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Sermon St. John's UCC Sermon St. John's UCC

Embrace the Hope of Easter

Because of Easter, all that Jesus has ever done, he is still doing. If we will trust him, we can have Easter every day. Why do you need the miracle of Easter today?

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Sermon St. John's UCC Sermon St. John's UCC

Crowds and Disciples

When Christianity is easy, it is hard. When Christianity is hard, it is easy.” Hear it again: crowds change nothing; disciples change the world. What will Palm Sunday cost you tomorrow?

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Sermon St. John's UCC Sermon St. John's UCC

The Meaning and Practice of Worship

If you came to meet with the living God, the seeker, the father, the holy one, through his son Jesus Christ there is the possibility that you can taste the living water that will make a difference in the days just ahead of you as you walk from this place, days in which your thirst is not so deep, you reflect on him, sing his praise, listen to his word, yield your life freshly to him, you worship in sprit and truth.

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Sermon St. John's UCC Sermon St. John's UCC

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.

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Sermon St. John's UCC Sermon St. John's UCC

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.

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Sermon St. John's UCC Sermon St. John's UCC

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).

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Sermon St. John's UCC Sermon St. John's UCC

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.

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Sermon St. John's UCC Sermon St. John's UCC

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.

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Sermon St. John's UCC Sermon St. John's UCC

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?

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Sermon St. John's UCC Sermon St. John's UCC

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.

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Sermon St. John's UCC Sermon St. John's UCC

Where is God?

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.

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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.

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Sermon St. John's UCC Sermon St. John's UCC

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?

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