We all need to grow in our understanding of God’s process of formation. We want growth to be easy. But that’s not the reality we see in any part of creation, including our own souls. When God wants to grow us (and he does!), he takes us into the wilderness to be formed into people…
In the Great Commission, we are tasked with making disciples and baptizing them. The Exodus story powerfully shows that this has always been God’s plan. But just as there is much more to the Exodus story than moving through the parted waters, there is much more to the Great Commission. The freedom that comes from piercing the waters of baptism should be celebrated as the Spirit-enabled beginning of an incredible journey marked by learning to obey all that Jesus taught.
The theme of this week’s service is formation. That might not be a word we use every day – but it is something that God is doing in our lives every day whether we realize it or not. Formation means that God has big plans for our lives, but he needs to mold us or form us into the kind of person who can accomplish his will.
As we look into what our vision is for the church, we must ask ourselves who are we and where are we going? We get many of our answers to these questions in the book of Matthew where Jesus tells us that sight/vision is more than just physical – there is also spiritual sight. We are reminded that, while we must “go and make disciples of all nations,” church is not just about getting more people into the church but about transforming lives through love.
We are challenged to remember the ways God has shown his works in the past and to believe that the God of today is just as powerful as the God of yesterday. Then, we are told how we can ignite our faith through appreciation of God’s creation. Finally, we are shown how the humanity of Jesus can help us remember that he also suffered in this life and that we can deal with our trials as he did, through prayer.
Using our own lives as well as the lives of biblical characters such as Simon Peter as examples, we are reminded that God never fails and that he is willing and able to do all things. We are reminded that we are all following someone/something and that others are following us. Therefore, if we want to live in the kingdom ever after, we need to stand firm in Jesus and declare, “I will follow you.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 tells us that there is a time for everything, including death. Today’s sermon looks at death as our eternal retirement (from life) and asks us how we are preparing for it. We are reminded that even Jesus was conscious of time and that what we do with our time is critical. We are reminded that God has expectations of his children and their time on earth. What are you doing with your time?
Holiness is often misunderstood even by Christians. Our minds might picture Puritan preachers yelling or solemn church services in cathedrals. There’s much that we can learn from Moses’ encounter with our holy God at the burning bush on Mount Horeb. When we better understand the holiness of God, holy living as disciples of Jesus becomes more accessible.
Moses’ unlikely but divine path to becoming Israel’s deliverer challenges us to look for ways that God can use his followers to be deliverers. We often over simplify the amazing and unique things that happened in our lives to allow us to be delivered from sin. This can lead to many in our churches feeling like they can’t really contribute evangelistically. In this message you’ll see how little things in Moses’ early life set him up to be a great deliverer for God.
The story of Joseph teaches us that God is with us in our struggles. Not only that, but God is able to produce something from that struggle. Joseph had God’s perspective on struggles in his life and remained faithful to God’s promises.