After Sermon Notes

In this past Sunday’s sermon, Pastor Lauren returned us to Ephesians chapter 6 where Paul exhorts us to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might” by choosing a robust life in Christ through taking up the whole armor of God.  The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of…

We often sing songs about Jesus being our everything. It’s even more interesting when you think about him in relation to the armor of God we have been studying. When Paul says to put on the breastplate of righteousness, we may think we need to be more righteous in our actions. But he also says…

Hebrews 1:1,” Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” As Pastor Harry dissected the above Scripture this past Sunday, I couldn’t help but think about the ups and downs Joseph went through.  However, through it all, his faith never let him down.  He was sure of his…

Words are fascinating. They can capture so much meaning sometimes, and other times convey nothing at all. In the case above, there is meaning, and it is to give personification to non-material ideas. For example, in ancient Greece, wisdom was often depicted as a woman. This is the case in the Old Testament Proverbs as…

In this past Sunday’s sermon, Pastor Harry covered five types of righteousness and the Christ-follower’s transformation from a dead life to a new one of truly living, enabled by the Holy Spirit.  This metamorphosis is described by Jesus in the Book of John, chapter 6, verse 63: “It is the Spirit who gives life; the…

Pastor Harry led us through the preparation for putting on the armor of God this past Sunday.  Without proper preparation, we don’t know how to utilize the armor God provides.  We can try without training but as an example, how do we use the sword of the Spirit (the word of God) if we haven’t…

20 years ago, Pastor Mark had a vision of returning to Jesus’ calling of people to put aside differences, ALL differences: racial, social, economic, political, for the sake of a bigger mission. This past Sunday, he supported that with the Word. There is no denying that every generation of Bible readers has cultural blinders that…

As Pastor Mark walked us through Ephesians this past Sunday morning, he pointed to the diversity of the church, the body of Christ, which led to a pondering of the purposes of the body.   The church exists to celebrate God’s presence.  Psalm 34:3 (NKJV) 3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His…

The unconditional love of God unites Christ-followers while also manifesting His characteristics through the fruit of the Spirit so believers and unbelievers alike can witness it.  In his sermon this past Sunday, Pastor Harry described it as agape love.   John Ortberg captures the different kinds of love in his book, Love Beyond Reason.  He says…

Pastor Mark referenced Hebrews 11:1 this past Sunday: (ESV) Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  Having faith is not only internally passive to one’s life. The conviction mentioned here creates actions which manifest the presence of faith.  Believing and applying the Word of God changes your…