July 19, 2015 Sermon

"Are You Ready For This?"

Right after high school he enlisted in the Marine Corps. His dad had been a Marine and his uncle had served in the Air Force. Over the years they had mentioned boot camp once or twice, but never in any detail. He was a pretty good athlete in decent shape. He had seen movies that showed a few clips about boot camp. The recruiter had kind of glossed over it, so he wasn’t real sure what all went on. A few weeks before he went to camp, his dad sat him down and told him in detail. His dad had made it through boot camp and he wanted his son to succeed, too. He listed the physical challenges and the emotional stresses that he would endure. "Are you ready for this?" he asked his son.

Being a Christian in today’s world is not an easy thing. We’ve been called by God to be His ambassadors, calling people to repentance and to believe in Jesus. It’s not going to be a cakewalk. The devil and his allies are going to mount daily attacks on our faith. "ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?" Trust the Lord to care for you, but also trust the world to attack you.

July 12, 2015 Sermon

"Celebrate God's Grace In Times Of Trouble"

For many athletes, Olympic and others as well, discouragement can become a big obstacle in their path to finishing their race. There are many stories of athletes who have been faced with a medical issue while they are training, or even during competition. Many times it is a physical ailment or a diagnosis of a medical condition that threatens to halt their training. At other times, and because of the time and energy they have placed into their training and sport, mental health can become a factor as well. But I would imaging, and judging by comments you’ll hear from many of them, discouragement is perhaps the greatest obstacle of them all.

Discouragement is something that you and I know about very well. We may not be training for the Olympics, but we are faced with the struggle of discouragement at many times in our life. When we hear the diagnosis from the doctor, when a relationship is on the rocks, when we’re struggling in school – discouragement can become a big obstacle that is difficult to overcome.

In our second lesson this morning, the apostle Paul was discouraged. But as we’ll hear, he had something to overcome discouragement – something that you and I have, too – God’s grace. In fact, we want to be encouraged by God’s Word this morning to “Celebrate God’s Grace In Times Of Trouble.”

July 5, 2015 Sermon

"I'll Wait...For The Salvation Of The Lord"

How good are you at waiting? When it comes to the good things in life, we can’t wait to get to it – like the day of our retirement or the birth of a child or grandchild and we’re like a kid on the 4^th of July waiting for the fireworks. But then there are the things in life that we do not look forward to – like our gospel lesson, where there is a sickness in the family. We’re like Jairus and pleading with Jesus, “Please, don’t let my little daughter die.”

We all face difficulty, trouble and sorrow in life. What are we to do about it? At times we find ourselves complaining – about the taxes we have to pay, the economy, our health, in a relationship or in a marriage. Whatever the case is, may we all say with the prophet Jeremiah in Lamentations 3 – “I’ll Wait…For The Salvation of the Lord.”

June 28, 2015 Sermon

"Why?"

Curiosity is a very powerful thing. Curiosity is arguably one of the strongest traits that the Lord created and placed inside the mind of the human race. Curiosity has caused discoveries of many kinds. Columbus was driven by curiosity. Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawkings were driven by curiosity. We want to know the reasons. We want to know the answers.

How many of us, especially parents, have heard the question "Why?" How many of us wish we had the answer when someone asked us "Why?" How many of us have asked the very same question when bad things come into our lives? Perhaps all of us.

This morning we meet a man called Job, a man who also asked the question "Why?" Why did things, bad things, happen to him? "WHY?" Job found out that man can only ask, and only God can answer.