LOVE

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December 2018

“A Steady Light Shining in the Dark”/12/2/18/Scripture: John 1:1-10; Luke 2:25-32/by Rev. Laurie Williams

By |December 5th, 2018|Sermons|

          I can’t tell you how many people I hear every week talk about how awful and dark the world is now.  Focusing on that too much is not good for one’s mental health.  The world has always been a dark place.  Nature can be cruel.  Accidents happen.  Loved ones become ill.  Human beings sin.  That is our reality with the cycle of life and death.  Still, hope is so important to hold onto as a Christian people, as is bringing that hope to as many others as we can.  Yet, the fact of the matter is that we do hear much bad news, sometimes daily.  We may feel bombarded by it.  With technology the way it is, at times we know of something minutes after it happens anywhere in the world.  We definitely can feel weighed down by it all. […]

November 2018

“Where Is Your Treasure”/11/4/18/Scripture: 2 Kings 4:1-7; Mt 6:1-6, 19-21, 24/Rev. Laurie Williams

By |November 6th, 2018|Sermons|

          Ahhh, another Fall Campaign: so exciting!  Actually, I really like the theme the Stewardship Committee has presented throughout 2018 at various times and in a variety of ways.  “Where Is Your Heart?” comes from our Matthew, chapter 6, passage and is focused on verse 21:  “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Notice that it doesn’t say that the treasure follows the heart, but that the heart follows the treasure.  It points to what is central in our lives, whatever our most important treasure is:  is it money?; is it family?; is it cars?; is it God and the will of God?  […]

“Old Testament Women of the Bible: Rebekah”/10/7/18/Scripture: parts of ch. 24 and 25/Rev. Laurie Williams

By |November 1st, 2018|Sermons|

    For those of you who have heard all or most of my Old Testament Women of the Bible sermon series so far, you know that I have been rescuing some women in the Old Testament from their bad reputations.  True, there are some women who do terrible things in the Bible, yet even those who ought to be praised are often ridiculed for some reason or another.  In my first sermon, Eve was often spoken of being inferior to Adam even though she was the same status as a partner, and for having caused sin and humanity’s separation from God even though Adam ate the fruit of the forbidden tree right along with her.  […]

September 2018

“In Praise of Romantic Love”/Song of Songs 2:8-13, 8:6-7; Genesis 2: 18-24; Mark 10:6-9/ Rev. Rodger Allen/9-23-2018

By |September 25th, 2018|Sermons|

  The “Song of Songs,” also known as the “Song of Solomon,” has not had an easy time of it, as far as books of the Bible go. Whether or not it should be included in the Bible at all was more than once a matter of heated debate as the contents of the canon were being selected, and in fact it may have only squeaked in due to its already-established popularity among the people of Israel. We can easily imagine why some early Christian leaders raised questions about the Song. Picture a group of the early “Christian fathers”, in the third or fourth century or so, still making decisions about what’s right and wrong for their young church, having recently decided to make their stand on the belief that celibacy is the most desirable lifestyle for Christians when it comes to questions of male/female relationships. Oh, it’s okay to be married if you must, they have allowed, but the ideal to aspire to if possible is a life without physical intimacy, without desire, without involvement with the opposite sex. Priests, for example, are to be unmarried and celibate, as will also be monks and nuns. Intimacy is regarded at best as a necessary evil, and at worst as nothing more than a temptation, a sin, a failure. The ideal life, they have decided, is one without physical intimacy; that’s what God considers best. […]

“Dear Ephesus: 3. That You May Become”/Rev. Rodger Allen/Eph. 3: 1-9; Eph. 3: 14-21/9.2.18

By |September 6th, 2018|Sermons|

  Our look at the first chapter of the “Letter to the Ephesians” concentrated on “who you are” – who the Ephesians were, both as a culture and as Christians: members of God’s family; forgiven; adopted, by God’s grace – like all Christians, including us. Our look at the second chapter examined “how you became who you are”: it is through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that Christians move from a state of being separated from God and without hope of eternal life to a situation of reconciliation and peace with God. We also heard how Christ offers us peace with one another as well; dividing-walls between Jews and Gentiles, or between any two segments of humanity, are broken down by Christ. […]