St. John's UCC 3/2/23 St. John's UCC 3/2/23

Better Than Before

Just bring your mess to the master, and he can take what’s wrong and make it right- he can take the old and make it better than before.

St. John's UCC 2/16/23 St. John's UCC 2/16/23

Tabitha: Lessons on Service and Prayer

My friends, because of prayer and the Power of God’s Word is present, there is new life and new opportunity to overcome spiritual handicaps … and TABITHA is commanded to … GET UP.

St. John's UCC 2/8/23 St. John's UCC 2/8/23

God’s Assurance of Our Salvation

Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgement, but has passed from death to life. John 5:24

St. John's UCC 1/26/23 St. John's UCC 1/26/23

Abigail: A Woman of Strength and Courage

May God bless our women, who like Abigail, demonstrate great strength and courage.

St. John's UCC 1/11/23 St. John's UCC 1/11/23

Give Existence to God’s Insistence

Hear these words again now, because while they weren’t written to you, they were written for you: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” Amen.

St. John's UCC 1/5/23 St. John's UCC 1/5/23

Put on the New Self

The things we once loved, we now detest. The sin we once held onto, we now desire to put away forever. We “put off the old man with his deeds” (Colossians 3:9), and put on the “new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24).

St. John's UCC 12/28/22 St. John's UCC 12/28/22

The Miracle of Christmas

The source of your personal worth is the fact that you are worth the birth and life of the Son of God. He loves you, He likes you, and wants to spend eternity with you.

St. John's UCC 12/15/22 St. John's UCC 12/15/22

Advent Stories: So Close, Yet So Far From Christmas

I would have joined those shepherds and angels in worshipping him. I would have given him my heart and life. I would have told the story to everyone I could. He would have been at the center of that Christmas celebration, and of my life. If only I'd known who he was.

St. John's UCC 12/8/22 St. John's UCC 12/8/22

Messengers of God's Hope

This Advent season, how are you preparing the way for God to come into your life? In the midst of the darkness and brokenness all around, how are you opening yourself to receive the babe born in Bethlehem? What sort of road “broad and smooth” are you clearing in your heart? In this time of waiting and watching, how will you be a messenger of God's hope?

St. John's UCC 11/10/22 St. John's UCC 11/10/22

Hold On to Faith

By letting the spirit guide our thoughts we can become calm until we let the kindness of the Lord our God be over us and the works of our hands last. May all of us Hold on to our faith.

St. John's UCC 11/3/22 St. John's UCC 11/3/22

Where is God?

My answer: God is our ability to choose how we will react to any situation that confronts us.

God is our ability to choose how we will react to any situation that confronts us.

Whether we choose to react with loathing or love. In love, there is God. Whether we choose to react with hate or healing. In healing, there is God. Whether we choose to react with division or togetherness.

St. John's UCC 10/13/22 St. John's UCC 10/13/22

Being Peaceful and Brave

We can see ourselves brave. We can lay our armor down and put our pride aside. To welcome God’s beloved community fully. To embrace the vision of the Beloved Community, not some revenge fantasy. For the beloved community is good news. It shall stop our warring madness. If we are brave enough to act on it. Not just intend it with thoughts and prayers, but actively engage in the work.

St. John's UCC 10/5/22 St. John's UCC 10/5/22

You’ve Got to Have Skin in the Game

Maturing people know the future is really important and they lean into it, they move forward because that’s where the finish line is, where the race is accomplished.

St. John's UCC 9/28/22 St. John's UCC 9/28/22

Children in the Bible

Children give back to us what God’s kingdom is really like; they teach us what the world is meant to be.

St. John's UCC 9/22/22 St. John's UCC 9/22/22

The Journey of Christian Maturity

Spiritual maturity grasps the truth that God is involved in our world, accomplishing his redemptive purposes and that when he lay hold of me, he invited me into that process as well, to be part of his church, to pursue his redemptive purposes in this world, to lay hold of that which Christ lay hold of us. What could be more important in our lives?

St. John's UCC 9/15/22 St. John's UCC 9/15/22

The Conspiracy of Kindness

The destiny that we have, you and I, is the very real transformation of our lives, the renovation of our hearts, it’s what God longs for, it’s why He gave the Son for, it’s why he poured out the spirit, it’s why he formed the church. He wanted a people who more and more resembled his Son Jesus in the way they lived their lives, in the things they valued, how they talk, how they speak of others and how they treat others, and how they serve others. He did not want just a bunch of nice people, he wanted people who sacrificially served in his name.

St. John's UCC 9/8/22 St. John's UCC 9/8/22

Being Stars Against the Dark Night

“Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus”

St. John's UCC 8/25/22 St. John's UCC 8/25/22

How to Be of the Same Mind

We pray, Lord, that you would help us learn to walk with humility, to walk in the light of the cross and to serve freely, and fully, and joyfully one another as long as we have opportunity.

St. John's UCC 8/18/22 St. John's UCC 8/18/22

Expressing Humility and Service to Others

The New Testament tells us that we cannot love God, who we have not seen, if we fail to love those who we can see.

St. John's UCC 8/10/22 St. John's UCC 8/10/22

Joyfulness and God’s Sovereignty, Part II

If we only look at the black dot we’re going to despair. But if we can learn to see the bigger picture, to look at the right places, we can see God’s hand at work.

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