GraceDover Messages

Psalm 89:1-4&15-18 Romans 6:12-23. Our Scripture readings this week sets before us the matter of being a slave to something or someone. What the Scripture asserts, challenges our idea of independence. Aren’t we free? The Scripture says we are slaves of sin or slaves of righteousness. We have given our bodies in slavery to evil desires or God. This sermon’s focus is what it means to become a slave to God. What really matters then, as a slave to God, is knowing your master and knowing where it all ends. Our master is described in Psalm 89. His stedfast love endures forever. His people exult in his righteousness. If you are his slave, he then is your glory and strength. If we are slaves to sin it ends in death. If we are slaves to God, the end is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The slave, in his or her obedience, is shaped into the image of their master. Our master, Christ Jesus, became a slave to give his life as a ransom for many. If that is true, then how does knowing that your master becoming a slave in order to bring you to God, shape your service to him and his people? We look to the Lord’s Table to submit ourselves to the depth of this truth.

Title: "My Treasured Possession”Text: Exodus 19:2-8a & Romans 5:1-8Sermon Summary: This week’s Scripture reading sets before us the scene where the people of God are hearing and responding to the love of God as Moses has received it from the Lord. In front of the mountain, the people hear how the Lord valued them in saving them and naming them and in response they vow their obedience. The people of Israel had spent 400 years in bondage in Egypt. As far as the Egyptians were concerned the only thing the Hebrews were good for was making bricks for their treasure storehouses. But now, in front of the mountain hearing these words, “out of all the nations you will be my treasured possession.”, they have new life, new meaning, and new purpose, wherein they can say, "We matter to God and God matters to us!”  This sermon will focus on being the Lord's treasured possession. In this message we will see how valuable being valued by the Lord is to the believing community. Jesus dying while we were sinners shows us how much we are valued by God. In this demonstration of God’s great love, we will see why we need to know it, how it shapes who we are, and defines what we do in our world.

Numbers 11.24-30 Acts 2.1-21 From Every Nation Under Heaven   Today is Pentecost Sunday and it celebrates the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, by the ascended Christ, upon his church.  It celebrates the launching of the world-wide-reign of Jesus Christ to unite people from every ethnicity in the worship of God.  On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God enables the disciples to speak in other languages.  People from “every nation under heaven” hear them declaring the wonders of God in their own languages.  The mission of Christ for his church is to declare the wonder of the gospel to all peoples, gathering them together as one, for the worship of God.  That is our mission at Grace Church.  “Our mission is to  love and serve our community and world with the good news of Jesus Christ, bringing people together across the lines of race and class to worship and follow Jesus.”

Psalm 68.1-10; 32-35 Acts 1.6-14 He Was Taken Up ...   On this Ascension Sunday, our Lectionary Reading comes from the familiar account in Acts 1, where Jesus reiterates, in different words, the Great Commission, to "make disciples of all nations."  Here in Acts 1, Luke records these final words of Jesus before he was taken up into heaven,  “… you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  And immidiately after he said this, were are told, he was taken up “before their very eyes.” Now, Luke includes a significant detail, “… and a cloud hid him from their sight.”  This is not simply a detail given to make the account more vivid.  Rather, it points to, perhaps, the most glorious picture of the reign of Christ laid before us in Daniel 7, where Jesus, “the Son of Man” arrives before the Father, “the Ancient of Days,"“with the clouds of heaven.”  There, he is “given authority, glory and sovereign power.”  All peoples, nations and men of every language worship him.  "His dominion,”  we are told, "is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom in one that will never be destroyed.”  And so, as we celebrate this Ascension Sunday, regardless of the condition of the world, we have hope and confidence in the risen and ascended Christ.  We renew the giving of ourselves, our resources, our gifts, and our talents, so as to advance His Kingdom here in our community and throughout the world.  We do so with great confidence that, in God’s time, the nations will come to Christ; that all peoples, nations and men of every language will worship him as Lord and Savior.

Making the Unknown God Known Psalm 66:8-20 & Acts 17:22-31   The text for the 6th Sunday of Easter turns our attention to the reasonableness of faith in Christ. Acts 17 tells us that the unknown God has to be made known. The problem isn’t that there is only one religion, but too many!  So Paul says that the unknown God is what he has come to proclaim to the people. In making the unknown God known, Paul reasons that too many religions obscure God while God should be obvious, since God is relatable and has the right to judge the world he has made. People don’t naturally know God. God wants us to know him. Psalm 68 and Acts 17 gives us reason to pursue knowing him. That he daily bears our burdens, he is a God who saves and provides an escape from death. (Ps. 68:19-20) He gives space to repent since judgement is coming. In a pandemic knowing God and making him known provides comfort to the believer and invites the lost to the clarity of faith. In the word’s of Ravi Zacharis, this sermon will "help the thinker believe and the believer to think."

Psalm 31.1-5; 15-16 John 14.1-14 Do Not Let Your Hearts Be Troubled   Our Lectionary Reading today places before us a very familiar account.  Jesus is preparing his disciples for his imminent death, and departure from this world.  He is preparing them with the comfort they will need.  Martin Luther called this passage “the best and most comforting sermon that the Lord Christ delivered on earth.”  Jesus urges his disciples to trust him, that he is going away to prepare a place for them in the spacious house of the Father, that he will return to usher them into that eternal home, and that he is the way to this glorious destiny.  Now, of course, these are words of comfort for these days of COVID-19, when people are filled with anxiety.  But, the reality is that if one looks beyond this obvious cause for anxiety, there are many things that trouble our hearts.  And in those troubling times, we need to hear these words of Jesus, Do not let your hearts be troubled.

"They Devoted Themselves…" Psalm 23 & Acts 2:42-47   This fourth Sunday of Easter’s readings brings before us the community that the resurrected Lord has gathered, i.e. the Church. The Church is given birth by the Spirit’s power. The scene in our text gives us a picture of the things that comprised the Church’s foundation; the apostles teaching, fellowship, breaking bread and prayer. These are the things that the early believers devoted themselves to. These four things are at the foundation and they are what gave the church its constitution and character, its connection and continuity. It is these four things that kept them grounded during trials that came later. They are what guided them when the trouble ended. This devotedness was their lifestyle and lifeline. The discipline also yielded fruit as it resulted in praising God and having favor among all the people. Ultimately, it is the things to which our hearts are tied that determines if we sink or survive the times in which we live. The question to answer is; "What are you/we devoted to?” In both our OT reading and NT reading it is the Lord who is at work in the midst of our devotion. For David, the Lord is his shepherd. For the early believers it is God at the center of their praise and the Lord who added to their numbers. The Lord fills up our devotion! This sermon will show us how what we are devoted to will aid us in trials and keep us moving forward when trouble ends.

Psalm 116.1-4; 12-19 Luke 24.13-35 Jerusalem, Emmaus, Jerusalem   In our Gospel Reading today we have Luke’s familiar account of the journey of Cleopas and another un-named follower of Christ.  Dejected, they leave Jerusalem and head to the village of Emmaus.  But on their sad journey, they are joined by Jesus who they do not recognize until they share a meal with him in Emmaus.  There at the table, Jesus takes bread, gives thanks, breaks it and gives it to them.  Instantly they recognize it is Jesus, and the encounter is transformative.  Filled with joy, they return to Jerusalem.   They leave Jerusalem with lives shattered, but return with lives restored by Jesus.  And their journey is a template, a pattern, of the Christian life.  It’s a journey from circumstances that overwhelm us.  It’s a journey on which Jesus comes along side us and gives us new hope.  And that encounter, enables us to journey back to to the place from which we've come.   We leave broken , we return restored.  We leave our Jerusalem with grief.  In Emmaus Jesus finds us and readies us to return to our Jerusalem to face our deaths, our losses, our shattered lives.  Jerusalem hasn’t changed, but we have!  And we enter Jerusalem with renewed faith and joy.

Jeremiah 31.1-6 John 20.1-18 Why Are You Crying?   In our Gospel reading today we have John’s account of the resurrection through the eyes of Mary Magdalene.  It is in this account that we have the touching description of Jesus coming to her as she weeps.  She weeps because Jesus has died.  She weeps because she believes his body has been stolen, and she will not be able to finish the proper care for his body, so hastily buried on the night he was crucified.  And Jesus comes up behind her.  “Why are you crying?” he asks.  It is not a rebuke.  It’s not a “What’s wrong with you Mary?”  He knows she had good reason to weep!  Then he says to her, “Mary.”  And instantly she recognizes him.  Her tears of sorrow become tears of joy.  She turns and reaches out for him.  She wants to grasp and hold on to Jesus.  She wants to never let him go.  She wants to hold on to this moment of resurrection for ever.  But Jesus stops her.  That moment is not yet.  That eternal reality is yet to come.  First he must return to the Father.  Then, one day, return to renew the heavens and the earth and wipe away all tears.  A day when there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.  But for now, the resurrected Christ will need to suffice.     And so it is with us.  Jesus still comes into our lives and asks, “Why are you crying?”  “Why are you so sad?"  “Why are you so fearful?” “Why are you so depressed?”  He knows we have real cause.  He does not come to rebuke.  He comes to give us hope.  He comes as the resurrected Jesus, and gives us joy in the midst of it all.  And though we would like to be rid of the circumstances that assault us, and though we yearn to experience the fullness of that joy given us by the risen Christ, it is not yet.  But, this hope and joy, though incomplete, nevertheless points us beyond the present, to that Day of resurrection, that Day of renewal, when this old order of things will have passed away for ever.  That Day we hear the final word from our Lord, “I am making everything new!"  

   Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 & Matthew 21:1-11 How do you pray in the time of the coronavirus? Palm Sunday’s reading shows us both a request for and the presentation of salvation. In Jesus’ time the salvation people sought was from Roman oppression. In our time the novel coronavirus has a lot of people seeking salvation.  The cries of the crowd teach us the language of this salvation, "Hosanna in the highest”, translates to "Lord save us into the highest place, save in the highest way, save us through the highest power."  That prayer for salvation is the prayer that comes from Scripture itself. Psalm 118  teaches us what to pray; “Open for me the gates of righteousness.” It teaches us how to respond; “I will give you thanks! It teaches why we should make the request for salvation; “You have become my salvation.”  The salvation that God provides is not what you would imagine. Salvation on Palm Sunday was Jesus riding into town on a donkey. It reminds us who it is that saves us, a gentle and humble king. He is the king who stretches our perspective to pray and seek the highest. The remarkable thing is that the Father answers us in the Highest, Supreme, Son of God!  Furthermore, even though the people didn’t know what they were praying, God heard and answered in a greater way than expected. For saving us meant the death of the humble king.  When you are struggling with suffering, (Coronavirus) or anything else, it is the unexpected gentle king, riding on a donkey, and destined for the cross, he is the one you want to come to your rescue. The cries, “Hosanna in the highest" is met with love that endures forever.  

  Psalm 130     John 11.1-45    I Am The Resurrection And The Life     The Corona Virus places before us the reality of death.  Our Lectionary Reading places before us the reality of life. Only Jesus has the cure we need for the Death Virus, contracted by Adam & Eve and spread to all humanity.  And, here in our New Testament text, in the face of the death of Lazarus, in the the shadow of death, the words of Jesus pierce the darkness: “I am the resurrection and the life.”  These are words of life offered to all, for Jesus continues, “He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.”  And, though the text does not say it, surely Jesus looks through her eyes and into her soul, as he asks Martha, “Do you believe this?”  “Do you believe this?” That is the question before us all.  The answer determines how we face the reality of death, in whatever form it comes.  

  “How Then Were Your Eyes Opened?” I Samuel 16:1-13 & John 9:1-41   This week’s readings has some eye opening truths about the way God works. Both stories give us an understanding about the difference between what we see and what the Lord sees. In 1 Samuel, we learn that we are tripped up on the outer appearance of things, while the Lord looks on the heart. In John’s gospel we learn that the admission of blindness relieves guilt, but the admission of sight means guilt remains.  In our world, blindness is a disability that restricts and requires blame on someone’s part. In the Bible, blindness is a metaphor for the sin of unbelief. There is an antagonism between the sighted and the blind. But in Jesus' economy the traditional understanding is turned on its head and blindness is the opportunity for the work of God to be displayed. So the confession of blindness is the time for God’s glory to shine in releasing your guilt. The questions this sermon places before us are these: "Are we blind too?”, and "How are your eyes opened?”, and "Do you want to become his disciples, too?" Every Christian has to answer these questions. How you answer them can mean the difference between having sight and being guilty, or, being blind and having your guilt removed.  God chooses whom he uses and Jesus’ call to faith in him is what makes the difference. How will you answer?   

Psalm 95.1-7a and Romans 5.1-11: Today the Lectionary places before us, a glorious text from Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome.  Paul here gives us great confidence and assurance that, having reconciled us with God through his life and death on behalf, Christ now lives to bring our salvation to completion.  That is, Christ’s life of perfect obedience to God on our behalf, and his death in our place is not the full scope of our salvation.  He arose form death and now lives and prays for us!  “Since we have now been justified by his blood,” says Paul, “how much more shall we be be saved from God’s wrath through him!”  We need not fear he final day, when the wrath of God is poured out. “For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!”  Jesus will see to it, that we are eternally saved.  As the writer of Hebrews puts it, “But because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.  Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”  Or as Paul puts is later in the book of Romans, “Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”  This is the confidence of the believer!  Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ; nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!

  "A Woman Should Learn…” Gen. 2:18-25 & I Tim. 2:8-15   We are looking at the role of women in ministry at Grace focusing on our Session’s recently adopted policy on women teaching adult Sunday School and small groups that are not relegated to women and children only.  Our scripture reading talks about women learning. It says they should learn. It tells us how they should learn and how they should use what they learn. Then Paul gives the reason why it is this way and how women are restored. The apostle looks back at Genesis 2-3 where the creation and fall are described. And as the curse on the woman is pronounced, Gen. 3:13-16, our salvation is announced too, Gen. 3:15. It is the seed of the woman that would crush the head of the serpent. That seed is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Head of the church, through whom the whole body, male and female, receives its nourishment. This salvation is continually honored in men and women exercising the roles God created for them.  All of this is for the flourishing of the church. In the beginning when God made man he declared; “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." When men and women are engaging the church, with their gifts being deployed in scriptural ways, as the household of God, vitality and growth takes place in the body of Christ.   

Judges 4.1-5 & Acts 2.14-21   On Both Men and Women I Will Pour Out My Spirit   This Sunday and next, we depart from the Lectionary in order to address the matter of women in ministry here at Grace Church.  The Session has adopted a new church policy on the role of women in ministry which permits women to do any kind of ministry that any non-ordained man may do. So, while our position reserves for men, authoritative preaching from the pulpit or becoming an elder in either name or function, it permits women to teach adult Sunday School, teach Bible studies, lead small groups, serve as ushers, serve communion, lead ministries or committees, etc., just as any non-ordained man may currently do.  This is based on a careful study of Scripture recently done in our denomination, as well as by our Session.  Today’s message seeks to lay out some of the Biblical contours that lead to this conclusion, paying particular attention to Peter’s quotation from the prophet Joel regarding the outpouring of the Spirit on both men and women in the church.  

"This Is My Son…Listen to Him!” Exodus 24:12-18 & Matthew 17:1-9   This Sunday is the last for the season of Epiphany and it points to the Transfiguration of Jesus. Jesus is seen on the mountaintop as the glorious, reigning Son of God.  Up till now the disciples had only seen Jesus as a human that God was with. Now they are seeing him in his glory as the Son of God. They hear the affirmation of his glory from the Father saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”  The Father’s voice was pointing them to the One worthy of all their attention. What Peter and the other disciples were beginning to learn is the gospel. That Jesus is God come down to man in order to bring us to God. This sermon’s focus is how loving the gospel is listening to Jesus. It is easy for us to become distracted by other people and things and miss the glory of Jesus. Peter was distracted by the presence of Moses and Elijah, two men God used to reveal himself to his people. But now Jesus, the one to whom the Law and the Prophets point, the one who will replace the law, is in front of them. And God has to tell them to "Listen to him!”  We need to listen to him everyday all day. Don’t be distracted by the Moses’ and Elijah’s of our day. They’re only men, but Jesus is the Son!   Listening to the Son, with whom the Father is well pleased, is what gets you through this life. Listen to him, because he is greater than Moses. Listen to him because he is the mediator of a better covenant. Listen to him because his blood speaks better things than Able’s. Listen to him because in him God dwells with us. And as we listen to him, the Father’s pleasure with him, is the pleasure the Father has with us.   

OT Reading:    Isaiah 58.1-9a          NT Reading:    Matthew 5.13-20      Message:   The Kind of Fasting I Have Chosen          The Old Testament Reading in the Lectionary for today places before us a scripture reading from the later portion of the prophecy of Isaiah.  Here we are looking ahead, to the deliverance and restoration of Israel after God’s judgment upon her.  Israel is redeemed from Babylonian bondage, but it is not restored to its former glory.  And so, they are seeking God’s favor.  They want God to make Israel great again.  So, in Isaiah 58, we find the people seeking God’s favor and, in particular, fasting as part of their approach to God.  But God is not restoring the glory, and they are puzzled and disappointed, and they are asking him, “Why?”  And God answers forcefully!  He points to their hypocrisy … the disconnect between their religious piety and their daily life.  In particular, he addresses the hypocrisy of their fasting, then lays before them the kind of fasting for which he looks.  Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Fast this way, says God, Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear.  That is how to make Israel great again! And so it is with the church.  If the church is feeling like it is being marginalized and trampled upon, says Jesus, it is because it has lost its saltiness.  But there is a way to make the church great again! It can do the fast God has chosen!  It can pursue good deeds, and in so doing be the salt of the earth, the light of the world, to the glory of God and of his church.  

"Boast in the Lord” Text: Micah 6:1-8 & I Cor. 1:18-31 Sermon Synopsis:   No one likes a braggart. Usually its because we want to talk about ourselves! This Sunday’s lectionary tells us that God shuts down all competing boasts through the message of the cross. But the cross, by the world’s estimation, doesn’t make sense. That a man should die for others to live, seems foolish. That one righteous person giving his righteousness to untold millions, seems absurd. How can this message of the cross stack up with other religions and other ideas of how to get to God? There are other “boasters" that are presented to us as capable of saving. Religions, self-effort, philosophies, and science. Don’t they compare? This sermon will show the reasonableness of boasting in the Lord.  If God hauls you into to court, as he does Israel, how can you answer his charges? What boast will you make?  Micah calls us to consider the saving acts of the Lord, to consider what you are to bring before the Lord and what is he pleased with? He is not pleased with the offering of wealth or religious sacrifices, even the offering up of one’s firstborn! The question before us is; Can anything compete with the offering that God himself makes in his One and Only Son? It is in him the Lord makes his boasts? Whose boast counts? This message, though foolish to the world, is the message that gives power to the weak, wisdom to the foolish, righteousness to the sinner, holiness to the vile, redemption to those counted as worthless. In a time when many believers are timid about living the message of the cross, we need to be reminded to make our boast in the Lord, who placed us in Christ.  

Isaiah 9.1-4     1 Corinthians 1.10-18  The Epistle Reading in the Lectionary for today places Paul’s call for unity before the Corinthian Church.  The Corinthian Church was divided!  In our text, the divisions fall along the lines of various leaders in the church: Paul, Apollos, Cephas, “Christ.”  Later in this Epistle, we see the church divided along the lines of spiritual gifts and ethnicity.  Even with regard to the Lord’s Supper, the church is divided along the lines of social class and wealth.  And so, after his initial address to this congregation, and a reminder of all God’s blessings, the very first thing he addresses is this matter of unity.  “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.”  Unity is of utmost priority in the church, and thus, it must be ours as well here at Grace Church.  

 “Honor in the Eyes of the Lord”  Isa 49:1-7 & I Cor. 1:1-9     The season of Epiphany continues to reveal Christ to us. Epiphany has been a part of the church calendar for centuries. Each year there is an intersection of the Sanctity of Life Sunday, a recent focus within church history, and Epiphany. There is a connection between these two things that is often overlooked. Sanctity of human life is narrowly viewed as addressing abortion. While that is true, it encompasses so much more! It is increasing the awareness of the value of human life because we are made in the image of God. Epiphany is the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles for the same reason, they are made in the image of God.  Both the sanctity of life and Epiphany are calling our attention to the same issue, the value of the Imago Dei.  Christ is the one who lifts the gloom, enlarges the nation, increases joy, shatters yokes and bars of oppression. (Isa 9) He does it through his cross. The message of the cross is the message of how God values the lives of those made in his image. It is where he trades the life of his Son for the lives of all of us who believe. So in a similar way that abortion is the trading of a life for a life, so the message of the cross is a trading of a life for life, but with a very different meaning and outcome.  In an abortion, the right to life of the one is denied so that the right to life of another might “thrive”. The message of the cross is the right to life of the One is voluntarily given up so that the lives of many will thrive. In this way the Imago Dei is honored and God is glorified. For this end Christians are to always work, regardless of political leanings. Party identity is submitted to identity in Christ. (I Cor. 1)  This sermon will make the case for the sanctity of life as seen through the manifestation of Christ in the message of the cross.   

"Because God Was With Him”  Isa 42:1-9 & Acts 10:34-43   This second Sunday of Epiphany our readings continue to show us how Christ has been made manifest to the Gentiles. However, over time, it is easily lost as to what the manifestation of Christ means. From both Isaiah’s text and Peter’s sermon in Acts 10, makes clear: Jesus Christ is Lord of all and everything he does is because God was with him. (Acts 10:38) The good that Christ does, the tenderness in which he does it, is all because God is with him. Jesus is our Fixer! Everything broken about our world and us Jesus fixes.  What is made manifest in what Jesus does is the truth that God was with him.  Because God was with Christ, he is with his people, Jew and Gentile, in the same way he was with Christ. Because God was with him, we have a Messiah, a message, and a mission with a majestic end.  This message will show how Christ’s manifestation is the driving force behind the Christian life.  

Psalm 72.1-7, 10-14 and Matthew 2.1-12  On this Epiphany Sunday, the Lectionary places before us the narrative of the Magi searching and finding the child Jesus, in Bethlehem.  Led by the star to the house where Jesus was, the Magi bow down and worship him, then “they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, and of incense and of myrrh.”  But this privilege of presenting Jesus with gifts, is not unique to the magi!  We have the same privilege, through the giving of our Tithes and Offerings.  As we look at this new year, this account challenges us to reflect on the degree to which our giving demonstrates our view of the privilege it is to present our gifts to Jesus, and how it might increase in the coming year.  

"Quiet, Please!" Psalms 119: 147 - 148 & Mark 1: 35 - 37  

"When Joseph Woke Up” Isa 7:10-16 & Matt. 1:18-25   On this fourth Sunday of Advent, our Scripture reading sets before us the story of Jesus' birth. But it is no ordinary birth! His birth is the fulfillment of an ancient promise about God being with us. The way he is conceived is scandalous to the human experience. Christ the Savior’s entrance into the world comes at the climax of the long ranging plan of God to be with man.  God’s patience and his promise culminates in God putting on skin in order to deliver us from sin. This is what Joseph woke up to. The text says, “When Jospeh woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.” God being with us is meant to wake us to being obedient to the Lord’s command.   When Jospeh woke up, he found meaning, purpose, and reason for living, all wrapped up in the promise of a coming child.  Perhaps you are looking for the same things too? This sermon’s intent is to help wake up every reflective person to these things they're seeking, and yet, at the same time, discovering that they were sought by God first.    

On this Third Sunday of Advent, Isaiah places before us the hope of Advent for those in the desert. We may have “sorrow and sighing” in our hearts, but for all those going through a desert, Isaiah 35 offers a beautiful picture of hope and joy. At the heart of the text is the simple but profound promise, “your God will come.” And when he comes, he will transform that desert into a garden. Come Lord Jesus  

"Joyfully Giving Thanks to the Father" O.T. Psalm 46:1-11 & N.T. Col. 1:10-20 On the Sunday before we celebrate Thanksgiving Day, our lectionary reading drops this phrase on us, “…joyfully giving thanks to the Father.” This phrase comes to us as the scripture writer is speaking about  walking worthy of the Lord. Joyfully giving thanks to the Father is part of what it means to walk worthy of the Lord. But why is our thanksgiving to be joyfully given? The Scriptures give us lots of reasons, but this sermon will only focus on one. The reason we can joyfully give thanks is because the Father has qualified us "to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.” (Col. 1:12)  This qualification has come at a great price as the text tells us it is through the Son who made peace through his blood shed on the cross. (Col. 1:20) Christ is the refuge and help to which our Old Testament reading points. The price of our rescue and redemption is shown in the Thanksgiving meal of the Lord’s Supper, where we joyfully give thanks for the memorial of our redemption.   

  New Heavens and a New Earth  Isaiah 65.17-25 & Luke 21.5-19 In Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming judgement of God upon the Jewish nation, our lectionary reading places before us a breath-taking view of a hope that is to carry them through any and all times of sorrow or despair.  “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth.”  It is the same hope that John will place before his readers, so as to give them hope in the midst of coming persecution. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth.”  This is the hope of every believer!  In the face of hardships, great and small, we look to the day when all things will be restored, when God’s all encompassing salvation, spiritual and physical will become our eternal reality.  “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus."  

"God Chose You to be Saved" Psalm 17:1-9 & 2nd Thess. 2:1-5, 13-17 Our lectionary scripture readings this Sunday places before us the encouraging truth that from the beginning God chose us to be saved. The Psalmist prays, “Show the wonder of your great love…" and “Keep me as the apple of your eye…” while his enemies were chasing him. Certainly there are times in this world that we feel pressed by “enemies”. As in the case with the Thessalonians who were being persecuted and lied to about Jesus’ return.  However, Paul reminds them that from the beginning God chose you to be saved. And his love and power, through the Lord Jesus Christ, gives them an unshakeable foundation for living in this present age. So, unsettling times call for an unwavering plan, from a God with unending encouragement. This sermon will focus on the assurance, encouragement and hope that the Christian has that enables them to thrive under any condition that life throws at them.   

"Evidence That God’s Judgement is Right" Habakkuk 1:2-4 & 2nd Thess. 1:2-6  On this Sunday, the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted, the question Habakkuk asks of the Lord is certainly one that every suffering saint can ask; “Why do you make me look at injustice? And if we only go by what we can see, like Habakkuk, we would draw the same conclusion he draws; “The law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails.” However, when the Apostle Paul writes to the Thessalonian believers, the scripture declares that God’s judgment is right  He says that there is evidence that God’s judgement is right. What is the evidence? Where is it seen? Why is God’s judgement right?  These are the questions this sermon answers. And we will see that the message the gospel of Jesus Christ gives us reason to have hope in suffering, encouragement to persevere courageously in the face of persecution, and why it is right to stand with those who are being persecuted, knowing that there is evidence that God’s judgement is right.   

Justified Before God    Psalm 65 & Luke 18.9-14 Our Lectionary readings today places the familiar Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector before us. With penetrating clarity, this parable brings home the truth that justification can be found only in the humble acknowledgement that we are sinners, and in the casting of ourselves upon the mercy of God.  The Pharisee is confident of his own righteousness based on his own performance.  The tax collector has no confidence in himself.  He sees himself as a sinner without hope, aside from the mercy of God.  The way of the tax collector is the only means of justification before God.  And throughout the entirety of our lives, it is the only means of assurance that we are righteous before God. Righteousness, from beginning to end, is found in Christ alone!  

 Psalm 121 & Luke 18.1-8 How often does it seem as though our prayers are futile?  Difficult times come; we pray for relief; it seems God does not hear; it seems his promises are empty.  These are the realities presented to us in our Lectionary readings today.  Jesus tells his disciples that “they should pray and not give up,” then tells them a parable in which a widow goes to an evil judge who is unwilling to take up her case.  Over and again, she approaches the judge.  She does not give up.  Finally, realizing she’s not going to stop bothering him, he relents and takes up her case.  Jesus then draws a parallel between the evil judge and God, and though it’s a strange one, it’s clear that though it may seem as though God is not listening, in the end, he answers prayer.  The same can be seen in Psalm 121.  The Psalm seems to say that God won’t let bad things happen to us:  “The Lord watches over you-the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm-he will watch over your life.” But we do, in fact, experience harm, do we not?  Yes, but the key is to be found in the final verse that assures us that God is watching over us, not only in the “now” but in the “forevermore,’ which will eclipse the “now” forever.  And so we can pray throughout our lives, in all circumstance, with the knowledge that God is, indeed, attentive to our prayers, and will bring us safely into the “forever,” when Christ returns.  

Psalm 66.1-12 & Luke 17.11-19 Our lectionary reading today places the account of the healing of ten lepers before us.  As Jesus and his disciples approach a village ten lepers cry out to him for mercy.  He tells them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”  In faith, they go and “as they went, they were cleansed.”  How overjoyed they must have been as they made their way to the priests who could examine them and pronounce them “clean!” Now they could go back to their families and friends.  A new life was now theirs to live.  But, astonishingly, only one of the lepers returns to give thanks to Jesus; a Samaritan.  He returns to Jesus, praising God and throwing himself at the feet of Jesus, giving him thanks.  Jesus asks, “Were not all ten cleaned?  Where are the other nine?  Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he says to the Samaritan, “Rise and go, your faith has saved you.”  This account begs a question of us: “How thankful are we to Jesus, for his mercies, his gifts, in our lives?”  And in particular, how thankful are we for our salvation?  Do we “return and give praise to God?”  This message is a call to cultivate a thankful heart, and to "return and give praise to God" in the gathering of God’s people each Lord’s Day.  

  Text: O.T. Lamentations 3:19-26 & N.T. Luke 17:5-10 Our lectionary readings this week puts together two passages that seemingly, on the surface, have nothing to do with each other. One passage is a person grieving amidst the ruins of the city and talking to himself about the Lord's steadfast love. The other text is a reply to a request for more faith that comes on the heels of instruction about the things that ruin relationships. And the end is another bit of self-talk about having only done your duty. Both texts encourage self-talk! Self-talk as it relates to relationships, faith, and obedience.   This sermon will focus on the faith that endures the struggles of relationships with difficult people and problems. It’s a faith that is expressed in obedience, a faith that can uproot and plant, a faith that can stand in the midst of ruins and hope. Why? It isn’t because you recall the bitterness of your experience, but rather it is because of the Lord’s great love and unfailing compassion. The love and compassion we see in Christ bearing our sins. This is the salvation of the Lord.  Consequently, this forgiveness and compassion forms the subject of our self-talk. The talk builds an attitude of faith and the faith moves to action. The action that Jesus says, when we have done it, we have only done our duty.  

Psalm 146 & I Tim. 6:6-19 "What is life about?” Have you ever asked that question? Perhaps you are still asking it. Our lectionary reading for this Sunday’s message directs us in ways to take hold of the life that truly is life. What the Scripture asserts leads us to ask a few questions: What is the life that truly is life? How do you get it? and What do you do with it once you have it? God doesn’t want us to be unsure about the source of true life and how to live it. Thus the instruction of Psalm 146 tells us of the blessing that belongs to those whose help is the God of Jacob. His power and the help he gives is described in the Psalm. And interestingly enough, the words of the Psalm are brought to life in Jesus Christ. He is the one who opens the eyes of the blind and sets prisoners free. He is truly life. What his life was about comes clearly into focus when he eats with his disciples what is is known to us as the “Last Supper”. There he tells them that his body and blood, i.e. his life, is for them and the New Covenant. The Lord’s Supper is a beautiful and vivid portrayal of the answer to the questions this sermon is asking.   

Requests, prayers, Intercession and Thanksgiving … For All Those In Authority Psalm 113 & 1 Timothy 2.1-7 Our Lectionary places a very challenging Epistle reading before us today.  Paul writes to Timothy pastor of the church in Ephesus, but Paul’s words are needed in the church today as much as ever.  He writes, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone —for kings and all those in authority …” This is striking in that Caesar Nero was in power as Paul wrote.  Nero was an evil tyrant who fiercely persecuted Christians.  Yet, Christians were to pray for him; even express “thanksgiving” for him.  The call for Christians today is no different, and the exhortation is still needed.  It seems that over the last few decades, a deep, partisan divide has taken hold of our nation.  Recently, expressions of hatred for elected officials have become all too common in the media.  Sadly, there is evidence of the same in the church.  The central question this text forces us to ask ourselves is, “have I been one to offer ‘requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving’ for presidents and all those in authority,' or have I harbored anger, perhaps even hatred, toward them?”  We do well to remember who is the Real  and Eternal King: King (“Christ”) Jesus, our Lord and Savior! He rules over all (Psalm 113).  He desires all men to be saved.  He gave himself as a reason for all men.  This is what should concern us. There’s no need to be vexed by temporal kings and authorities.  Rather, offer requests, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving for them.  They need it!  And it will lead us to "live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness."  

"The Worst of Sinners” Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 & I Timothy 1:12-17    What if God through Christ had given grace to Usama Bin Laden. How would you respond? Today is September 11, commonly referred to as nine-eleven or 911. Because of the events that took place on this day 18 years ago, Bin Laden was certainly considered by many the worst of sinners. But can the worst of sinners be given God’s grace?  Our lectionary reading takes us to the scripture where the worst of sinners, Paul the Apostle, tells us how Christ treated him, the worst of sinners. In this message we will learn what God does for the worst of sinners and why he does it.  It is a hopeful message for those who are fools, people who don’t know God (Jer. 4:22), to be encouraged to believe.  We have all been fools through our ignorance and unbelief. Yet God offers us hope by not destroying us completely in his wrath, but appointing us to salvation in Jesus Christ. Christ takes the unrelenting wrath of God in all of its scorching heat, wind, and darkness, upon himself. Christ suffers the destruction of God’s wrath so that we are not destroyed. Through Christ Jesus, the forgiveness given to the worst of sinners shows every child of God the unlimited patience of Christ is with them in their battle against sin. This is the good news of the gospel, that is able to save a terrorist.   

A Sacrifice of Praise and Sacrifices that Pleases  Jeremiah 2:4-13 & Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 This week our lectionary readings are teaching us that there is a corollary between what we know and how we live. In theology this would be orthodoxy and orthopraxy; right doctrine informs right conduct. In this sermon we will see how that through Jesus, we give to God a sacrifice of praise, which involves what we know, and the sacrifices that pleases God, which involves what we do. These two things have been neglected by the people to whom Jeremiah is speaking. The sacrifice of praise and the sacrifices that please God are things that make us thrive as believers, keeps our faith strong, and works into us the image of Christ.  Jesus knew the Father’s will and always did what pleases him. The result of Jesus’ orthodoxy, (what he knew) and orthopraxy, (what he did with what he knew) brought him to the cross where he does us the highest good of bringing us to the Father. Now, through Jesus, when what I know about God informs what I do with and for others, the result is a cultivation of praise and generosity that brings pleasure to God.  This good news of the gospel is the fruit of lips that confess his name, the source of our praise and the reason why our justification should lead us to act justly.  

 A Tale of Two Mountains      Hebrews 12.18-29 & Psalm 103.1-8 Our Lectionary reading today places two mountains before us: Mount Sinai and Mount Zion. They are the mountains of Law and Grace. Mount Sinai blazes with fire and death. Mount Zion blazes with joy and life. The writer of Hebrews is warning his readers against turning back to the old Jewish order, under the Law of Moses given at Mount Sinai. The way of the Law is always tempting because it seems to be the way to God. But the writer reminds his readers that the Law always thunders and condemns. It comes from a mountain that burns with fire; a mountain of darkness, gloom and storm; a mountain of death; a mountain that is terrifying and causes trembling and fear. But there is another mountain. It is Mount Zion. It is the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of God. It is the place of joy and celebration. It is the church established by Christ through the shedding of his blood, the blood of the New Covenant, laid before us at The Table of Our Lord, which  proclaims mercy and righteousness through faith in him.  

Fix Our Eyes on Jesus Jeremiah 2:23-29 & Hebrews 11:29-12:2   The Christian life is not a sprint, but it is a marathon. But what does it take to get to the finish? The lectionary reading for this week takes us to a passage that speaks of running the race marked out for us.  The passage shows us what has to take place if we are to reach the “joy" at the end. This sermon’s focus is where to fix our eyes…on Jesus. Our eyes are fixed only on him because he is the originator and the finisher of our faith.  However, in order to fix our eyes on Jesus we have to link faith and obedience, calculate the value of joy, and realize the source of power. Every runner knows these things to be true. This knowledge also leads to a grace of knowing you aren’t running alone. And that there is one who has gone before you and his joy is to bring you through to completion; to be with him.  But what assurance do we have that this joy will remain? That the cost of the run will be worth it? We have the certainty of a promise from God’s word, the Word that is both a fire and a hammer, cleansing and constructing along the way. A word that is not a mere abstraction, but is solidly fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who is none other than the Word made flesh.  The joy that was set before him, the reason he endured the cross and despised its shame, is his people. In them he greatly delights. For this reason we fix our eyes on Jesus. He who has made us his joy has to become our joy if we are to finish the race marked out for us.  

Associate Pastor Rick Barr with Grace Junior High students reporting on 2019 missions preparation camping trip and Senior High reporting on their missions week serving at Embrace family camp in Reistertown, MD

Genesis 6:3-10, 14 - What is the type of world we live in? As Christians, the world we currently live in has become corrupted by sin. No matter how hard we search, rather than righteousness and grace, we find ourselves surrounded by injustice, selfishness, and sin. How must we, as Christians, go forth as we live out our lives in this type of world? One example we can look toward is Noah. He has lived in a world such as ours, pervaded by sin and immorality and judged by the wrath of God. Noah is a figure we can look up to as the head of the family who survived the flood.In a world full of sin, by the grace of God, Noah was a righteous man, led a blameless life, and became a servant of the Lord. As we live in this world, let us all look toward Noah as an example as we try to understand God’s message for us.   

Hosea 1:2-10 & Col. 2:6-15 In a world of political and religious infidelity what is the hope for redemption? People routinely say that politics and religion don't mix. By that they mean the number of opinions around the two subjects don’t blend together very well. However in the Bible they are mixed. As in the case of our lectionary reading of Hosea 1:1-10.  The problem is that the nation is "guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord.” The vilest adultery is defined as being unfaithful to the covenant they have with the Lord. The nation is seeking its social, economic and personal wellbeing from something other than the Lord. This sermon’s focus will be on overcoming the vilest adultery by discerning it, exposing it and remedying it by faith.  For we see that though God’s people can be unfaithful, he is not. Though they commit offenses that are worthy of death, God pursues reconciliation with his unfaithful, adulterous “wife". He says to the nation: “In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ “ This remarkable transformation is only possible if someone dies for the unfaithful. Since death is the penalty for adultery, How does God keep his promise? For the answer to that question we have to look at the Table of our Lord, for there we see the cost of God’s faithfulness to his covenant. Colossians informs us as to how we are turned into sons of the living God when Paul writes: "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins…” How? By canceling the politics of it all; “having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he [Christ] took it away, nailing it to the cross." Because of Christ’s work on our behalf, those who were not God's people are "called the sons of the living God.” And through him, politics and religion has come together to form a new nation whose bond of peace is set before us in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. 

  OT Reading:    Psalm 82 NT Reading:     Luke 10.25-37 Message:          What Must I Do To Inherit Eternal Life? This Sunday, the Lectionary places before us a very familiar parable; The Parable of The Good Samaritan.  This is one of most well-known parables of Jesus, so much so that a “Good Samaritan” is an idiom for someone who is sacrificially kind. However, though the parable is very well know by Christians and non-Christians alike, the main point is usually missed.  For most, the story is about helping someone in need, but that’s not the point.  The point is about how one inherits eternal life.  It’s the answer to the question put to Jesus by an expert in the law who said to Jesus, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  This message seeks to unpack the answer Jesus gives.  

Text: II Kings 5:1-14 & Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 In the text of our lectionary readings it is hard to resist the pull of the healings in that are in the text. Whether it is the healing of Naaman the Syrian general or the healing of those who were demon possessed. Healings, it seems would take center stage except that Jesus said, “Don’t rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Greater than the power to heal is the joy of having our names already written in heaven.    Why should we direct our joy towards the fact that our names are written in heaven? Names are about being identified. Identity is where we look for our significance. Our significance is not in healing powers or spiritual exploits, but in where your names are written. There is freedom to “do" when you know that your significance is secure. And the grace of Christ secures our significance before we "do" anything. Our names are written in heaven, therefore I can work without being named on earth.    The seventy two are nameless in this story, but theirs is the message of the kingdom drawing near. The servant girl who was kidnapped and made the servant of Naaman’s wife is nameless, but her’s is the message of salvation that changed the life of the unclean Syrian general. Jesus knows their names. He was given a name by which he would save his people from their sins. And though his name was unknown to those who hung him on the cross, he was given a name by which every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. In him, our names are written in heaven.  This means that it is not what you do that is most important, but it's what’s been done for you in Jesus’ name that is most important. It is not so much what you know that is essential, but it is by whom you are known. Does Jesus know your name? If so, then rejoice for your names are written in heaven.  

  Psalm 22.19-28 and Galatians 3.23-29The Lectionary brings us to a wonderful text in Paul’s letter to the Galatians in which he places before us the amazing truth of who we are Christ.  The primary truth is that we are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  But, Paul adds another facet to this truth of our sonship.  He tells us that all who belong to Christ are “Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise,” regardless of ethnicity, socio-economic status, or gender.  In this message we seek to unpack the description of our identity as the “Israel of God,” who find their true identity as children of Abraham, and who live in anticipation of sharing in the inheritance God promised to Abraham, that "he would be heir of the world.”  

  Proverbs 8:1-4 & 22-31 & John 16:12-15As we continue to follow the lectionary readings for our messages, we have come to Trinity Sunday. On this day we acknowledge the reality of the triune God and their work not only on behalf of our salvation, but in our sanctification and thus our preservation in this life and the life to come.  This sermon's focus is on what Jesus tells us will happen when the Spirit of truth comes. He will guide us into all truth, bring glory to Christ, and make known what belongs to the Father and the Son. What things are they and why do we need to know them? They are the things of eternity and time, of heaven and earth. In Proverbs 8 we see the work of the triune God in the creation. This text reminds us that the works of the Trinity are eternal, wise, glorious and full of God’s delight. Jesus, the second person in the trinity, his death on the cross shows us the depth of the Father’s delight in world and mankind as he redeems both. In Christ, the trinity’s work of saving, sanctifying and preserving is completed.  This is truth that has to be taken into account whenever one seeks to understand the world in which we live and the things that are happening, since the Spirit of truth has come.    

Romans 8:14-17 and Genesis 11:1-9As we continue following the Lectionary, we come today to “Pentecost Sunday,” when we celebrate the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the Church.  The most obvious thing about Pentecost is that it is the “Anti-Babel” of God, that is, God’s reversal of man’s rebellion, with its consequent confusing of the languages of mankind, which we see in our Old Testament reading.  But, there is a personal aspect of the work of the Holy Spirit that should be dear to the heart of the believer, and that is his work of assuring us that we are, indeed, the children of God, as we see in our New Testament reading.  Paul says that because of the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer, we need not be “a slave again to fear,” because we have, “received the Spirit of sonship.”  This is a profound need in the heart of all believers who take seriously the call to live the life to which we are called in Christ. How very often we fear that we are not living up to God’s standards.  How often we fear that we are not, in fact, children of God - after all, how could we go on sinning as we do?  And so God gives his Holy Spirit to give us assurance as he applies the gospel to our hearts.  “By him,” says Paul, “we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”  

  Psalm 97 & John 17:20-26 On this Ascension Sunday, we are listening to Jesus’ prayer for us, his disciples, concerning his glory. Jesus prays that we will be with him where he is and that we would see his glory.  Although we like to think of ourselves as glorifying Christ, we struggler’s with understanding the nature of Christ’s glory. This sermon’s focus is to point out 3 things about the nature of Jesus’ glory: It is a gift to be received, a sight to be seen, and a wonder of eternity. Christ’s glory is the task of our unity, the expression of the Father’s love for the Son, and our confidence of their love.  Jesus prays all of this on his way to the cross. There he displays his glory for all to see. What Christ does on the cross is to guard the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked. (Psalm 97:10) On the cross he shows how much he hates evil and in his resurrection he tramples evil to death. What a powerfully preserving and uniting prayer our Savior offers!  Furthermore, if Jesus gives to us his glory how are we handling it? And, if he loves you this much, wouldn’t you want to see his glory and make it known?  

  Psalm 67:1-7 & John 14:23-29The sixth Sunday of Easter we find our Savior preparing his servants for what is about to happen. There is a very disturbing time that awaits them in the departure of their Master, Teacher, Friend, and Lord, Jesus. Jesus warns them about his leaving, but he seeks to shape their point of view. He tells them, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.”  Peace is a gift from Christ. When you find that you are in trouble or about to receive some upsetting news, it is good to know that Jesus has said, “ Peace I leave with you…” Peace is not the absence of war, but it is deep security and being in harmony with God and men. How do we exercise this peace? By obeying his teaching. What is the confidence that we will have this peace? The Son and Father will make their home in you. On what grounds can you be at peace? It is because Jesus is going away and coming back to us. The peace Jesus left us is pictured in the Lord’s Table where the drama of Christ’s departure, peacemaking, and return are on full display as we obey his teachings in eating the bread and drinking the cup. It is in the Table of our Lord that his ways are made known on the earth and his salvation among all nations.  Whatever may come our way, the peace of Christ that he has left with us, tells us God has been gracious to us, has blessed us, and has made his face shine upon us, and his peace will never be taken from us.