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Sermon:
Text: Matthew 5:27-30
Sermon: Wandering Eyes
Date: July 8, 2012
Listen to Audio: July 8, 2012 AM Sermon
On Sunday, July 8, Pastor Bill will continue our series of sermons from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). This Sunday, we will consider Jesus’ words about adultery. Jesus helps us recognize that the commandment that forbids adultery is more than a prohibition of sex outside of marriage, but it is also a call to purity.
When we allow our minds to entertain lustful thoughts, we walk a dangerous path that leads to isolation rather than intimacy. Jesus warning to His disciples serves as a guide for many who live in a culture that is saturated with sexual imagery. We are called to guard our hearts.
On Sunday, July 1, Rev. Bill Moxey will be leading our morning worship service, while Pastor Bill is on vacation. His message will be “Continuing the Revolution”, based on Isaiah 61:1-4 and Luke 4:16-21.
Listen to the Sermon: July 1, 2012 AM Sermon
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Text: John 3:1-21
Sermon: “God So Loved”
On Sunday, June 24, Rev. Richard Blauw will be leading our morning worship service, while Pastor Bill is on vacation. Our sermon will be based on the story of Jesus talking with Nicodemus, found in John 3.
Sermon: June 17, 2012 AM Sermon
Text: Matthew 5:21-26
Title: “Anger Management”
Date: June 17, 2012
On June 17, we will continue our series on the Sermon on the Mount. In today’s text, Jesus makes it clear that His followers are supposed to go to extreme lengths to create and maintain peace with each other. If you have been wronged, you must avoid the danger of allowing anger to corrupt and dominate your life. Even though we can acknowledge that we have every right to be angry when someone offends us, that does not mean that our justfied anger is healthy. Christ’s followers must work to practice the art of forgiveness.
If you have offended somoene, you must take steps to seek reconciliation with the person you have wronged. Jesus tells us that seeking forgiveness is so important that we should even stop in the middle of our act of worship in order to seek the forgiveness of the person we have hurt.
Christ came to bring reconciliation between God and His people. This movement toward reconciliation must necessarily affect God’s people, so that they value peace in their relationships with each other.
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“Becoming Great”
Matthew 5:17-20
Date: June 10, 2012 (9:30 am)
In this passage, Jesus makes it clear that He is not starting a new movement that is a radical break from what God had always been doing throughout the Old Testament. Rather than change the Old Testament standards, Jesus came to fulfill them.
If we read the Bible carefully, it is obvious that something changes when we move from the Old Testament to the New Testament. But we don’t want to fall prey to the impression that God in some way lowers His standards or somehow becomes more relaxed about the problem of sin. Jesus makes it clear that living in God’s presence has always demanded a high calling to follow God’s ways. The law of God in the Old Testament was beneficial in leading people nearer to God, and even though Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the law, the teaching of the Old Testament continues to help us grow closer to Him.
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Sermon:
Matthew 5:13-16
“Salt and Light”
On Sunday morning, June 3, we will begin a series of sermons that highlight Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (found in Matthew 5-7).
The Sermon on the Mount contains instructions for following Christ. It begins with the Beatitudes, a list of unlikely character traits that Jesus highlights as leading to blessing. In the rest of the discourse, Jesus includes instructions about a wide variety of issues including prayer, marriage, judgment, the Old Testament law, lust, and loving your enemies.
In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus tells his disciples that they should be “salt and light” in the world. His description may be odd to us, but it tells us at least two things:
First, salt and light add value by preserving, adding flavor, and offering guidance. Christ’s followers have a mission to serve and be a blessing.
Second, Jesus says they are to be in the world. Jesus’ mission compels His followers to be outwardly mobile, rather than inwardly protective. We are not called to be a sheltered community of people who are only seeing inner peace. Rather, we are to actively seek to be Christ’s presence in a world that is often hostile toward Him and His Kingdom.
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Although we would rather avoid it, sooner or later we all face conflict. We argue in our homes, face tensions at work, disagree with our friends, and even harbor unspoken hard feelings toward people in our church.
In 1 Corinthians 6, the Bible gives us a glimpse at a group of people who struggled to get along. Within the church family, members were filing lawsuits against each other and going to public courts to have their disagreements settled. In his letter to the church, Paul makes it clear that this kind of public fighting was an embarassment to the church.
The Bible does not promise that we will never face conflict. Nor does it teach us that it is wrong to argue or fight. It does, however, make us realize that there is a price to be paid for our conflicts, and it calls us to carefully assess our disputes so that we handle them with maturity.
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Worship:
On Sunday, May 20, Rev. Herm Schutt will lead our morning worship service while Pastor Bill takes time to participate in a Board Meeting at Calvin Seminary, and attend the Moody Pastor’s Conference in Chicago.
During our morning worship service, Pastor Herm will be preaching on 1 Corinthians 11:25-32. We will also be celebrating the Lord’s Supper during our worship service.
Sermon Summary:
Text: Acts 19:21-41
Date: Mother’s Day, May 13, 2012
If anyone understands changes, it is parents. A person’s life changes drastically once they become responsible for another life. Furthermore, mothers witness the constant change that comes from a child growing in their homes. Some people enjoy seeing changes in their lives; while others mourn over changes.
In Acts 19, we see as story of a man named Demetrius, who is unhappy with the changes that occur in his life when the name of Christ becomes known in his city. He makes an effort to start a riot in order to hold on to his comfortable way of life.
Demetrius understood that the Lordship of Christ would change his life.
It is natural to long for stability in our lives, but if we find that stability in anything outside of God, we are basing our hope on something that is temporary. When we face times of significant change, it is helpful to remember that God is the only source of stability that offers lasting reassurance.
What is your only comfort in life and in death?
That I am not my own, but belong – body and soul, in life and in death – to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from teh tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven: in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.
Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes may wholeheardedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.
(Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 1)
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On Sunday, May 6, we will continue our series of sermons on Healthy Attitudes, as we consider how we are called to interact with difficult people. Sooner or later, we find ourselves in situations where we are dealing with people who can be abrasive, unkind, bitter, or disagreeable. Although we would like to believe that with the proper response, we can create a harmonious relationship, our experiences tell us that this is not always realistic.
In Romans 12, the Bible tells followers of Christ to be a blessing to all people, even those who persecute you. We must acknowledge this goes against human nature. When someone is intentionally harming us, we want to respond with revenge, rather than kindness. On Sunday morning, we will explore the Bible’s teachings about responding to difficult people.