The Spirit and Love - 6/26/2011 - Acts 2:42-47

The second in a series on living life in the Spirit - as individuals and as a church.  The first, foundational thing is to know God's love, be transformed by it, in awe of it, and so filled with it that it reflects back with God and our neighbor.  At the end of Acts 2, the disciples are filled with awe at all God has done.  We still are.  It's the beginning of everything.

7/3/2011 Freedom - Sermon by Elder Ross Kronenbitter

The day before our country celebrated the anniversary of our independence, our elder Ross Kronenbitter preached about freedom.  "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free" (Gal. 5:1).

Easter Sunday!

Jesus is alive!  He is risen from the dead.  Death and Sin are defeated.  He has risen from the dead.  This morning we looked at Mary Magdalene's experience at the tomb.  Twice she was asked, "Why are you crying?"  John 20:1-18.

A: 2nd Sunday of Easter - Fear & Doubt vs. the Resurrection

John 20:19-31
Rumors are swirling about the tomb being empty and Jesus having been seen.  Some of the disciples have probably already seen him.  Still, they go hide in a locked room from angry people who killed Jesus.  Later, evan after they've all seen him, Thomas doubts.  Jesus comes through every barrier of fear and doubt and shows himself to them, breaths on them and sends them out.  And they worship him.

Again - Thoughts and Sermons

To start a conversation, one has to say something.  This seems the oddest venue to speak, as I don't know if anyone is listening.  I shout out in the forest and don't know if anyone is there to hear it - or if it's just annoying them.  And I'm not even sure what ought to be said to who.  So, I'll start this conversation with myself and see how it goes.

What is it I even want to talk about?

I just got Eugene Peterson's new book, Memoirs.  He is a muse for me.  He characterizes pastoring (and this conversation) saying, "William Faulkner was once asked how he went about writing a book. His answer: “It’s like building a chicken coop in a high wind. You grab any board or shingle flying by or loose on the ground and nail it down fast.” Like becoming a pastor."  (I got it on Kindle and don't even know how to document the quote.  I'll work on it).  I'll grab the thoughts that seem worthy from what I read, from sermons, from daily epiphanies and nail them down on a blog.  It means this blog may be more personal and spiritual than I had originally intended, but that's the nature of a personal dialogue.  It's also the nature of pastoring.  

Ephesians 4 & Acts 2 - What the Church Does

This is the stuff we do as a church.  We Learn, Fellowship, Serve and Worship.
Here's the link: listen

Sermon 10/17/2010

Let's try what could be the easiest way of adding sermons to the emails and blog.

Here's last week's sermon.  We looked at the marks of a disciple.  These are not the means to discipleship, but the reflection of it.  And we looked at Stephen, the first martyr of the church.  In him, we saw the character of Christ, a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, a hunger for and knowledge of Scripture, and compassion.  Take a listen!
Sermon 10/17/2010
(click on the link to listen, or right-click and choose "save link as" to save the mp3 and listen later)