Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church

ECO Synod Executive Rev. Dr. Dana Allin shares a message for Liberty Corner Church as we work through the Breakthrough Cohort.

Why do we gather for worship each Sunday? We gather in worship to grow, step by step, into the people we were made to be, in the image of Jesus Christ. We were made to be butterflies, but we live as caterpillars.

What are we doing here? Why do we gather each week? One thing we are doing here is in our mission statement: "inspiring people to find and follow Jesus."

Church attendance across the nation has decreased significantly in the last two decades, and the largest part of that decrease is that the average Christian attends worship less frequently. What is important about weekly worship? What are we doing here?

Living in the post-Easter world, we see the a choice before us -- treading vs swimming. With both, you are exerting energy to stay above water, but the difference is direction.

Do you have doubts about faith? If you pay attention to the Bible, you'll discover that you are in good company.

When we tell the story of Jesus' death and resurrection, we may accidentally imply that resurrection is primarily about what happens after we die, and that's not what Jesus offers. Jesus offers eternal life that starts now, and lasts forever.

The Bible presents the cross and resurrection as God's decisive victory against darkness.

These days, social media has given rise to the influencer. Someone people follow, and emulate; the person we want to be like. Jesus is our Influencer.

Sometimes when we look at this world, it's tempting to get depressed, to focus on the bad news instead of sharing good news, to give in to fear and anger instead of sharing our hope in Christ. if you ever feel depressed at the state of the world, remember that what we see is not all there is. Do not just focus on the problems; always remember the glory.

God is perfectly just. God yearns to eradicate evil. And yet, God is also perfectly loving. What does that mean? How can the Lord lay our sin on Jesus?

God commissioned Adam, and all humanity, to a role in God's creation, but Adam abdicated the mission by his sin. Another way the Bible talks about atonement is that Jesus came to be a New Adam and complete the mission that God gave humanity.

Why did Jesus have to die?

In Jesus' time, they expected the Messiah to be a warrior King. Some in our culture today have similar expectations. Jesus flips this expectation when he describes the kingdom of God.

What do simple everyday actions of compassion have to do with the kingdom of God?

Some Christians seem to feel indifferent toward the world. Others seem to feel fear, anger, or even contempt. Jesus invites us to revolutionary compassion.

Jesus talks about wealth in a revolutionary way and the key question is this: whose money is it?

At two points in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus said that the kingdom of God belongs to children. What does he mean?

God's kingdom is a revolutionary treasure. It is not a set of rules to follow. It's not a set of beliefs to hold. It is a life-changing discovery.

Many of the things Jesus says about the kingdom are in stories with a deeper meaning called parables. This week we look at the revolutionary story of God's kingdom through the parable of the sower.

Jesus taught blessings that show how upside-down his revolution is. Is it possible that this upside-down revolution could apply to our daily lives?

It's common to make a new year's resolution -- to lose weight, make more money, spend more time with family. Our lives need more than a resolution; we need a revolution. That's what Jesus came to bring.

God is pleased with you. Nothing about you -- who you are, who you have become, the mistakes you've made or those made against you -- nothing changes the measure of the love God has for you.

Micah foretold: the coming King has arrived in Bethlehem. Most of us know these words, as something from a foreign land and a foreign time. To these shepherds, seeing an angel is foreign, but not the message. They had been waiting in this place, for this moment, for generations.

In the time of the Bible, a person's name was understood to be a declaration of their character and identity. Today we look at Isaiah 9 and the declaration of the names by which we would know God's Messiah.

If God has a plan for history, do you believe God has a plan for you?

What is the vision of the future you are yearning for, praying for, working for, striving for? What is your hope? This advent, we will look at promises of hope— prophecies of Jesus' coming, prophecies of his birth, and prophecies of his eternal reign. Advent is a time when we remember that the King is Coming.

Have you ever had to deal with someone who is mad? How can we help someone else with their anger? How can we help the world with all the anger around us?

A central tenet of Christian faith is forgiveness. Jesus came to earth for our forgiveness. On the cross, Jesus prayed to forgive those who tortured him. He taught us to forgive. His disciples had a hard time accepting it. So, how do we forgive?

Anger is normative and healthy when appropriate but when it begins to spike unnaturally, it shows us that an adjustment needs to be made.

Anger can also be deeply destructive—to ourselves, to others, to relationships; to the Church, the country, and the kingdom of God. How do we identify unhealthy anger? Specifically, how do we identify unhealthy anger in ourselves?

The Bible never says “don't get mad.” Be angry, but do not sin. Be angry, but do not hold onto the anger. Be angry, but do not let the enemy have an opportunity. That sounds great…but how do we do it?

Is anger sinful? Is it evil? Are there healthy ways to express or manage anger? The Bible has a lot to say about anger and it's relevant to all our lives, especially in a culture where outrage is liked and shared.

Is it possible to extend the kind of love Jesus is talking about beyond our personal realm? Now, more than ever, our world needs people who are learning to love.

Jesus call us his friends. It's hard to think of Jesus, Ruler of Creation, enthroned in heaven and also think of Jesus who hugs kids and calls us his friends. It's hard to hold both of those concepts in our minds at the same time.

Is Jesus offering a conditional friendship? Is friendship with Jesus, is perhaps even the love of Jesus, based on the condition of following commandments?

What is the greatest love--the strongest, most powerful, most life-changing love--that a person can have? Romance? Self-love? Love of God? What does Jesus say?

There is nothing wrong with desiring something God wants to give you. The problem is coveting something that is not for you. That kind of coveting focuses your attention and your will on what you do not have, instead of focusing on what you do have.

What's the difference between reaching out to friends for support and gossip? Because reaching out for support is healthy, and gossip is unhealthy, and a lot of people honestly don't know the difference.

Something in us believes "what I have is not enough" -- not enough money, not enough security, not enough comfort, not enough status, not enough success. There is a fear that we do not have or will not have enough. Jesus speaks directly to this fear in the Sermon on the Mount.

Our bodies matter and what we do with our bodies matter. We are called to glorify God in our bodies.

Jesus challenges the interpretation of the 6th commandment--you shall not murder--calling us to expand our interpretation to include the spirit of the law. Jesus calls us to move beyond religiosity into right relationship with God and our neighbors.

Family shapes our values, perceptions, and worldview. Family shapes our emotional world, our experience of love or shame, trust or fear, confidence or guilt. But family can be messy, can't it? How can we honor our messy families?

Special guest two-time Lee Rouson offers a message as part of our VBS Sports Camp Celebration

Sabbath is God's gift to us-- a groundwork for our relationship with God. Let's look at sabbath from God's perspective.

In the Sabbath commandment we learn that God wants to spend time with us. Sabbath is practice for eternity. What is the Sabbath for?

omg...It is a common phrase when something is great, or terrible, or just mildly amusing. Some people say it so often they think nothing of it.

The second commandment shows that God wants more than our obedience; God wants our hearts.

The 10 Commandments are an invitation to covenant. That's what God and the people were doing at Sinai: confirming a covenant. God has proven God's faithfulness and invites us to be faithful.

Rules somehow feel different when they are religious, don't they? The words “thou shalt not” just have such weight. Religious rules can induce fear, and guilt, and judgment. Why did God choose to give us rules?