Okay, this isn’t a sermon from ERC, but this is the message from Pastor Dirk Gieser to the Classis of Albany (our regional governing body) of which he is currently serving as president. Delivered on Saturday, Feb 1, at Blooming Grove Reformed Church.

Maybe, we are doing the wrong “right” things?

At the end of the Book of Genesis there is a great line from a man who lived an amazing life. What others meant for harm, God meant for good. It was a summary of his life and God’s faithfulness. But this man, Joseph, had a part in it all. How can we be part of the good God intends?

(Happy to say that we have resolved our issued with the audio recording, so those should be back on a regular basis!)

What does God want us to offer to Him? Faith is a key component. (sermon coming 1/12/20)

The first 11 chapters of the Bible are filled with things which can be hard to wrap our heads around. But then again, there are things which we can completely understand - like brothers not getting along. What can we learn from the first sibling rivalry in the Bible?

Second place is the First loser - if God is not first in your life, you are making God a loser. So how do you make God first in your life in 2020?

Sorry - audio recording is not available for this message.

It starts with God reaching to us, all of us. But then it becomes very personal - You with You. Are you willing to let God live in every part of you, and then connect with others. It is in the personal AND the group that we experience All of God.

What does it mean to have God with us? Some people think of God as a higher power, distant in the universe. Some people experience God as a personal Spirit within them. Others focus on a relationship with Jesus Christ. The reality is when we hear the promise of God with us, it is all of God. It is God as a tri-unity. Three distinct aspects of one unified God. This Christmas let us be open to All of God - Father, Son and Spirit. (sermon 12/8)

Sometimes we need a sign. Maybe we are lost, maybe we are in trouble, maybe we just don’t know if we can keep going on. God wants to give you a sign. Emmanuel is that sign. God is with you - stand in faith.

Some series it is important to start with the why question. Sometimes we need to know why before we start, but with bad decisions, most of us feel pretty personally why it is a good idea to stop them. However, there are deeper why’s that Jesus point to. It isn’t about being good enough, but rather making the most of what God has given us. Let’s not only strive after God’s kingdom, strive to stop bad decisions, but also fully embrace what it can lead to.

It easy to make a bad decision when we are tired and worn out. Why? Because we just go for what is easy. So, how do we avoid being worn down to the point where we can’t think straight, and even in the demanding times of life, how can we still focus so that we can avoid bad decisions?

Instead of thinking, we can let the pressures around us make our decisions. If these are not good pressures, we can end up making some bad decisions. What does God give us to help us to stop making these bad decisions? (sermon 11/10)

Each of us has our own list of bad decisions - it is part of gaining experience - so we can avoid future ones. But what can we learn from God’s ways which can help us Stop Bad Decisions. (Sermon coming 1/3/19)

I asked a quick question - What does it mean to be a Christian? It seems so easy on the surface, but as soon as you stop and think about it, the answer is anything but quick. You could focus on the word Christian, you could focus on what to do, or even what great things come with being a Christian. When I asked that question via e-mail I got 65 different answers, each with great bits and pieces of a very large answer to a critically important question. What does it mean to be a Christian? (sermon 10-27-19)

If you are a one in a million person, there are 7,000 just like you… In a vast and amazing world, do you matter? It is time to turn to the Bible and turn to God to get an answer to this question which can keep us up at night or prompt despair.

If the Bible is true, if God is Good, and people have problems - How does Jesus fit into the equation? His title of Christ is what his followers take as their label - Christian. His birth is the dividing point of all history. He is a unique figure in all of the world. So, why does Jesus matter so much?

On Sunday morning we arrived a church to find the power was off. Therefore the recording was not make with the normal system (sorry that the recording is a little choppy as times).

The questions keep coming. If God is good - how about people? We are created in God’s image, does that mean we are good? How could a good God make bad people? How we understand the human condition is vitally important to how we understand our faith. (Sermon coming 10/6)

I hear lots of people say “God is Good.” I also have run into my fair share of people who have a problem with God because they see so much in this world that isn’t good. How can a good God let so much bad happen? Why do bad things happen to good people? Is God good? That is an important question of faith. (9/29/19)

Not everything which is true is relevant for our lives. So, does the Bible actually make sense today or is it simply an outdated bit of history? In this message Pastor Dirk explores this question and the doubt that is often raised by those who claim it is too full of contradictions to be any good at all. (sermon coming 9/22)