Back to School with Jesus /  by

Sermon Title: Back to School with Jesus
Scripture Reading: Matthew 4:17-25

What does it mean to be an apprentice of Jesus? Aaron Kauffman, president of Virginia Mennonite Missions, talks about being schooled by Jesus. Aaron says that transformation happens through relationship, not by behavior modification. Being a disciple is about cultivating a relationship with Jesus and the church, and learning to obey in our everyday lives. What does this look like for us today?

Listen to Aaron and view the slides here.

Covenant & Commitment (4 of 4) /  by

Sermon Series: Covenant & Commitment: A Four-Week Series on Covenant Membership
Sermon Title: Covenant as Christian Discipleship
Scripture Reading: Romans 12:1-13; Hebrews 10:15-25; Luke 14:25-33

We live in a self-absorbed culture that prefers a moral therapeutic deism and a passive receiver model of the church over an active allegiance to the disciple-making commands of Jesus. Covenant membership challenges the current spirit of the age—rugged individualism—by offering a Christ-centered, missional church family as a counter-cultural response. What does this look like for you and our church?

Listen to David and view the slides here.

Series Outline:

  1. Covenant: A Living, Breathing Thing
  2. Covenanting with Christ & the Church
  3. A New Covenant, A Renewed Vision
  4. Covenant as Christian Discipleship

Covenant & Commitment (3 of 4) /  by

Sermon Series: Covenant & Commitment: A Four-Week Series on Covenant Membership
Sermon Title: A New Covenant, A Renewed Vision
Scripture Reading: Genesis 21:1-13; Psalm 105:1-11; Ephesians 2:1-10, 19-22

The biblical narrative reveals that God desires to bless us regardless of our repeated unfaithfulness and our broken commitments, if only we would repent and believe. God can take our messiness and bring good out of it. This renewed vision comes by entering into a living covenant with him and joining together with others who desire the same. 

Listen to David and view the slides here.

Series Outline:

  1. Covenant: A Living, Breathing Thing
  2. Covenanting with Christ & the Church
  3. A New Covenant, A Renewed Vision
  4. Covenant as Christian Discipleship

Covenant & Commitment (2 of 4) /  by

Sermon Series: Covenant & Commitment: A Four-Week Series on Covenant Membership
Sermon Title: Covenanting with Christ & the Church
Scripture Reading: Hebrews 8:1-13; Matthew 26:26-30; John 14:1-10

God has established a new and everlasting covenant through Christ. Baptism and communion are public signs of this covenant with Christ and the church. Jesus said he is the way, and the truth, and the life. He is God in the flesh. He then calls forth a community of committed believers to testify to this truth. As members of a local church, how do we live in the tension of Christ’s exclusive claims and his all-inclusive call to love others?

Listen to David and view the slides here.

Series Outline:

  1. Covenant: A Living, Breathing Thing
  2. Covenanting with Christ & the Church
  3. A New Covenant, A Renewed Vision
  4. Covenant as Christian Discipleship

Covenant & Commitment (1 of 4) /  by

Sermon Series: Covenant & Commitment: A Four-Week Series on Covenant Membership
Sermon Title: Covenant: A Living, Breathing Thing
Scripture Reading:  Genesis 17:1-10, 15-16; Exodus 24:1-8; Jeremiah 31:31-34

What is a covenant? What’s the difference in a covenant and a contract? Why did God want a covenant with his people? What examples do we have of covenants today? In the first message of the series, we will look at biblical covenants and consider how covenants are the deepest of all commitments, for they involve a spiritual component impacting us at the deepest level of our lives. 

Listen to pastor David and view the slides here.

Series Outline:

  1. Covenant: A Living, Breathing Thing
  2. Covenanting with Christ & the Church
  3. A New Covenant, A Renewed Vision
  4. Covenant as Christian Discipleship

Advent 2014 (6 of 6) /  by

Advent is the beginning of the church calendar. This is a season of hope that calls us to examine our faith in light of the first coming of Jesus in a manger, to his second coming at the end of the present age. What does it mean to patiently persevere in the hope of things to come?

Our Advent-Christmas 2014 worship series is an invitation for all to come into the greatest story ever told. In the sixth message, pastor David concludes the series with a look at the eternal purpose of God---the great mystery revealed in Christ and the church.

Listen to David and view the slides here.

Series Outline:

Advent One: Hope Renewed
Advent Two: Passing On Peace
Advent Three: Finding Joy
Advent Four: Liberating Love
Christmas One: Beauty That Blesses
Epiphany Sunday: God's Mystery Revealed