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Song of ascents – songs that helped them prepare and re-orient themselves to the purpose of the journey and the expectation of the destination. Sometimes it reminded them of the past that helped shaped their perspective on the future; to remind them of who God was, what He had done, and what He could…

This is the last year in 2023, another year will soon behind us. It’s hard to believe! This church will have been going for 168 years old this April. I am currently the 28th pastor, including one pastor returning I came in December of 2019, and have now been here for four years. We made it through a…

Kia manakohia ngā kupu a tōku māngai; me ngā whakaaro o tōku ngākau i tōu aroaro, e Ihowā, e tōku kāmaka, e tōku kaihoko. Amine. Months ago, when we were first planning this service, I looked at the lectionary readings and thought “wow, what a gift!” - particularly the Jeremiah reading that speaks so…

Setting : This is a most likely a post-exilic pilgrim psalm. This Psalm is set sometime after the first return in 536 B.C. To capture the intensity of this passage one must imagine what it would have been like to have lived in the Babylonian captivity and not have been free or able to worship in the…

Psalm of Ascent- Psalm 120 - The prod that gets us going Psalm 121 - A song for the road Psalm 122 - A song of worship Psalm 123 - A song of reality Psalm 124 - A song of help Psalm 125 - A song of security Psalm 126 - A song of joy What happens to our worship when we confess the truth of this Psalm?…

Today we are wrapping up this six part study of the Good News called, “Life in 6 Words.” We get these six words by using the word “Gospel” as an acrostic. As a way of review, let’s walk through these six words one final time… G - God created us to be with Him. ( Genesis 1-2 ) O - Our sins separate us…

Introduction Last lesson in our January month theme of Pressing on to the Goal Today our lesson is Pressing On in Gratitude We often talk about the joys of the here after We can also talk about the joys of the here Three Areas Focusing on the Present Pressing onward with a Thankful Heart Be Unwavering…

Intro : Because it is the Christmas season, how many of you remember a joyous Christmas? I love Christmas - It gives me Joy- or should I say Jesus gives me Joy. AMEN I am not using the word “Happy.” In our English language Happiness is circumstantial and comes and goes like the wind. It is a feeling.…

Luke 19 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” 28 When He had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 37 Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of…

*** Photo: Bagpipes, “I’ve been putting in septic tanks for 25 years and I’ve never seen anything like this.” An unusual scene Judas gets attention 12.1-2 Setting 12.3 Mary anoints Jesus’s feet 12.4-6 Judas objects 12.7-8 Jesus’s response Things we learn about Judas Judas is about to betray Jesus Judas…

14 Heal me, O Lord , and I will be healed; Save me and I will be saved, For You are my praise. 14 and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Do we need…

Introduction As I have told you many times before, I have developed a process to select sermon speaking passages and themes. I often spend time in prayer and begin to develop a framework for the messages. This Advent season has been like many others in my planning, but this season has been much different…

We’ve all heard that old saying, “Seeing is believing”. Most of us put that into practice daily in our lives. Though we have faith, in many circumstances we seem to need a picture painted or have sight of something for us to truly believe it. 25 The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen…

Solomon’s journal has been skeptical and depressing at times Cycle of events of life is empty and without true meaning See and done everything a man could do under the sun and found it vanity Search for happiness w/o God left him in despair Best thing to do is have a relationship with God Time is short…

The Promises to the Seed Thrower When anyone before God, seeks any godly thing according to the will of God, and will follow God’s Word, he can also trust in God’s promises. Here in Psalm 126 we have a very straightforward promise from God if we will heed it. I. The Conditions A. YOU MUST GO ! "He that…

The Mountain Valley Cathedral in a remote Swiss village was one of the most beautiful churches in the region. One of the features that attracted so many people to the cathedral was its beautiful pipe organ. People would come from miles away to hear the lovely tones of this organ. But one day the organ…

Let us pray…Gracious and loving God, we come before you today with Joy in our hearts. Joy for being in this space together. Joy for being able to be together. And joy for the day itself which represents the day in which our new lives can begin. We thank you and praise you this day for all these things…

Let us pray…Gracious and loving God, on this day that we celebrate Christ’s arrival in Jerusalem and immediately move to his passion, we ask that you help us to open our hearts, minds and spirits to your still speaking voice above the din of all other voices in our hearts, minds, and spirits so that…

Let us pray…God, may the words of my mouth, the meditations of all of our hearts, and the willingness of our spirits be pleasing unto you this day. Today’s time of reflection on this Psalm is going to be a bit different for us. I know I typically spend time relating the scripture to our lives but I want…

Let us pray…Gracious and loving God, as we gather this day, we are reminded that your love knows no limits and no bounds. Help us in this time to remember and reflect on this idea so that we can find comfort and peace in a time that is out of our control, and remind us that your time is perfect. Now,…

Let us pray…Gracious and loving God, on this first Sunday in Lent, we are standing at the stream of life and longing for your presence amongst us in this time that seems to be a never ending period of grief, despair, sorrow, and sadness. We are ready to celebrate and be able to praise you once again.…

We begin this morning with our Scripture readings: Our Old Testament reading is from Isaiah 61:1-4 : The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening…

A Song of Ascents. 1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. 2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” 3 The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad.…

Intro: The Psalms of Ascent are about a people. The Psalms of Ascent are about a God. The People of God are Scattered · Psalm 122 · The People of the OT were scattered · The movement of the OT events is to gather God’s people. · The Psalms of Ascent were a picture of that scatteredness. · We are scattered…

This morning, I want to begin a series in the book of Psalms by asking you a peculiar question: "Why are we so tired all the time?" I’m tired of this pandemic! I’m sick of wearing masks everywhere I go, I’m tired of social distancing and what it does to the local church. This seems to be a shared problem…