Matthew 4:23-5:16 Isaiah 55:1-3a, 6-11 Psalm 1 We are continuing to follow the narrative lectionary in the Gospel of Matthew. We have been talking about the humble beginnings of Jesus’ ministry. He first humbles himself to be baptized by John and when this happens the Holy Spirit descends like a dove. In the Holy Spirit’s descent, God further humbles Gods' self to bring peace through Jesus to the world. Then last week we saw that Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. He resp

Matthew 3:1-17 Hosea 11:1-9 Luke 1:67-80 It is so nice to be back after a very relaxing vacation. Brett and I were marvelling that we go to sleep in. We hadn’t slept in in twelve years. We are continuing to follow the narrative lectionary. This lectionary will take us through Matthew in the winter and all the way through Easter. We begin today with a sermon series called “Humble Beginnings.” Here we have the son of God, the Word become flesh, God in human form and he start

John 1:1-14 Isaiah 9:2,6-7 Philippians 2:5-11 Luke 2:1-20 Today is Christmas Eve and tomorrow is Jesus’ birthday! This is such a fun season of the year, with presents and Santa, cookies and Christmas trees, lights and decorations. But besides all of these fun things, why is Christmas special? What inspired all of this celebration in the first place? We have read and heard several Scripture passages today/tonight that tell us why Christmas is so special. In John 1:1, we rea

Matthew 1:1-25 Isaiah 7:10-14 Psalm 136:1-9,13-14,23-26 Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent. During Advent we have prepared to celebrate Jesus’ birth by focusing on hope, peace, joy, and love. Today we will talk about love. We are continuing to follow the Narrative Lectionary. Today the lectionary shifts from a focus on the Old Testament to a focus on the New Testament. As many of you are aware, there are four Gospels in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. E

Esther 4:1-17 Psalm 85 Matt 5:13-16 Today is the second Sunday of Advent! Advent is the four Sundays leading up to Christmas. During Advent we are waiting to celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas. We are preparing to recognize that God is with us. God is with us not only at the incarnation, not only when God became a human and dwelled among us in Jesus; God is with us at all times and in all places and in all moments in our lives. To help us prepare to celebrate God w

Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4; 3:1-2, 17-19 Matt 26:36-38 Psalm 130 Today is the first Sunday of Advent! Advent is the four Sundays leading up to Christmas. During Advent we are waiting to celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas. We are preparing to recognize that God is with us. God is with us not only at the incarnation, not only when God became a human and dwelled among us in Jesus, God is with us at all times and in all places and in all moments in our lives. To help us pre

Jeremiah 31:31-34 Hebrews 10:1-4,11-25 Psalm 37:23-31 Thank you Fred, for sharing part of your faith journey with us this morning. I want to take a moment to talk about our Scriptures and tie them together with Fred’s story. This is the last week of our sermon series about God with Us. We have heard a lot in the last few weeks about God making covenants and promises with the whole world, with Abraham and his descendants, and then with the nation of Israel. We have learned

Exodus 19:1-7; 20:1-17 Matt 5:17 Psalm 19 Today we are in the fifth week of our six-week sermon series about God with Us. We have looked at the story of Noah and Flood, God and the rainbow. We have explored the promise to Abraham and Sarah. We have journeyed with Joseph to prison. And we have delved into the parting of the Red Sea. Through it all we have learned that God is with us always, and never abandons us. God is with us when we invite chaos into our lives through ou

Exodus 14:5-7, 10-16, 21-29 Psalm 106:1-12 Matt 2:13-15 We are in the fourth week of our sermon series on God With Us. We are following the Narrative Lectionary this fall which is taking us on a journey through the Old Testament. We are able to see the order in which things happened and we are learning how to find the Gospel in these Old Testament texts. Today we are reading a very iconic text. In the New Testament, God is known as the God who raised Jesus from the dead. T

Genesis 39:1-23 Matthew 5:11-12 Psalm 116:1-9 We are in the third week of our sermon series about God with Us. We are following the narrative lectionary this fall, giving us a chance to go through the Old Testament in order and to learn how God is with us through these stories. Today, the lectionary reading reminds us that the Old Testament is rated R. And this story also sounds very similar to many, many accounts of sexual misconduct and violence that we are constantly hea

Genesis 12:1-9 Matthew 28:19-20 Psalm 105:1-11 We are continuing our 6 week sermon series about God with Us. We are following the Narrative Lectionary this fall. It will take us on a journey through the Old Testament. It will give us a chance to see the order in which things happen and also it will give us a chance to learn about how to find the Gospel in the Old Testament. Last week we had a long passage about Noah and the Flood, God and the Rainbow. We learned that in th

Genesis 6:5-22; 8:6-12; 9:8-17 Matt 8:24-27 Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32 Today we are beginning a six-week series called God With Us. We will be following the Narrative Lectionary this fall, which will take us on a tour through the Old Testament. It will give us a chance to familiarize ourselves with the order in which things happened and it will also give us a chance to learn about the Gospel in the Old Testament. Today we will be looking at Noah and Flood, God and the Rainbow. W