Hays Christian Church

Pastor Dana's Lenten sermon series picks up in Jonah 1:3-4, 3:3-5, and 4:1-2; 11. God calls on Jonah to warn the people of Nineveh to change their ways, but Jonah resists and hopes to see their destruction, which is avoided through their repentance. God declares through the book of Jonah that no human is too deep into sin that He cannot reach them and grant them mercy and compassion. It isn't up to us to decide who is worthy.

Pastor Dana begins this Lenten sermon series in Hosea 4:1-3 and Hosea 11:1-4, 8-9. God calls Israel into account for their lack of acknowledgment and God laments about us, refusing to abandon us. The lament of Hosea finds fulfillment in the suffering of Christ: divine heartbreak becomes divine sacrifice so that sin does not get the final word.

The final spiritual discipline in Pastor Dana's sermon series is prayer. Jesus teaches us how to pray in Matthew 6:6-13, with privacy and sincerity to nurture your relationship with God. In Philippians 4:6-7, Paul assures us that we can take our concerns to God in prayer and receive His peace in return. The Lord is near! And when we cannot find the words to pray, Romans 8:26-27 comforts us. The Spirit intercedes for us when we call out.

The next spiritual discipline in Pastor Dana's sermon series is teachability. Moses addresses Israel in Deuteronomy 6:1-9 to teach them how to listen before entering the Promised Land, and Jesus explains to His disciples in Mark 4:22-24 that revelation is meant to be disclosed and made clear. Teachability is how God's light is allowed to be revealed, received, and lived. We practice teachability by returning to scripture, being willing to receive correction, and recognize that it is a lifelong pursuit.

The next spiritual discipline in Pastor Dana's sermon series is hospitality. Paul writes in Romans 15:4-13 to welcome one another because hospitality is how people glorify God and dwell in hope with each other. Jesus also comforts His disciples in John 14:1-3 that God prepares space for them. Hospitality flows from God's abundance. When God fills us, we are able to make room for others.

The next spiritual discipline in Pastor Dana's sermon series is compassion. Luke 10:25-37 shows the compassion of the Good Samaritan, who went out of his way to care for the robbed man. Then, Luke 16:19-31 tells the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, where the rich man showed no compassion to the poor Lazarus while alive. Compassion cannot be proved by our belief in it, but by proximity: who we are drawn to and how we disrupt our lives to tend to their needs.

The next spiritual discipline in Pastor Dana's sermon series is silence and solitude. Matthew 14:22-23 and Mark 1:35-37 show us that Jesus made time to pray in solitude, while James 3:6-10 and Psalm 46:10-11 continue to teach us that silence is valuable. We need silence to teach us to quiet the world around us, to listen, and rediscover the weight of words. To practice silence and solitude, we must confront our fear of silence, schedule it, find somewhere to be attentive to God, and be patient.

Pastor Dana's first series of 2026 begins in Colossians 3:12-17, which contains Paul and Timothy's call on God's people to gratitude, and Luke 17:11-19, where the Samaritan leper returns to Jesus to give Him thanks. Gratitude as a discipline of worship focuses our attention on God's beauty and is defined by a loving and thankful response to God for His presence within us and the world around us.

Steve Tramel brings us to Luke 2:21-35, in which a righteous man named Simeon meets the infant Jesus, who he recognizes as the Messiah that he was promised to see in his lifetime. We can learn the ways that those who do and don't recognize the Messiah differ with three tests: detecting deeper meaning in the scriptures, responding appropriately to God's other evidence, and earnestly seeking to know God.

The fourth Sunday of Advent represents love, so Pastor Dana takes to Matthew 1:18-25, which shows love through Joseph's obedience, and John 1:1-18, which shows love through the divine initiate of the Word made flesh. When we follow the ways of Christ, the way we love others includes visibly showing how we care for one another. Darkness only flees if it is broken by the light. When we show our love, we stamp out little pieces of darkness over and over again.

The third Sunday of Advent represents joy, so Pastor Dana takes to Psalm 146:5-7 and Luke 1:46-55 (Mary's song), which both sing praises of God's goodness. The anticipation of Christ coming into the world is about joy, not fear. When we are downcast or weary or see grief in others, do we point them (and ourselves) back to our source of joy? God has chosen us to usher Christlikeness into the world and that is a joyful gift.

The second Sunday of Advent represents peace, so Pastor Dana focuses on the peace found in God and how we can act to pave the way here on earth. Isaiah's prophecy in Isaiah 11:1-10 describes the world of God's peace that follows devastation and Paul calls on the church in Romans 15:4-13 to sacrifice our ego for the sake of bringing unity so that the Prince of Peace may be revealed.

The first Sunday of Advent represents hope, so Pastor Dana focuses on the hope we hold as we wait for Jesus Christ to come again. Paul tells the church in Romans 13:11-14 to be alert for Christ's return and cast off their old lives and Jesus declares in Matthew 24:36-44 that we must be ready when His Second Coming arrives at a time we don't expect. Are you ready?

Pastor Dana prepares us for Thanksgiving by presenting a trio of scriptures to teach us about gratitude. Philippians 4:4-9 shows us that Christian joy flows from recognizing God's goodness, Colossians 3:15-17 tells us that prayer with thanksgiving forms trust in God to ease our anxieties, and Psalm 100 conveys that gratitude and praise in times of suffering are declarations of hope.

Our new pastor Dana Glover begins with Luke 21:5-19, where Jesus teaches the disciples how to act when they face destruction, and 2 Thessalonians 3, where Paul writes encouragement to the church to continue to do good, even when it's tiring. Both Jesus and Paul call on us to live in ways that reveal the life of God in our perseverance, integrity, and goodness.

Betty Rupp takes inspiration from Psalm 51:10 and Ezekiel 26-27, which express that God changes our hearts and gives us the Spirit to remain faithful to His will. Change is an inevitable truth that we will experience many times in our lives, but we can be prepared for it when we pray and turn to God's Word for guidance.

Jennie Straight shares a collection of scripture and theological writings to express how God, deeper than any happiness we can find on earth, is the source of an unspeakable joy that roots in our very soul.

Steve Tramel dives into a few Biblical passages (Matthew 7:1-5, John 8:7, and Romans 14:4, 10, and 12-13) to bring us the truth that tolerance is our Christian duty. Tolerance is not the same as agreement, but we must avoid dehumanizing and persecuting those with whom we disagree. Every human being, even those who hate and abuse us, is a child of God that Christ died to save.

Joanne Tramel explains how, in this society of self-elevation, we can lead lives in humility, as directed by God. We can respect ourselves and take pride in our work and loved ones, but ego has no place when God deserves the glory.

Former pastor Cana Moore digs into Jeremiah 29:4-14, where Jeremiah writes to the Jewish exiles in Babylon, encouraging them to settle into their new land and not treat it as a temporary disturbance. We are at times tempted to not take our earthly life seriously, in favor of our heavenly home to come, but God tells us that our mortal existence is also our home. We are challenged to live meaningfully now.

Former pastor Cana Moore digs into Jeremiah 2:4-13, where the prophet Jeremiah acts as God's lawyer against the people of Israel, who had forsaken God and turned to themselves for their needs. The example we are blessed with teaches us that we can trust in God's power to provide for us and that provision is guaranteed to surpass anything from our own abilities.

Vicki Albrecht takes us to 2 Corinthians 5 to convey that surface-level changes that we try to make in ourselves rarely last, but changes that begin in our hearts on a deeper level are the ones that truly transform who we are. That kind of change is what God offers us. Our lives on earth are temporary, but God grants us the Spirit to prepare us for eternity. We must remember that real lasting change is not behavior modification but reorientation of our purpose.

Jennie Straight takes us to the Parable of the Weeds in Matthew 13:23-43, which illustrates people as seeds. God's people are the wheat and people of evil are weeds. They grow together, but angels will harvest them at the end of the age, with weeds being destroyed and wheat will enter the Kingdom.

Betty Rupp guides us through Psalm 23, which describes how God, the God Shepherd, spares no pains for the welfare of His sheep (us). Reading this familiar Psalm helps us understand our reliance on God as our Shepherd and catch a glimpse of His wonderful care.

Pastoral candidate Dana Spivy Glover comes to us with Luke 14:25-33, in which Jesus lays out what it takes to become His disciple. True discipleship requires preparing for and following through with sacrifice. Let us permit nothing to hinder our commitment to following Christ's example and loving Him above all else.

Former pastor of Hays Christian Church, Steve Culver, returns to deliver a timely message. Ephesians 4:14-16 expresses that speaking the truth in love matures us spiritually and allows us to become more like Christ. We learn the importance of speaking truth in love, especially to those whose actions reflect unloving qualities.

Mike Schrage from GNPI and Schrage Christian Mission declares that our earthly purpose is to testify to the existence of God, the saving grace of Jesus, and the activity of the Holy Spirit. The Bible's message is clear that God wants people of all nations to be present at His throne. We can help achieve this through missions when we Proclaim for God, Listen to God, Obey God, and Work with God.

Matthew 5:14-16 tells us to let our light shine so others can praise God. In this message, Steve Tramel shares things that dim our light for the world and advises how we can improve shining our light in ways that glorify God and lead others to worship Him.

Pastor Cana's summer sermon series comes to a close in 1 John 4:7-12, 16-19. It offers teaching and guidance to the church, on who God is and how God works in the world. Love is from God, God is love, and those without love cannot claim to know God. Because of God's love, our true priority as people of Christ is to love one another.

Pastor Cana's summer sermon series continues with Acts 18:24-27, which describes Apollos enthusiastically teaching of Jesus in the synagogue, though with inaccuracies. Priscilla and Aquila gently and privately correct him, and he goes on to Achaia. God gifts us with enthusiasm, and we can love our neighbors by encouraging each other's passions.

Pastor Cana's summer sermon series continues with Acts 17:10-15, which sees Paul and Silas stop at Beroea, after being driven from Thessalonica. Many Beroeans, receptive to the Word, become new followers of Christ. Loving our neighbors means using the measure of Jesus to curiously investigate the truth, so we should remain open to the wide work of God.

Pastor Cana's summer sermon series continues with Acts 9:10-19, which sees Ananias be called by God to go to Saul, zealot enemy of Christians, and heal his vision. Saul then is baptized. Loving our neighbors like God looks like caring for our enemies.

Pastor Cana's summer sermon series continues with Acts 6:1-7, which sees the early church prioritize care for Aramaic-speaking widows over Greek-speaking widows. The disciples call this injustice out and select leaders to oversee the task. Loving our neighbors can mean caring for those most in need while trusting God's abundance.

Pastor Cana's summer sermon series kicks off with Acts 4:23-41, which sees Peter and John arrested and challenged, but knowing what mattered, they face their trials with the confidence of the Holy Spirit and teach us what to do in suffering and isolation. Our holy directive to love our neighbors as God wants can mean focusing on God in prayer.

Joanne Tramel emphasizes that the values of truth and justice that we hold as Christians are also values to be held as citizens of the United States. Truth is not always what we want it to be, so we are to be open-minded and pray for guidance. A main function of government is the pursuit of criminal and distributive justice and our responsibility is to hold our leaders to a standard that reflects the “What Would Jesus Do” virtues.

Betty Rupp takes us to Luke 8:4-8, in which Jesus delivers the Parable of the Sower. The Word of God is a seed that is sown, but cannot bear fruit unless received by those with good hearts who retain it and persevere through life's trials. For God to grow this seed in us, we weed out troubles in our hearts by praying for perseverance and discernment.

This Trinity Sunday, Pastor Cana opens to Titus 3:3-7, in which Titus is being prepared to minister to the people of Crete and he is reminded that the Good News of Jesus has the power to create new humanity in the lives of the people. It is through God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit that we are saved.

This Pentecost, Pastor Cana opens to Acts 2:1-21, which describes the Holy Spirit descending upon the crowd to grant gifts for them to go out into the world and multiply God's church. The Holy Spirit's work in the early church was to bring about miracles of understanding, so we rejoice.

Pastor Cana takes us through Acts 1:1-12, where the apostles witness Jesus' ascension to heaven 40 days after the resurrection. They wonder what is next, but Jesus reminds them, as well as us, that our role is to return, wait, and witness.

Pastor Cana opens to Romans 8:31-39, where Paul covers the theme of no separation from Christ's love. Nothing, which ever has been or ever could be, can separate us from Christ's love. We are called to recenter on the powerful, matchless love of Christ.

Matthew 25:31-46 reminds us to treat the disadvantaged in society as we would treat Jesus. Joanne Tramel, keeping tradition to highlight historic Christians, points to the example set by Paul Farmer (1959-2022). Farmer was a medical anthropologist and physician who worked and advocated for impoverished patients, largely in Haiti and the U.S.

1 Peter 2:1-7 speaks on Christian identity to the young church and dealing with the feeling of instability. Jesus is the foundational stone for the House of God. We seek refuge in the foundation of Jesus, to be built on Him.

1 Peter 1:13-21 speaks on what holy fear is and Pastor Cana expresses that because of God's holiness, grace, and justice, believers should have holy fear of God. When we repackage our idea of fear of God, it transforms into something better.

Psalm 26 focuses on the topic of vindication and Pastor Cana points out ways we feel the need for proof of our innocence. God is the only one who can vindicate us when we are wrongly blamed or shamed. Therefore, we are encouraged to pray boldly for vindication to the only true judge, our God.

Pastor Cana's Lenten sermon series concludes in John 11:17-27, in which Jesus arrives in Bethany following the death of Lazarus and meets with Martha to give her comfort and hope. Those who live and believe in Jesus will never die. Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.

Pastor Cana's Lenten sermon series picks up in John 15:1-9, in which Jesus illustrates in a clearly explained metaphor how the vine grower (the Father) tends the true vine (Jesus), nurturing the fruit-bearing branches (abiding in Christ) and pruning the dead branches (that which prevents abiding). Jesus, the true vine, gives us reason to praise and bears fruit in us. We only need to remain with the Vine.

Pastor Cana's Lenten sermon series picks up in John 14:1-7, in which Jesus addresses His disciples at the Last Supper with crucial final parts of His teaching. Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life guides and provides for us. We as believers already know the Way, the Truth, and the Life though knowing Jesus.

Pastor Cana's Lenten sermon series picks up in John 10:11-18, in which Jesus provides the metaphor of a good shepherd caring for and protecting his sheep to relay His purpose and God's heart. The Good Shepherd is selfless, powerful, conscious, and determined. Jesus as the Good Shepherd helps us see the ways Jesus protects us in love.

Pastor Cana's Lenten sermon series picks up in John 10:1-10, which follows Jesus healing a blind man on the Sabbath. The man testifies of the miracle and refuses to incriminate his Savior to the religious leaders. In our text, Jesus declares that He is the door (or gate) that invites us into a flourishing life. He is the only door that matters.

Pastor Cana's Lenten sermon series picks up in John 8:12-20, where Jesus proves to the religious leaders of the temple that He is the light of the world, using their own legal arguments. When we feel that we are walking without support, Jesus, the light of the world, is a trustworthy guide for us.

Pastor Cana begins the Lenten sermon series in John 6:35-40, where a crowd who had witnessed Jesus feed 5,000 approach Him again, but Jesus tells them that they should not focus on physical bread, but true bread from heaven. He tells them that He is the bread of life and promises eternal sustenance. In this we learn that Jesus is sufficient, essential, and accessible for us in life and life eternal.