This message is based on the first part of a book by Henry Nouwen called “The Selfless Way of Christ – Downward Mobility and the Spiritual Life.” I ran across this work several years ago, and it has had a profound impact on my life, and I feel called to share some of it with you today. I need to start by looking at different understandings of the Call of Jesus which exist in our world today. “Christian” is a very broad label in today’s world, with very...
The topic for today is Unity, based on God’s love. Please note that I did not say uniformity, which is different. Unity is harmony or agreement between diverse people. Uniformity is about all of us being the same. When I think of Unity, I think of the youth mission trips. People from all walks of life work together, live together and worship together with a common goal of “Being Jesus” for each other and for the community they are serving. The people are all very different, and they help each...
Today we are taking some time to pause, and reflect on how to apply what we have learned about God’s love for us to our daily lives. How we live is a combination of both “being”, which is our inner thoughts and feelings, and “doing”, which is our exterior behavior. Our “being” impacts our “doing”. As we grow from babies to children to teenagers to adults, our inner selves are shaped by the physical and psychological environments we live in. We receive messages that try to define “who we are”...
Over the last few weeks, we have been applying the DTR (Define the Relationship) question to our relationship with Jesus. The DTR question is “Where is this relationship going? How serious are we about it?” There are a few additional questions in your sermon notes for today. Does your life reflect what you say you believe? Do you think you are on the right road because of what you have done? Do I know Jesus and does He know me? I need to share something with you. As I have...
Today we are going to spend some time on the 1st few verses of Hebrews, Chapter 12. We will view these passages through the overall focus of “Perseverance”. We will look at some of the characteristics of a life of faith which Jesus has demonstrated for us, and how the Holy Spirit will give us the strength to live this life. Hebrews 12:1-3 has been one of the pivotal passages of scripture in my walk with Jesus, and I thought I understood it pretty well. But from the commentary Pastor...
A few weeks ago, I spoke about what it means to believe in Jesus and to accept his invitation to become a member of his household. Today we will take a very high-level look at the next step, which I am calling “Training to Know Jesus”. We could easily spend 30 hours on this topic! My goal today is to present some new ideas, which will give you food for thought. I will be sharing: a. What “knowing Jesus” means to me. b. How the message from Hebrews has...
“Come and See.” That is the title of the message this morning and the invitation we receive from Jesus. It is an invitation that Jesus extends to all of us and an invitation that we can either accept or reject, but one we can’t just ignore. Today we will be exploring how Jesus’ first disciples accepted this invitation. I am blessed to be enrolled in the Upper Room 2 year Academy for Spiritual Formation #33, which started this February in Donaldson, IN. The Academy consists of 8 5-day retreats held...
What comes to mind when you think of the word community? Is it a town, a club, a small group of friends or something else? The Bible tells us the Church should be a place of community – authentic community. But what does that look like? Today, I’d like to share with you a couple of my experiences of authentic community and what God has taught me about authentic community through these experiences. Last July, I had the opportunity to attend Lifest in Oshkosh. For those of you not familiar...
The death rates for members of the United Methodist Church are about 1/3 higher than the general population of the United States. Does this mean we should all “get out while we still can”? Not necessarily. This study done by the United Methodist Church points to a major challenge the church is facing today… In his book Present Future, Reggie McNeal makes it clear when he says: The further down you go in the generational food chain, the lower the percentage each succeeding generation reports going to church. The drop...
Sermon titled "Fishing for Jesus" by Dave Busker is now available as audio-only in our Sermon Browser.
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