February 15, 2015 Sermon

Jesus Gives Us A Glimpse Of His Glory

It was an incredible sight to see. In fact the Israelites saw it on many occasions. Moses went up Mt. Sinai for 40 days where the Lord would give him the 10 Commandments chiseled into two tablets of stone. We're told in Exodus that the "to the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain." (Ex 24:17) Then Moses slowly disappeared into the cloud as he walked up the mountain.
The glory of the Lord appeared to the prophets, like Isaiah or Ezekiel. What an incredible sight to see. (Isaiah 1, Ezekiel 1) We famously remember the words of Luke 2 - An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. (Lk 2:9)
The Beauty, majesty and splendor of the Lord was seen in Jesus and the disciples caught glimpses of it in his many miracles. But nothing would compare to what Peter, James and John were about to see on the mount of Transfiguration.
Today we celebrate Transfiguration Sunday when Jesus gave a glimpse of his glory to Peter, James and John, as well as, too us. He does so to reassure us of who he is and to prepare us for what he was about to do for us!

February 8, 2015 Sermon

"We Are Committed to Christ"
It was a nice idea. Harry and his wife were going to remodel their grandparents’ home into their dream home. The plans were drawn up and all they had to do was implement them. Harry and his wife contracted with a local handyman to begin the work on Monday. Well, Monday rolls around and the man calls and tells them he wasn’t going to start today. The weather was too nice, so he was going fishing. He stopped in Tuesday and did a little demo. He didn’t show up for the rest of the week. Harry called and asked him why. "Oh, I decided to take a trip up north. I’ll see you on Monday." He showed up, did a little work, but then went missing for the next few days. Well, by this time Harry and his wife were worried. It didn’t seem as if their contractor was committed to the job.
As sinful human beings, we often fight that temptation of not being fully committed to the Lord’s work. There are so many wonderful distractions in God’s beautiful world, so many things that derail us from being the dedicated Christians that the Lord has called us to be. The Lord wants to talk to us each day in His Word, but there’s the new Sports Illustrated that came in the mail. The Lord wants us to gather together to worship each Sunday, but there’s that opportunity to do something else. The Lord wants us to use our time and treasures to serve Him, but there’s all these other things and bills that have come my way.
As we take a look at our time and our use of time, may we remember that God wants us to be "COMMITTED TO CHRIST." Why? Because of His love for us which moves us to willingly offer Him our service.