrifice his beloved son.  How must Abraham heart must have pounded when his son Isaac asked…”the fire and wood are here but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” (Genesis 22:7b, NIV).

What can we learn from this story?   How can we respond in faith when God’s good plan is tested?  How can we be radically obedient and find “rams in the thicket?”  How does the promise of God’s provision change our lives?

Hope to see you Sunday where we will continue God’s good story at all four services!

Philip

“Abraham’s Story A Story of Faith and Blessing!”

We preach Abraham’s story Sunday!  Abraham was ancient  and Sarah was barren.  They even laughed at the prospect of having children at 100 years of age.  Yet… in this absurd story… God promised Abraham he would not only have a son but he would father a nation more numerous than the stars! He would be blessed to be a blessing!

Abraham is known for living into God’s vision, obedience, faith, and being blessed to be a blessing! The Book of Hebrews, in the 11th Chapter, lists that Abraham was commended for his faith three times.  (more than anyone else)  First… he was commended for being willing to make his home in the promised land.  Second…for believing God that he would father Isaac at such an advanced age.  Third…for being willing to sacrifice Isaac, in one of the most intense and dramatic stories in the Bible, as his faith grew and God provided a “ram in the thicket.”  Abraham is one of our faith fathers and in many ways is the earthly father of our faith.

We journey through this incredible story Sunday.  Hope to see you then!  May God bless us as we learn of Abraham’s faith and blessed life!

“How one apple caused everything to go bad? And how to find good again?”

    When Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit how did everything go from good to bad so fast?  Have we ever pondered the ORIGIN of bad?  This Sunday we will be preaching on the theme “It Got Bad” from the book of Genesis.  In the stories of Adam and Eve, Cain and Able, The Flood, and the Tower of Babel unfold the root causes of sin, evil, wickedness, and pride.  These stories reveal the beginnings of the sin, evil, and bad so evident still today. Theologically this is known as “The Fall.”  Today our world knows signs of peril and we still suffer from original sin.  Remember the commercial when the elderly lady had fallen and cried out…”I’ve fallen and I can’t get up?”   Come this Sunday at 8:00, 9:30, 11:00, or 11:07 and learn more of our human condition.  There is good news with God’s help we can get up!

“So few words and so much WONDER!”

This Sunday we will be preaching about God’s Creation Story in Genesis and begin “in the beginning…and recall that God said…”IT IS GOOD.”  The “beginning” could be also considered the “BIG gining” as the Story is literally “larger than life” as it is the Origin of life.   One of my observations of this magnificent Story is how much WONDER there is to behold in such few words.  A phrase like “let the water under the sky be gathered to one place and let the dry ground appear” (Genesis 1:9) is so brief but reveals so much wonder.  As I write this reflection I see a breath taking view of the sky, sun, water, and shore line meet.  This beautiful sight is filled with wonder and I think of the mighty Hand of the Creator separating land from sea in one single sweep.  In Genesis there are so few words…yet endless WONDER!   God said about creation…”IT IS GOOD.”  Hope to see you Sunday as we engage the Wonder of Creation and seek God’s goodness in our lives!