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As followers of Christ, there was a time in each of our lives when we surrendered to Christ. We gave Him our all, we were all in for His purpose and plan for our lives as individuals and as the Church. Jesus made it clear that commitment was a key part of being a follower of Christ. In the Gospels, we see many examples of people who followed Jesus because of what they hoped He could offer them, yet, He consistently challenged them to “count the cost” of following Him. We’re going to look at the call on the Christian life to be committed to Christ, His Word, the church, prayer, worship, and His mission. We’ll see that before God calls us to commit to Him in this way, He’s already committed to us.
We end our series on Understanding Spiritual Gifts this Sunday as we gather together to celebrate Holy Communion. Through this series, we’ve discovered that our spiritual gifts are given by God, used for His glory, and each one of us has a different one to build up the Body of Christ. Now that we know that, what are we going to do about it? Each one of us has a passion, something that burns inside of us to do, a heart to change our world. That fire is connected to the use of our gifts for the glory of God.
When you hear the word surrender what does that mean for you? Does it mean giving up on something or does it mean giving it all to God to orchestrate? When we live fully surrendered to God, we trust Him so much so that our finances, our family, our job situation, our home, our car, our everything is given to Him for the benefit and blessing in our lives for us and for others. We gather once again to remember that Jesus is central to all of our daily living.
We continue with our Understanding Spiritual Gifts Sermon and Study Series. Who gives us these gifts anyway? And, what are they to be used for? These are the two questions that we will explore together this weekend as we come together and worship and share in Holy Communion together. Our gifts are not meant to be unused, unopened, unappreciated. Our gifts are given by God to be used for the Body of Christ, His Church so that we might glorify Him.
We begin a new Sermon Series and Study focusing on Understanding the Spiritual Gifts. Did you know you have a gift given to you by the Holy Spirit? If you are a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, you have a spiritual gift to share with the Body of Christ to build it up in the world. That is how worthy you are to God that He has given something for you to do within the kingdom to help others see the abundant life now.
Whether you have noticed it or not, we are in the middle of the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. They mark the Jewish New Year and the Day of Atonement. It is during this time that one reflects on their relationship with God and their relationships with one another leading up to the holiest of days where the sacrifice for sins would take place with the High Priest walking into the Holy of Holies with the blood from the sacrifice to forgive the sins of the people. Christianity has a rich history that points toward fulfillment through the coming of Christ. We hope you will join us as we Honor Our Heritage.
We exist for community and to love throughout our community. The overflow of our following Jesus is to bring His love and light out into all the areas of our day-to-day that will impact our community for the Gospel of Jesus. Love from God is meant to be spread around, how are you doing that through your actions and words?
We like the prodigal often search for other things in life to fill the void that seems to be missing from our lives. However, when we come to our senses and realize that life within the Father's house was much better than the world has to offer, the Father is waiting to restore and rekindle our relationship as one of His children. Our distant heart can be redeemed through turning to the Father and heading Home.
The first church knew that love meant sacrifice. They used their time, talents, and treasures to make sure that everyone’s needs were met in their congregation. They shared what they had, and because of their love, no one among them was needy. They relied on godliness to make them content. The generosity of the church in meeting all the needs among them allowed the apostles to preach with great power. The actions of the church, their willingness to give of themselves bore witness to the change that Jesus could bring to a life.
There’s something about serving and being served that inspires humility in a person. Learning to engage in good deeds brings us closer to understanding Jesus’ character. He emphasized the importance of serving by kneeling at the feet of his disciples and washing them as a slave would for his master. Loving our church is intertwined with serving each other. When Jesus commanded us to love one another, he expected us to show that love by serving each other the way he served people.
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