Faith Covenant Presbyterian

Today, we celebrate the birth of the church, Universal. The Holy spirit launches the message of Christ into the world through a newly empowered people. It has been the case through the early church, the two greatest celebrations, first being Easter, the second being Pentecost, which may surprise some, has somewhat become culturally invisible, at least amongst protestants. May we change that. Please join with me in prayer for the reading of God's word. God, our helper, by your Holy

We finish our series this morning on the discipleship in the gospel of Mark. For us is the call of Jesus in crossbearing. We look through the reading of God's word. If you please join with me in prayer. Father, indeed, we thank you that you have given to us your words, that you have had them written down for our learning. And we ask Lord God, that you would indeed help us to hear them, to mark them, to

What does it mean for followers of Christ to live for him with one eye on the future horizon and the other upon our present suffering? We look through the reading of God's word. If you please join me in prayer. Father, of all mercy in your word, your endless glory shine forth. And we ask them that you would reveal them to us this day, all through the marvelous working of your Holy spirit, that you would bring us

I bring the word this morning, and before I do, let's pray for the reading of this word. This will flow from Psalm 119, a section called Hey. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we ask this morning that you would teach us, O Lord, the way of your statutes, that we would keep them to the end, that you would give us understanding, that we may keep your law, that we would observe it with our whole heart. Lord, I

He sat down and called the twelve, and he said to them, ‘If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and a servant of all. ‘ And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and take him in the arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever receives one such child in my name, receives me. ‘ ‘Whoever receives me, receives not me, but him who sent me. Mark 10. And Jesus called them

Mark, starting in Mark 10. We're looking at what it means to walk by faith. What is a disciple's faith? We use that word all of the time. There's at least six aspects of faith that theologians discuss with several subpoints below each of these in the broader topic. But what does it mean to have faith? How is our faith exercised? That's what we're looking at this morning as we look to the reading of God's word. If you

Father, at times in our lives we recognize that our soul clings to the dust. And so we would ask that you would give us life according to your word, Lord. When you told. In your word, Lord. When we. When rather our ways were told to you, you answered them. And so we ask that you would teach us your statutes. That you would make us understand the way of your precepts. That we would meditate on your wondrous

We've been working our way through the gospel of Mark in a series on discipleship, and we pause that rightly for Easter Sunday, and we're going to be switching over to the gospel of Matthew, Matthew 28, as we consider the resurrection story of Jesus. We look to the ream God's word, though, if you would please join with me in prayer. Holy God, blessed are you. In your son, Jesus, your light shines in our darkness. And the darkness

Celebrations. In the spring, there were two, the Passover, and then the Feast of Weeks, Pentecost, and then in the autumn, the Feast of Booth. Here, Jesus is coming to Jerusalem during the time of the Passover. We look to the reading God's word. If you please join me in prayer. Oh, Lord, indeed, the grass withers and the flower fades, but your word will stand forever. As we come then to your everlasting word, Father, we would ask and

Text this morning, Matthew 15: 10. Earlier, Jesus had sent out his disciples to minister in his name, and now we see those ministering in Jesus' name wanting to send others away from Jesus. We look to the reading of God's word. If you please join me in prayer. Living God, we ask you to help us to hear your Holy word this day, that we may truly understand, and Lord, that in understanding we would believe, and in believing

Let's pray for the reading of God's word. This prayer will flow out of some Psalm 119, the section called Sade. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we recognize that you are righteous. Oh, Lord, right are your rules, and you have appointed your testimonies in righteousness and in all faithfulness. Lord, we desire that our zeal would consume us. Lord, that there would be a great difference between us and our foes who regularly forget your words. Lord, your promise

A real mission and a training mission all rolled into one. We look to the reading of God's word. If you would please join with me in prayer. Bless are you, O God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And you, Father, are all mercy and all goodness. You have elected us, you have called us, you justified us, you have sanctified and glorified us all through your son, who is the living word. And we ask them that

Mark Chapter 4. We continue working our way through the gospel of Mark with an eye to discipleship. Today, we step into the boat with the disciples with the great storm, Galilee. Maybe you'll recall the wonderful painting by Rembrandt depicting this very picture of Jesus being woken up by terrified disciples as the boat is tossing and pitching in the great waves. As we look through the reading of God's word, if you please join me in prayer. O

As we continue walking through the gospel, marked with that question in mind, we come to Jesus speaking in parables. What are we to make of that? We look to the reading of God's word. If you please join me in prayer. Most gracious God, our heavenly Father, in you alone dwells all the fullness of light and wisdom. We ask them that you would enlighten our minds by your Holy spirit to truly understand your word, that you would

That your Commandments would make us wiser than our enemies, for they would be ever with us. That we might have more understanding than our teachers. That your testimonies would be our meditations. That you would give us wisdom among the agent, that we would keep your precepts, that you would, by your word, hold us back, hold our feet from every evil way. That we might not turn aside to the right or to the left because you have

Consider fasting in the life of a believer. So you look to the reading of God's word. What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? We continue looking at discipleship in the gospel of Mark, and today we consider fasting in the life of a believer. So you look to the reading of God's word, if you please join me in prayer. Blesser to you, Holy God, is in Jesus Christ, your son, that your light shines in

Mark Chapter 2. What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? We continue looking at discipleship in the gospel of Mark. We look to the reading of God's word. Please join me in prayer. Living God, we do ask that you would help us to hear your Holy word that we would truly understand. And Lord, that in understanding we may believe, and in believing we may follow in all faithfulness and obedience, seeking your honor and your

Amen. Mark 1, beginning in verse 14. Now, after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. ‘ Passing alongside the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I make you become fishers

I've quoted this before, but from rabbi Jacob Milner in his commentary on Leviticus, Words fall from our lips like the dead leaves of autumn, but rituals endure with repetition. They are visual and participatory. They embed themselves in memory at a young age, reinforced with each enactment. When a ritual fails because it either lacks content or is misleading, it loses its power and its purpose. Rituals. What is important to societies or families we make into rituals in

The Eucharist, which is simply the Greek word for giving thanks, the breaking of bread, love feast. All these have been names used for this central Christian sacrament. And yet with such lofty names, it seems so strange that within the Christian church, it is so divisive at so many levels. We look to the reading of God's word. If you please join me in prayer. Christ our God, we ask that you'd kindle your fire in us. Indeed, you

It's a delight to bring God's word to you this morning. In preparation of reading his word, let us pray for this. This comes out of Psalm 119, the section titled Lamed. Let us pray. Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens, and your faithfulness endures to all generations. You have established the earth, and it stands fast. Lord, by your appointment, they stand this day, for all things are your servants. Father, if your law

Quest. I had many more questions about baptism, and I thought it would be wise to address them in another sermon. And generally, don't say this, but it would be worth your while to listen to the first one. We're going to cover a new ground this morning, and that one I gave the Old Testament underpinnings the baptism as well as a discussion of infant baptism. So I just encourage you to go back and to listen to that

Fultz kinds of sermon. I recognize one sermon will not cover all of your questions. If you look around, we are a congregation from newborns to 90 with people of all kinds of church backgrounds. Some have thought about these issues in a deep and serious way, and others, this may be brand new. So all I have to say, extend charity, not just to me, to one another in a topic that sometimes is greatly misunderstood. We look to

Join me as we pray for the reading of God's word. Father, we give you all thanks and praise for you have brought us through this advent season in which while we were preparing for your first coming, your incarnation, the word became flesh and dwelt among us. Lord, we were also to be training our thoughts on your second coming. And Lord, we thank you that you have promised to come again. And Lord, we ask that you would

Last week, we looked at the Messiah's message pronounced in Isaiah 61. And today, we are considering the temptations Jesus endured as part of his preparation for his Ministry of Redemption. We look through the reading of God's word. If you please join me in prayer. Living God, we ask that you would help us to hear your Holy word that we truly understand in Lord and understanding we would believe, and believing we would follow in all faithfulness and

Look to the reading of God's word, if you please join me in prayer. Father God, indeed, you are the source of all light, and by your word, you give light to our souls. We ask then that you would pour out upon us a spirit of wisdom and understanding. That being taught by you in holy scriptures, our hearts, minds will be open to know all that pertains to life and wholeness. And this we ask through Jesus Christ,

We're given to us in Genesis 3:15, all the way to the birth of John the Baptist. And today we're going to see the Messiah is the King in the line of David, as well as the Messiah is the Prophet like Moses. The shadows of the Old find the reality in the light of Christ. We look to the reading of God's word. If you please join me in prayer. Father of all mercies, you have given to us

See, there are multiple scriptures this morning in your bulletin we're looking through. We consider advent, and we remind ourselves that advent is not simply a countdown to Christmas. It is not a reenactment. It is first and foremost, a celebration and a reminder of the person and work of Jesus Christ in his full gospel power and glory. His first coming is to remind us of the pledge and the promise of his second. As we look to the

It's an X and an R. It looks like a P, but this is the word for Christ. The first two letters is C-H. Even you see the symbol here, the IHS. It's Latin taken from Greek, and it's just the first three letters of Jesus and the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The church has used colors from the beginning because the Lord has instructed us to use colors. We see that in

As a church intern, I saw something firsthand. A family had taken on a high niche child. I can't remember if it was a foster adoption, something to that degree. The wife particularly had asked, maybe demanded a lot of help from others in the church. Several families had come together and brought meals. They arranged for extra care, and they really rallied together for the family. I was a part of this, too, as an intern. A while later,

So today's a topical message, looking at a component of biblical Anthropology. It's a fancy way of saying we're going to talk about our feelings today. It applies to everyone who's still breathing. Sometimes we think of these types of conversations and it's like, Oh, not one of those. But again, the reason for it is this affects all of us. There's not a person here who has not in some way struggled dealing with the feelings that God has

Psalm 1:19. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we ask that you would remember your word to us, your servants, and that it would be that in which you have made us hope. That it would be a comfort in our affliction, that your promises would give us life. That when we think of your rules from of old, that we would take comfort, O Lord. Lord, that your statutes would be our songs in the house of our sojourning. That

Let us pray. Father, we do ask that your steadfast love would come to us, Lord, that your salvation would be according to your promise. Then we shall have an answer for those who taunt us, for we will trust in your word. Lord, take not the word of truth utterly out of our mouths, for our hope is in your rules. We desire to keep your law continually, forever and ever. We desire to walk in wide place, to

We've seen Paul's final greeting and final caution. Next week, we'll be looking at the doxology at the end of chapter 16. We'll be finishing out our series in the Book of Romans. We look through the reading of God's word. If you would please join me in prayer. Blessed, trying Lord in your great and kind providence, all holy scriptures were written and preserved for our instruction. And so we ask that you give us grace to hear them

The Minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the Priestley service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy spirit, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum, I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ. And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not

A common meme or satire of beauty pageants is the contestant's answer of world peace in the interview question. The greatest thing our society needs may indeed be peace, but nobody really thinks that it's going to come about by something inspired through a beauty pageant. It's not going to bring the world together in harmony. A while back, NBA basketball great Ron Artest, he was involved in a very serious brawl on court between the Indian Pacers and the

Romans 14. Paul continues to speak to the practical ways. This is not currently working. I am on… It's working? Can you hear me? Yeah. All right. I can hear you. Paul is speaking to the practical ways that love works its way out in the church. He's addressing, particularly, the weak and the strong. Romans 14:13-5:7. Can you please join me in prayer as we look to the reading of God's word. Blessed are you, Holy God, in Jesus

Eclectic group of non- Koreans who also attended. Because of a dear family from India, I was introduced to some amazing Indian cuisine. And the course of conversation over a meal, the couple mentioned how it was wrong to eat pork. Now, I don't know if this was a regional thing in India from where they were from or maybe a part of the church that they belong to, but they could see the perplexed look on my face. So

Father, indeed, it is a joy to be here in this, your house, to worship you. But we come with busy and distracted lives. Father, we come with hearts full of trouble, with minds anxious about what has happened and what is about to happen. And Father, so we ask as we come now in this time of worship to your word, that you would soften our hearts that we would hear your word and it would take root, that

As we read this famous text, our tendency is to rush into exceptions and qualifications. Didn't the Hebrew midwives defy Pharaoh's order? Weren't they commended for disobeying the civil government and saving babies? When the Apostles were strictly charged not to teach in the name of Jesus, didn't they defy the order, claiming that they must obey God rather than men? And wasn't God himself the one who raised up Moses in defiance of Pharaoh's authority? Wasn't it by God's

Tongue, but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this, to visit the orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world. Here is God's word. Please be seated. It's a pleasure to be here this morning. I see lots of familiar faces. My wife, Tracy, probably knows even more as being a music teacher for more years than I'm allowed to say

Come to the end of Romans 12. We are shaped by grace, we serve by grace, and our love is to be fueled by grace. We look to the reading of God's word. If you please join me in prayer. Heavenly Father, as we meet now in your presence, we ask that you would open our ears to hear your voice, that you would open our hearts to love you more and more, to open our souls to receive your

In God forever. Amen. Beginning in verse three, For by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function. So we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually

Romans 12. Eleven chapters of what God has done for us. And now Paul moves to our response, how we are to be shaped by this amazing grace. We look through the reading of God's word. If you please join me in prayer. Christ our God, we ask that you set our hearts on fire with love through your word, that in its flame we may love you with all our hearts, with all our minds, with all of our

We're reading God's word in our time of prayer. Romans 11. After contemplating some weighty thoughts about divine election and the future of Israel, Paul ends with a doxology to God. We look then to the reading of God's word. If you please join with me in prayer. Blessed are you, O God, the Father of all mercy. You have elected us, you have called us, you've justified us, you've sanctified and glorified us all through your son, who is

What's your plan today? How about for your life? Plans can sometimes stress people out. Sometimes they give us great comfort. Today, we're going to be looking at what Paul has to say to the Corinthians church about the wisdom of God and how he revealed his plan. So let's pray together. Gracious God and heavenly Father, we thank you that you did not abandon your people. You did not leave us to fend for ourselves in a broken world,

On God being faithful to his promises to Israel. If you look to reading God's word, please join me in prayer. Father of all mercies, in your word, endless glory shine forth. Your word guides our steps. It gives discernment to those who seek you. We ask that you would grant that we would find new beauties in an ever-increasing light this day. Divine Instructor and gracious Lord, be forever near us. Teach us to love your sacred word and

Life and continue to cause them to bear much fruit in our lives. Lord God, that you would continue molding and shaping us into the image of our blessed savior, Jesus. We pray and ask for these things in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy spirit. Amen. Beginning in verse 14, just reading the first four verses. How then will they call on him whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in

You please remain standing for a prayer and a reading of God's word. We come to the end of chapter 9 and into chapter 10. And as Micah mentioned earlier, chapter 9 highlights the sovereignty of God, and 10 highlights human responsibility. Paul is thinking in a dense and compact way and requires a bit more of us to understand as we enter into these texts. We look through the reading of God's word if you join me in prayer.

Today, we ask that you would make us hungry for this heavenly food that would nourish us in the ways of eternal life. And this we pray and ask through Jesus Christ, who indeed is the bread of heaven. Amen. Beginning with just the first six verses. What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means. For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I have compassion on

Well, Lord, we do ask that you would come and shed your light upon us, that being rid of the darkness of our hearts, that we would come into the true light, which is Christ, who is the light of the world, who lives and arrange with you in the unity of the Holy spirit, one God, world without end. Amen. Beginning in verse one, I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying. My conscience bears witness