Our family and our friends should be a great source of joy - but they can go bad and cause heart break instead. How do we keep our relationship with God, with family and with friends balanced in a way which makes us worthy of Christ, and full of love?
Romantic love is certainly celebrated in our society. It is in our songs, in our movies, and I would even say it is in our hearts. There is a longing; a hope to experience that “love” which is held up as the best, as fulfilling and maybe even magical - and yet, if there is a love which breaks hearts the most often, it would have to be romantic, sensual, desiring love. So is it a blessing or a curse? As is often the case, the answer is yes! It can be both, but it is designed to be good, and point us to even better. Love in the 21st century - we can definitely benefit from the Bible in this area.
At the intersection of brokenness we find hope and healing.
Who do you belong to? Maybe you say “no one.” Maybe you identify a spouse, or are still under the care of your parents. Overall, however, most people today see ownership of people as an antiquated, and even immoral, idea. But what if we have already been purchased by someone who wants our best, wants us to live in freedom, owns us completely but lets us decide whether or not we will find the comfort of living under a divine covering and protection. Well, our real comfort is found in recognizing that we do not belong to ourselves, but rather to God.
Sermon starts at 32 minutes
It was snowy morning - but we recorded on FB - check it out Here: https://www.facebook.com/EncounterERC/
Or try VIDEO HERE
What is it? Why do we do it? Where did it come from? and What does it do? Digging into one of the most unifying and also divisive traditions of Christianity - Baptism.
Where did the Bible come from and what should we do with it? If you want to start something new, my suggestion is simple - Read the Bible.
It is one thing to say that to experience Christmas is to experience Christ - but how do we actually experience Christ. Well, you can’t do it alone - listen to learn more.
Christmas can be awesome! But what difference did it make that the baby Jesus was laid in a feed trough? Just think about who can come into a garage instead of a palace. God wants to welcome you into something great, and it starts with a baby in a manger not a mansion.
There are the experiences of Christmas, and then there is something very different - Experiencing Christmas. Jesus’ first disciples, people in the first churches didn’t celebrate Christmas, but if you think about it, they were able to experience Christmas. It isn’t about the traditions, it is about the truth that transforms.
Is your life marked by JOY? There is suffering, there are hard times, there are frustrations, there is desperation - but God offers joy. First you must find the source of true joy, and then you need to do your work in not letting your joy get buried, smothered, or lost. Let us be open to God restoring the joy of salvation!
“restore the joy of salvation.
How do you go from knowing about faith, to experiencing the good gifts of God? How about peace - Is you life marked by peace? As we prepare for Christmas, listen to this message to help you move from worry into peace.
2 Peter 1:1-8
Participate in the Divine Nature
If a farmer isn’t having great results with their crops, they probably have to start doing something differently. Well, God says the same to each of us - consider your ways - are they working? Let’s spend some time thinking about what we are putting in, and what we are getting out of life. Are you enjoying a great harvest?
There is so much which promises to make you happy - but happiness comes and goes. What we truly want is joy. Joy is something you can have, find, and even keep. But that type of joy is not based on things that come and go - rather, things that can last forever. There is joy in the harvest if we are working in the right field for the right things.
A new sermon series in the season of harvest. Jesus talks about a harvest, but it isn’t something that happens in a tilled field. When we understand God’s harvest, we can participate and see the joy of the harvest.
God used Esther to save his people. She was uniquely positioned to petition the king who was about to oversee the complete destruction of the Jewish people, and she bravely took action. But she wasn’t alone, she knew the situation was bigger than her, so she called in reinforcements. Sorry - this sermon failed to record.
As you might have heard in the message from Jochebed, sometimes when it looks like there are only two options, there is a third way which can make all the difference. Abigail is a smart, bold and brave woman of the Bible who was in a horrible situation, but transformed it by using what she had in the best possible way. There is an incredibly important message for you to hear from the life of Abigail.
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How you frame things matters.
What color are her arms?
Where are you heading in life? For Ruth it looked pretty bleak - the widow daughter-in-law of a widow immigrant. But she changed her destiny by submitting, and hooking her destiny to the right person. What a lesson for us today. Hear this powerful message from Jennifer Gieser on the bold and brave woman Ruth.
Depending on how you paint the picture, it might not seem like we should learn much from a prostitute and a traitor. But Rahab is held up in the Bible as an example for us, and was used in great ways by God. Do you want to have a faith that matters? It might be time to learn from this amazing woman of the Bible.
What do you do when there is no good option? Sometimes it looks like we are in a lose - lose situation. This woman of the Bible was in one of those. She could kill her child, or she and her child could die - what should she do? She took a step of faith, and found the third option.
