August 25, 2024 Sermon

Call to Worship

To all who are weary and in need of rest

To all who are mourning and longing for comfort

To all who fail and desire strength

To all who sin and need a Savior

We at Moraga Valley open wide our arms

With a welcome from Jesus Christ.

He is the ally to the guilty and failing

He is the comfort to those who are mourning

He is the joy of our hearts

And He is the friend of sinners

So Come, worship Him with us.

Announcements

Planning Center App- QR Code- app icon out on the patio - In the last several weeks we’ve launched a new communication tool for our congregation, it’s called The Church Center app and through it you’re able to watch sermons, give online, and sign up for upcoming events. If you need help setting that up, we’ll have a table on the patio. Just a word of advice as you’re signing up, go ahead and try logging in with a phone number or email before you attempt to create a new profile!

Women's Ministry Kickoff August 28th - Attention all ladies! You are invited to join us on this Wednesday evening for our Women’s Ministry Kickoff Event which will feature Wendy Hagen as our guest speaker. It will be an incredible evening of hope and encouragement from 7 to 8:30pm.

Alpha Preview- August 26th 6:30-8:15 - Because we need to plan appropriately we will be closing our Sign Up’s this evening at 5pm! So if you’re planning to check out what Alpha is all about, please sign up ASAP.

Grief share September 7th - We want to invite you to attend Grief Share, starting on Saturday, September 7th. Grief Share is a community for those who have experienced loss or change in their life who might need tools and safe friends to work through where God might be at work. Grief Share is not just for those who have lost someone, but also people who have experienced change or loss in their life. You can find more about GriefShare on our website.

High School Starts TONIGHT! 7-8:30 pm and TNL (Middle School)- starts Thursday, 7-8:30 pm - Last, but not least, our High School Ministry starts tonight from 7 to 8:30pm and it will be a great evening for your student and their friends to come and meet Daniel, our new Next Generation Minister, and get excited for where God might be leading our high school students this year! Our Middle School students will have a special kickoff evening this Thursday from 7 to 8:30pm!

Offering Moment

“You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” (2 Corinthians 9:11) As God blesses us, let us be a blessing to others. Patrick and Susan O'Connell anonymously donated over $100 million to hospitals and universities like the University of Notre Dame. Though little is known about them, their generosity brought praise to God. As we give, may it overflow in gratitude to Him.

Scripture Reading (Brandon Morrow)

2 Corinthians 8:1–15 NIV

And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. And here is my judgment about what is best for you in this matter. Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have. Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”

Introduce Caitlin Rhodes-Karahadian > Met in London > So encouraged by their heart for faithful and local ministry to the West Valley neighborhood in Cupertino