1. The Lost Sheep
2. The Lost Coin
3. The Lost Sons (The Prodigal Son)

All three parables share some common features. They all involve people or things that are lost (sheep, coin, sons). They each demonstrate a God who searches after his lost people (shepherd, woman, father). Finally, (and we should be sure never to overlook this) they all involve celebrating the successful return of what was lost.

We looked at the first two parables Sunday Morning.

Download audio file (090510.mp3)

1. Jesus’ life: He announced and demonstrated the kingdom of God by various signs. He lived a perfect life—something that no human has ever been able to do.
2. Jesus’ death and resurrection: In his innocent death, he suffered the consequences for our sins. When we trust and follow Jesus, his sacrifice covers us.
3. Jesus’ Spirit: When Jesus ascended he sent his Spirit to transform his followers into his body on earth. That’s what the church is.

Like last week, I wrote a brief little reading guide to help you through the New Testament. You can  download it here.

Here’s the message:

Download audio file (082910.mp3)

This past Sunday I shared the grand story of the Old Testament. It’s a story of God’s good creation, human rebellion, and God’s desperate attempt to draw his wayward subjects back to himself.

The Old Testament is far more than a place to find stories for Sunday School or moral lessons for adults. Read it for yourself and find out!

I created a little booklet to help you understand where each Old Testament book fits into the story. You can pick up a copy at church or download it here.

Here’s the message:

Download audio file (082210.mp3)

This past Sunday we looked at good and bad traditions. Here’s the audio:

Download audio file (081510.mp3)

Here are the scriptures we looked at:

• Joshua 4:1-7
• Hebrews 12:1-2
• 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17
• Mark 7:1-13
• John 16:12-15

I quoted from G. K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy during the message (page 69 below). You can preview more of this fantastic book here:

1. The Church is a Household where God’s people get together
2. The Church is a Temple where God lives
3. The Church is the Body of Jesus
4. The Church is the Bride of God

Download audio file (080810.mp3)

Here’s the video we watched at the beginning of the message:

Here’s Peterson’s book on the Church that I quoted Annie Dillard from:

Finally, here’s Derek’s Webb’s song, The Church:

We’re two for two! The weather cooperated beautifully last Sunday for our second outdoor service. In case you missed it, we worshiped God together with by singing, giving an offering, and hearing his Word from Matthew 11:28-30. We were able to record this Outdoor Worship Service, so here’s the message:

Download audio file (080110.mp3)

It was pretty clear that the highlight of the trip was the last day of kid’s camp when almost everyone responded to the invitation to get to know Jesus.

Thank you to Pastor Wendy, the leaders, the sponsors, and everyone who sacrificed time and finances to make this trip such a success.

For those of you who can’t get this out of your head, here’s the kid’s song the team taught us:

1. Sin v. sins: Do you know the difference between Big-”S”-Sin and little-”s”-sins?
2. Temptation: How does temptation work? When are we tempted? Can we resist? What happens when we fall (yes, I said, “when”)?
3. Don’t Walk the Line: We’ll never escape temptation if we continue to flirt with it. Temptation defense requires a solid offense: stay close to God’s heart.

Download audio file (071810.mp3)

Information on the Sundew (Drosera) plant along with the pictures I showed can be found on their wikipedia page.

Here’s the video I showed during the message:

Here’s a bonus video on that last point:

God created everything that exists and entrusted it to us to manage and care for (Genesis 1:26-28). God never gave up ownership of his creation (Psalm 50:7-15).

We’re greedy little critters (as any lottery commercial will remind us), so in the Old Testament God kept reminding his people to be generous by:

1. Forbidding the permanant sale of land (Leviticus 25:23-24)
2. Forbidding the charging of interest to neighbours (Exodus 22:25-27)
3. Instituting the tithe (Numbers 18:21-24; Deuteronomy 12:5-7; 26:12-15; Malachi 3:8-10)

In the New Testament, we’re not bound by the law, but held to a higher standard as Jesus taught in Matthew 5. It’s no surprise, then, that the early church sold everything for the common good (Acts 2:43-47). Paul spoke about giving in 2 Corinthians 9:6-11:

1. You get what you give (not prosperity ‘gospel’ nonsense).
2. Make up your mind on what to give, and give cheerfully (the tithe is a good place to start—it reminds us that God still owns everything).
3. God blesses us abundantly so we can give generously to good works (not the other way around).
4. God blesses us for our generosity in many different ways.
5. Giving to people is really giving to God.

We closed the service by hear some testimonies about how people learned to give and how God has blessed them.

Here’s the message: Download audio file (071110.mp3)

Here’s the video I showed near the beginning of the message:

And here’s a bonus video we didn’t have time to share during the message:

What a great day. We prayed for sunshine, and boy was it beautiful (if a little hot)!

In case you were not able to make it out, we sang songs themed around five words of worship—words that are left untranslated in scripture:

1. Hallelujah — “Praise the Lord”
2. Hosanna —”Save, please!”
3. Abba —”Father”
4. Maranatha —”Our Lord, come”
5. Amen —”So be it”

Special thanks to everyone who invited friends and family out. The service was very well attended. I’m looking forward to August 1st, now!