June SermonsLosing Easter No one likes to be sick or in the hospital over a holiday. What a waste! For Sharon Colmone, it really was like she had “lost” Easter after she was rushed to St. Francis that morning. No baskets, no singing in the choir, no family dinner. But what would it be like for all of us if we really did lose Easter, not just weren’t able to celebrate it, but if it were truly lost? God’s Medical Plan Medical insurance is a hot topic these days. We want to know how we’re covered, what we can expect from our providers, and what we’re expected to do. But do we have the same concerns for our spiritual health as our physical health? Do we know what we can expect from the Provider? Do we have any expectations—any copays we need to know about? Check out what God has in His medical plan. Pressure Nobody likes going to the doctor—nobody. But if we don’t go, sickness and disease can spread in our body and cause real problems. The same is true for our spiritual health. We don’t like “holy” check-ups, but if we don’t do anything about it, we not only get sick, but the Doctor comes looking for us! Spiritual CPR These days, most states have some kind of “Good Samaritan” Law in place to protect anyone who tries to help someone in need. (It keeps you from suing me if I accidentally break a rib while giving you CPR.) But how does that translate to the original story of the Good Samaritan? Do we need to worry about spiritual CPR? May SermonsParenting Passions Parenting is one of the greatest jobs in the world…and one of the most frustrating. You invest so much time and energy teaching your children values and good decision-making skills, and then they start growing up and decide to do whatever they want whether you like it or not. How do we deal with our passions for our kids, especially when it comes to faith? Yes Mom I think the best Mother’s Day present in the world would be if you could ask your kid to do anything and the only response they would have would be, “Yes, Mom.” I know—dream on! Unfortunately, our kids aren’t the only ones who have trouble saying yes at times. Join us as we take a look at the mom, Mary, and see what we can learn about saying yes Jumping Ships As church people, a lot of us love to ride the fellow-ship. We like to hang out with one another and chat, catch up on what’s going on and get support in times of trouble. We’re less inclined to hop onboard the wor-ship. It’s so much more intense, which makes it a little scary—but also so incredibly worthwhile. So how do we jump ships? Preventative Medicine There are so many different antibiotics available to us today—things that treat and even cure what ails us. And we have vaccines to help prevent us getting sick in the first place. Did you realize the same is true for our spiritual “health”? There are cures and there are treatments, but it’s up to us to use some preventative medicine as well. April SermonsDownshifting into Prayer Everyone knows that prayer is supposed to be important. But in the crazy busy race of life, so few of us take the time to actually pull off and pray. Let’s face it—it’s time consuming and you often don’t see the results. But what happens if we don’t take time to downshift into prayer? Dr. Bill and Marsha McCoy Listen as missionary medical team Dr. Bill and Marsha McCoy share about their experience at Kudjip Nazarene Hospital in Papua New Guinea. Walls of Prayer An embassy is like a small piece of a country within the borders of another country. When you step inside that building, it’s as if you’ve traveled back to the home country. And if it’s in a hostile area, that embassy will need to be protected by walls. Find out what any of that has to do with God’s church! Exercising Your Faith Jesus told His disciples to do two specific things: save the lost and build the found. As churches, we are pretty good at one, and not so good at the other. Find out what specific directions Jesus gave to get us up off our rumps and exercise our faith. March SermonsThe Future Is Not Now Have you ever felt like you really knew where God was leading you, like you had a clear vision of what He had in store, only to have Him totally change your direction and seemingly take you somewhere else? It’s so frustrating! It’s also very common. Check out what we can do when God’s promises don’t line up with His commands. A Bare-Bones Nitty-Gritty No-Holds-Barred Message of Sin, Death, Love and Redemption We are always one generation away from total ignorance of the Gospel." Think about that for a second… If one generation never learned about the Gospel, this 2000 year old story would be lost forever. That causes my mind to start spinning! Not only do I want to make sure people know a story this important, I want to make sure they know the right story. The King of the Castle We love our homes! We take great pride in our furniture, our decorating, our electronics. We are in total control—the kings of our castles! We know a different king—the King of Kings. When Jesus comes into our lives He doesn’t want to be in charge of our homes, but He does want to be in charge of our hearts. How do we let go of that control to let Jesus be the king of our castles? The Other Two Crosses You see them all over the places. They’re along the side of the road, on bulletin boards, in church logos: three crosses. We tend to focus on that middle one at Easter, the one that Jesus hung on. But what about the other two? What do they have to do with this incredible day? Doing What Is Necessary How do you deal with life’s tragedies—those situations where you feel like the world is crumbling around you. Illness, divorce, financial ruin, job loss…the list goes on and on. Listen to stage 4 cancer survivor Craig Howe share how he learned to deal with his tragedy by doing what was necessary. Real LoveGiving Up with Love A man marries a prostitute, has kids with her, not knowing if they’re his or not, and then actually pays for her to come back to him after she moves in with someone else. No, it’s not the next episode of “Dr. Phil.” It’s the story of Hosea, one of God’s prophets, and believe it or not, it’s an excellent example of “Real Love.” Less Is More We do things for other people when we love them, like our spouse or our kids, and the same is true for God. When we love God we want to do things for Him too. The best way to serve God is to serve other people. And we do that best once we’ve figured out the “less is more” equation. Get Off the Wheel This YearLeaning Ever been desperate? At that place where you feel like you’d do anything to get out of where you were at? What if all you had to do was lean? Find out more about how to let go and let someone else help. Listening When we get in tough spots in our lives, most of us (whether we’re Christians or not) start looking for a way out. We want some kind of sign to know which route is the best for us. It’s almost like we need a GPS for our life choices. But would we listen to the directions if they were there? The Three Chairs Parents are responsible for the physical and mental health of their children. But they’re also responsible for the spiritual health of that next generation. So how do we do that? The Three Chairs is a representation of how our faith lives, grows, and flourishes in our lives and what we can do to pass that faith on to the next generation. Leaving Each of us has giants in our lives—monster-sized problems that keep us from going where we want to go and having the life God has planned for us. So what can we do to get those giants out of our path? Just leave!
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