Sermons from November 2022

PROBLEM GOD Luke 1:11-17 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because…

PROBLEM What benefit is God to you? How our relationship with God is like marriage. Contract v covenant. Called off example, vows. What does it mean to trust God? Our end of the deal is to live like Jesus.  But what is God’s end? That’s a bit confusing.  What are we trusting God for? To provide and protect. But we lock our doors at night. Our trust is in your locks. Protection- insurance. Act of God.  insurance against God. God…

PROBLEM The real problem for the Church is not that people are asking these questions but when the Church stops listening, being empathetic, and caring for those who are hurting. I would be willing to assume that we have all struggled with the problem of evil in our own way. Many of my atheist friends think that Fry’s response is fantastic. That’s naive.  It is striking that this God allows, even encourages, questioning. a large part of the Psalms, and…

At the core of the image of God is the restoration of the perfect relationship between the trinity + us.  PROBLEM – Living without God creates a lot of problems If you can’t love yourself you are going to have problems. Loving yourself is necessary for happiness. Where there is a lack of self-love, there’s also an assumption of being unlovable to the core.  If you’re not really loving yourself, your message is “I don’t love me for my strengths…