Emmanuel: Matt 2:13-23
What hope do we find at the end of the Christmas when the decorations all come down? Is there hope in this passage of a refugee family in the midst of slaughter?
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- Jan 3, 2023Emmanuel: Matt 2:13-23
Emmanuel: Matt 2:13-23What hope do we find at the end of the Christmas when the decorations all come down? Is there hope in this passage of a refugee family in the midst of slaughter?
- Dec 18, 2022Choice
ChoiceIn the dark days before Christ's birth, Joseph had a choice to make. The easy way--the one that would bring disgrace to Mary but leave his own honor intact. Or choose to believe, but take the path of controversy, shame, and hardship. We all have to make the same choice--what do you do with Jesus, with Emmanuel, God with Us?In the dark days before Christ's birth, Joseph had a choice to make. The easy way--the one that would bring disgrace to Mary but leave his own honor intact. Or choose to believe, but take the path of controversy, shame, and hardship. We all have to make the same choice--what do you do with Jesus, with Emmanuel, God with Us?
- Dec 11, 2022Witness: Matt 11:2-11
Witness: Matt 11:2-11When witnessing to the power and personhood of Jesus, his disciples are called to tell others what they have seen and heard. The true power of faith in Jesus is found in the joyful truth of all the wonders that Jesus has worked in our lives and throughout the world. Today we celebrate the joy of looking back on what Jesus has done and looking forward to all that is to come. When witnessing to the power and personhood of Jesus, his disciples are called to tell others what they have seen and heard. The true power of faith in Jesus is found in the joyful truth of all the wonders that Jesus has worked in our lives and throughout the world. Today we celebrate the joy of looking back on what Jesus has done and looking forward to all that is to come. avitt.
- Dec 4, 2022Prepare: Matt 3:1-12
Prepare: Matt 3:1-12John’s message in Matt 3 is certainly dire and one we would rather avoid. It is easier to read this text and disassociate from the “brood of vipers,” justifying our reading by assuming this isn’t for us. But what if it is? How do we react if John calls us to repentance? Perhaps we start by remembering a call to repent is a warning grounded in a desire for success, mercy, and grace rather than judgment and anger.
- Nov 27, 2022Ready: Matt 24:36-44
Ready: Matt 24:36-44After 2000 years, waiting expectantly for the return of Christ is not getting any easier. We grow complacent in the comfort of always assuming the existence of tomorrow, and it becomes easy to think that even if Christ is coming back, it likely won’t be during my time. And it is to this exact occasion that Jesus guards our hearts with the warning in Matt 24. We not only should not give up hope and belief in the return of Christ, but we should guard our hearts against the evils of the world by constantly and intentionally preserving the gifts of Christ in our lives – hope, peace, love, and joy.
- Nov 20, 2022Peace
PeacePs 46 highlights the juxtaposition of fear and the presence of God; it is the presence of God that causes the people of God to rest in stillness while the world trembles in fear of the evils of life. The victory won for us on the cross leads us into a life of stillness, without fear, just as much as the cross provides a life of mercy and forgiveness.
- Nov 13, 2022Victory: Psalm 98
Victory: Psalm 98This week celebrates the victory of God through Jesus over sin and death. Though the psalmist might have in mind a particular battle in ancient history, the call to praise God for God’s victory reminds those of us on this side of the cross of the victory of Jesus. Let us praise God for the victory won.
- Nov 6, 2022Integrity: Psalm 17
Integrity: Psalm 17Psalm 17 reminds us that God upholds the person who lives their life with integrity. Though the world may beat us down, our enemies threaten and deliver violence, and evil may surround us, we are called to be a people of integrity nonetheless.
- Oct 30, 2022Confession Psalm 32
Confession Psalm 32Psalm 32. Confession tends to be a topic of avoidance in our protestant lives, but it is a healthy aspect of our spirituality. We think of confession as a moment of getting caught that precedes punishment, but the psalm paints a picture of confession as a quiet, safe, and protected moment when we confess our weakness and struggle and God provides the help and protection we need to overcome our sin. Confession is a cry for help, not merely an admission of guilt.
- Oct 23, 2022The Dwelling Place of God
The Dwelling Place of GodPsalm 84 rejoices in being in the presence of God.
- Oct 16, 2022God is our Refuge: Psalm 121
God is our Refuge: Psalm 121Psalm 121 reminds us that God who is our refuge also calls us to be a refuge for others."Sermon 10 16 22" by Chess Cavitt.
- Oct 9, 2022Hallelujah! Psalm 111
Hallelujah! Psalm 111Psalm 111 provides a contrast between our current culture of criticism and the faith of God's people in a culture of praise. The psalmist reminds us of God's provision and calls on us to live out our praise both in our actions and in our words.
- Sep 25, 2022God Loves the Righteous: Psalm 146
God Loves the Righteous: Psalm 146Again, sounding very familiar to the last several weeks of text, this Psalm declares God’s love for the lowest in society. However, Ps 146 goes one step further than last week, declaring God’s love on those who also care for the poor. Children of God are expected to be an extension of God’s love to others, especially the lowest.
- Sep 18, 2022Who is like God? Psalm 113
Who is like God? Psalm 113“Who is like the LORD our God?” The answer is simple, “The sovereign of the universe interfering in and setting right the societies and families of human beings – that is, says the psalm, the incomparability of the LORD.”2 Who else is like the LORD, who cares for and loves the lowly and sinful to the point of death on a cross? “The LORD is a god who is capable of both transcendence and immanence, free to make himself high and low. No human power can do that. No other god does that.”
- Sep 11, 2022A New Spirit: Psalm 51:1-10
A New Spirit: Psalm 51:1-10Psalm 51 rightly balances guilt with grace. Acknowledging and confessing our guilt is the pathway to accepting grace. Sometimes, however, we need God’s Spirit within us to speak these truths to our heart when we do not have the ears to hear.
- Sep 4, 2022Delight in the Lord: Psalm 1
Delight in the Lord: Psalm 1The “law of the LORD” is not intended to restrict your life or demand perfection, but is a way of life given for our own benefit. Psalm 1 and Deut 30 remind us that God’s way of life is intended to improve our life, not burden it. And Jesus reminds us that his yoke is light. So we take up our crosses and follow Jesus not out of obligation or burden, but from a place of understanding his way is better than any other.
- Aug 28, 2022Light in the Darkness: Psalm 112
Light in the Darkness: Psalm 112
“They rise in the darkness as a light.” Reminiscent of Jesus’ petition for Christians to let their good deeds shine before others, or Isaiah’s call to be a light to the nations, the psalmist here reminds us of our responsibility to bring light to the darkness through our love, mercy, generosity, justice, and righteousness. Standing firm in the face of evil, we shine God’s light into the darkness of Sin and Evil.
- Aug 21, 2022Constant: Psalm 103
Constant: Psalm 103
- Aug 14, 2022Weak and Needy: Psalm 82
Weak and Needy: Psalm 82Psalm 82 calls on us all to "Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed." Our elder, Keith Klemmer, shares with us about growing up fatherless, weak and poor. He calls on us all to "Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked."
- Aug 7, 2022Help and Shield: Psalm 33
Help and Shield: Psalm 33“The psalm as a whole expresses in language the theological vision of reality that belongs to the worshiping community. Our normal way of thinking is to divide the world into distinct spheres, each with its own separate features and laws. We think in terms of nature, history, individual psychology, and religion. The psalm sees behind the various dimensions of reality the comprehending actuality of the sovereign LORD whose being as God comprehends and controls them all.”
