Year: 2016

Sermon:           “What We Believe”     Theme Our faith calls us to unity and diversity, which is what makes us unique in that we are one body with many different ways of seeing what God is doing.

Purpose:          To affirm that we are diverse but brought together by the common love of Christ.

Scriptures:       John 13:31-34  I give you this commandment, that you love one another.

1 Corinthians 15:1-11 I handed down to you what I in turn had received.

Questions:

Where do our beliefs about God come from? What are the authorities that we trust in order to believe? How do we handle other people holding beliefs that are different from ours? How can we be strong enough in our faith that we can allow others to see and believe differently from ourselves? Why do some attack other people’s beliefs while we are able to be respectful and open to different points of view?  How do we respond to those who are unwilling to be respectful and open to others?

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Sermon:           “We Trust in Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior”

Theme:            We are defined by our relationship with Jesus as our guide and the one who provides us for all our needs.

Purpose:          The congregation will focus on our relationship with Christ as our primary guide and direction.

Scriptures:       Isaiah 43:1-7   The Lord God will be with us when we pass through trials and will provide for our needs.

Mark 9:14-29  The disciples were unable to do anything for the man’s son, and needed to be in prayer in order to have ability.

Questions:

What difference does it make that we trust in Jesus Christ? Do we trust more in money, influence, insurance policies, and power than we trust in Jesus Christ? Is Jesus Christ truly our Lord, the authority for the decisions we make individually and as a church? Or do we tend to trust in things we can control? In what ways are we practicing our faith so as to be in submission to Christ Jesus? In what ways do we need to change so that we can truly identify that we are serving Christ rather than our own egos or carrying out traditions?  In what ways are we like the disciples, needing to work more at prayer, fasting, and focusing on Christ in order to be effective in our work as a church?

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Sermon:           “The Word Became Flesh”

Theme:            Christ’s presence is a real experience of God’s loving power in a form that we can experience and we can be renewed through a living, fleshly presence of God.

Purpose:          The congregation will seek to become more engaged in Christ’s presence in their lives.

Scriptures:       Jeremiah 31:7-14        God promises to bring healing, peace, and consolation to all of the people.

John 1:1-18      The Word became flesh, and the experiences we have of God are through Word become flesh in our midst.

Questions:

What difference does Christmas make to us now that the presents have been unwrapped and the New Year has come? How do we experience God’s presence in our lives? What can we do to experience God more fully? What difference does it make that Jesus was born two thousand years ago? Are experiences of depression, sadness, anxiety, and fear a lack of faith? How do we come to know Christ as the “Word become flesh?”  What is our role in helping others to know and experience the presence of Christ as living human care?

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