Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Personnel Team is very pleased to announce the hiring of Joshua O'Dell to be the church's new Director of Music. Josh brings to the church many talents and gifts and we look forward to the ministry he will share with us. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Thursday, November 5, 2009
Sunday Scripture and Sermon for November 8, 2009
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Scripture passage for this morning is from Genesis 1: 20-23, in which God creates the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. The sermon is titled 'The Fifth Day' and will focus on God's power and love, as well as how those characteristics of God are shown throughout the creation story. I hope to see you all on Sunday.
Pastor Josh
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The Scripture passage for this morning is from Genesis 1: 20-23, in which God creates the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. The sermon is titled 'The Fifth Day' and will focus on God's power and love, as well as how those characteristics of God are shown throughout the creation story. I hope to see you all on Sunday.
Pastor Josh
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Matthew 28: 1-10; The Resurrection
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Because he lives, we also live. Jesus has given us life through his life. Jesus is raised from the grave on Easter morning and through that spectacular event we are given the same life. The grave has no power over us anymore. We are freed from the bonds of death through the resurrection of our Lord. We have life eternal. We will live forever in God's kingdom. This is not a temporary life. It is not a life that is going to wear out in a thousand years or so. We are going to live for all eternity. How amazing are our lives going to be: living for all time in the presence of the creator of the universe. Eternal life is ours. Through Jesus, and his resurrection, we are given the blessing of living forever. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Because he lives, we also live. Jesus has given us life through his life. Jesus is raised from the grave on Easter morning and through that spectacular event we are given the same life. The grave has no power over us anymore. We are freed from the bonds of death through the resurrection of our Lord. We have life eternal. We will live forever in God's kingdom. This is not a temporary life. It is not a life that is going to wear out in a thousand years or so. We are going to live for all eternity. How amazing are our lives going to be: living for all time in the presence of the creator of the universe. Eternal life is ours. Through Jesus, and his resurrection, we are given the blessing of living forever. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Matthew 27: 62-66; The Guard at the Tomb
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
The signs have been there, but still Pilate and the rest of the Romans do not believe in Jesus. Here they go so far as to attempt to prevent faith from taking hold. By placing a guard at the tomb they are trying to prevent people from believing in Jesus. It is not just that they do not have faith themselves, it is that they are also trying to keep others from having faith. As we read through this passage we need to remember to not be a stumbling block for others. We are supposed to help each other in our journey of faith, not hinder each other. As we see the Romans place a guard at the tomb to prevent faith we need to remember to not put guards at other people's tombs and so prevent or harm their faith in any way. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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The signs have been there, but still Pilate and the rest of the Romans do not believe in Jesus. Here they go so far as to attempt to prevent faith from taking hold. By placing a guard at the tomb they are trying to prevent people from believing in Jesus. It is not just that they do not have faith themselves, it is that they are also trying to keep others from having faith. As we read through this passage we need to remember to not be a stumbling block for others. We are supposed to help each other in our journey of faith, not hinder each other. As we see the Romans place a guard at the tomb to prevent faith we need to remember to not put guards at other people's tombs and so prevent or harm their faith in any way. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Matthew 27: 57-61; The Burial of Jesus
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus is dead for three days. For three days Jesus is in the grave, feeling that pain of separation from God. That is the punishment Jesus took for us. The punishment that awaited us was not being in the presence of the Lord. Jesus endured that punishment as he spent three days in the grave. And what pain and suffering he endured. Imagine, the Son of God being cast out from the presence of God. Imagine the pain Jesus felt during those three days, not being permitted to spend time with his Father in heaven, especially considering all the work he had done. We have been saved from such a fate. We do not have to know what it is like being outside of God's presence. Jesus has saved us from knowing what that feels like. Jesus endured the punishment that would have been ours, the punishment of not being in the Lord's presence. Thanks to Jesus, God is with us always. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Jesus is dead for three days. For three days Jesus is in the grave, feeling that pain of separation from God. That is the punishment Jesus took for us. The punishment that awaited us was not being in the presence of the Lord. Jesus endured that punishment as he spent three days in the grave. And what pain and suffering he endured. Imagine, the Son of God being cast out from the presence of God. Imagine the pain Jesus felt during those three days, not being permitted to spend time with his Father in heaven, especially considering all the work he had done. We have been saved from such a fate. We do not have to know what it is like being outside of God's presence. Jesus has saved us from knowing what that feels like. Jesus endured the punishment that would have been ours, the punishment of not being in the Lord's presence. Thanks to Jesus, God is with us always. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Monday, November 2, 2009
Matthew 27: 45-56; The Death of Jesus
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
I have made reference to this before, but one of the great things about the life, ministry, and death of Jesus is the fact that he has been through what we go through. Here, we see Jesus feeling that solitude, feeling like he's been abandoned by God. We sometimes feel that. For many reasons some of us sometimes feel like God is not here with us. When we go through that we have Jesus with us to help us. Jesus knows what it is like to feel abandoned. Jesus can help us through that most difficult time in our lives. Through his experiences, especially through his experiences on the cross, Jesus is able to help us as we go through life, because he has been there, too. And that is just one of the many blessings we have through Jesus' death on the cross. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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I have made reference to this before, but one of the great things about the life, ministry, and death of Jesus is the fact that he has been through what we go through. Here, we see Jesus feeling that solitude, feeling like he's been abandoned by God. We sometimes feel that. For many reasons some of us sometimes feel like God is not here with us. When we go through that we have Jesus with us to help us. Jesus knows what it is like to feel abandoned. Jesus can help us through that most difficult time in our lives. Through his experiences, especially through his experiences on the cross, Jesus is able to help us as we go through life, because he has been there, too. And that is just one of the many blessings we have through Jesus' death on the cross. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Sunday, November 1, 2009
Matthew 27: 32-44; The Crucifixion
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus does not just physically suffer on the cross, he suffers emotionally as well. As Jesus is hanging there on the cross everyone who comes near him hurls insults at him. Jesus endures so much pain to save us. We should do our best to earn that salvation. Without Jesus we cannot have salvation, but we should live the kind of life, a perfect life, Jesus wants us to live in gratitude for what he has done for us. We see what Jesus has done for us as we read through the passion narrative. As we see that, as we witness what Jesus went through to save our lives, let us live with thanksgiving in our hearts. Let us live according to what Jesus has called us to do. Let us be holy, just as Jesus calls us, in gratitude for what Jesus has done for us. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Jesus does not just physically suffer on the cross, he suffers emotionally as well. As Jesus is hanging there on the cross everyone who comes near him hurls insults at him. Jesus endures so much pain to save us. We should do our best to earn that salvation. Without Jesus we cannot have salvation, but we should live the kind of life, a perfect life, Jesus wants us to live in gratitude for what he has done for us. We see what Jesus has done for us as we read through the passion narrative. As we see that, as we witness what Jesus went through to save our lives, let us live with thanksgiving in our hearts. Let us live according to what Jesus has called us to do. Let us be holy, just as Jesus calls us, in gratitude for what Jesus has done for us. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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