TEXT: Psalm 150; John 1.1-4; Matthew 5.17; Jeremiah 29.11; Luke 4.18-21; Ephesians 4.1-6 FULL SERVICE VIDEO w/sharing time ( LINK ) I want to do something different this morning for the sermon. I decided that I wanted to reflect on what I’ve seen God do at and through all of you during my time here. I want to remind you of your story, at least as seen from my vantage point. And ultimately I want to tell God’s story as I’ve been blessed to witness it. So I’ve chosen a number of scriptures this mo...
Jun 04, 2023
Service Video ( link ) TEXT: Acts 2:1-13,37-39 Last week I noted that we often focus on two of the significant parts of what God did in Jesus Christ: the Incarnation and the Crucifixion. Jesus was God come among us and he died for us and our salvation. In the past seven weeks or so we have focused on two more significant parts of what God did in Christ, though these two get less attention, and often less understanding: the Resurrection and the Ascension. But those are the two things that have to...
May 28, 2023
SERVICE VIDEO ( link ) TEXT: Acts 1:4-11 Today we recognize a very important event that happened only a few weeks after the resurrection of Jesus; actually, 40 days to be precise. Did you guess Pentecost?? No…. that’s 10 days later – we’ll celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost next Sunday. It’s the Ascension. When Jesus appeared to Mary on Easter morning (John 20:17) he said, “I have not yet ascended to the Father.” Well this is it – Jesus ascends… he goes up into Heaven to be wit...
May 21, 2023
TEXT: Romans 6:1-14SERVICE VIDEO ( link ) Since Easter we’ve been talking about why the Resurrection of Jesus matters. Today we are going to look at Romans 6 and talk about the “New Life,” trying to understand better what that new life in Christ means, what it looks like, and how we can more fully live in it. I am hoping we can better understand the implications that Jesus was raised from the dead FOR US. What are the implications of the “for us?” Life Looks Different: a new reality The first th...
May 07, 2023
TEXT: Luke 24:13-35SERVICE VIDEO ( link ) Picture two people with real interest in the things of God. Nick grew up in and around the people of God, learning the scriptures, hearing the stories of old and how God desires for His people to live. He is the kind of person that brings his family to church and makes sure his children participate in the youth program. Tom got involved later in life, but eagerly participates in everything that’s going on. He’s the kind of person that attends Sunday scho...
Apr 17, 2023
SERVICE VIDEO ( link )TEXT: Luke 24:1-8; Romans 1:1-7 Easter Sunday – April 9, 2023 A few weeks ago I talked about story of Lazarus as a “preview of coming attractions.” In Lazarus Jesus demonstrated the power of God over death and Jesus declared to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life.” Well today we are no longer watching the previews; we have come to the main attraction. Jesus, dead and buried, was raised on the third day – on THIS day – to life. Every Easter I like to make this point ...
Apr 09, 2023
FULL SERVICE VIDEO ( link )TEXT: John 11:45-57; 12:9-19 Today we are going to briefly return to the story of Lazarus and then a series of events that are full of action, plots, politics, and intrigue. In fact, the story of Lazarus dovetails right into the event that we are remembering today on Palm Sunday. I want to walk you through the timeline and events and note a few key elements along the way. We will be left with a question, perhaps better described as a tension: is all of this a plot agai...
Apr 02, 2023
Full Service Video ( link ) TEXT: John 11:1-4; Revelation 21:1-5 Do you know the story of Lazarus? He was the man – the friend – that Jesus raised from the dead. His story has so much going on. In fact one year I preached through this story for all of Lent – six sermons on the one story! There is grief, there is waiting on God (or Jesus), there is faith, there is risk, there is death, and there is life. But ultimately, though this might be accurately described as one of the greatest miracles of ...
Mar 27, 2023
Service Video ( link ) TEXT: Matthew 4:1-11 Have you ever heard or read something and then come to find out it’s just not true? How can you know if something is true? How can you know if something is right? Today we heard a scene from the life of Jesus often called the “Temptation of Jesus.” Basically he is being told or offered something as true and right and it’s all twisted truth or lies. I want to look with you at Jesus’ responses, both as a practical matter and as a spiritual matter. #1 Tru...
Mar 19, 2023
SERVICE VIDEO ( link ) TEXT: Luke 22:41-44; John 18:4,10-11,33-40 “Thy will be done.” Jesus taught us to pray in that way and he prayed in that way. But what does that mean? What does that mean for you and me, not only to pray it, but desire and seek God’s will in our lives? Today we look at some of the timeline leading to the cross and to Easter morning as we continue “Preparing for Easter.” We will hear Jesus pray that prayer and the context in which he prayed it. We’ll look at what happened w...
Mar 12, 2023
SERVICE VIDEO ( link ) TEXT: Matthew 6:16-18; Luke 18:9-14 Jesus told parables in order to make a point – often an unexpected point – to his listeners. In the parable in Luke 18 today, he tells a parable “to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt.” (v.9) Do you know anyone like that? Have you ever been like that? Let me substitute a word and ask again. A very close synonym for ‘righteous’ is ‘right.’ Do you know someone who is sure that th...
Mar 05, 2023
SERVICE VIDEO ( link ) Thank you to our guest preacher today, the Rev. Dr. Anne Hilborn Manuscript not available The post The Wilderness of Lent appeared first on Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church .
Feb 26, 2023
SERVICE VIDEO ( link )TEXT: Psalm 100; John 10:11-15; Romans 12:1-2 “God is great, God is good…” – Christy asked the children what it means that God is great, that God is good. That’s just what we are also going to talk about this morning. Two other sayings come to mind as well. One is the call and response – see if you know it: GOD IS GOOD [all the time!] ALL THE TIME [God is good!] And then this one, which has an entirely different cast to it: “If God is good, why do bad things happen?” That l...
Feb 19, 2023
SERVICE VIDEO ( LINK )TEXT: Proverbs 1:7; Psalm 19:7-8; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 Do you want to be wise? I do! How do you get wisdom? How do you become wise? That’s what we are going to look at this morning. Of all the weeks trying to answer “What is God like?” this is the one most focused on us reflecting the character of God. Most weeks we have focused on God (holy, just, merciful, loving, faith), ending with the call to be godly in our own thinking and behavior. But this week it is presumed that...
Feb 12, 2023
TEXT: 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 SERVICE VIDEO ( link ) How has God been faithful to you? That’s what I want to get to today. You’ve heard some testimonies of God’s faithfulness in the service. We are going to look at how God was faithful in the Old Testament and in Christ as described in the New. And then I’m going to leave you with that question: How has God been faithful to you? We are continuing today with our series entitled, “What is God Like?” And today we are going to talk about the faithfulnes...
Feb 05, 2023
TEXT: Romans 5:1-8 SERVICE VIDEO ( link ) We’ve been talking about what God is like, looking to scripture to better understand and answer that question. We have looked at God’s holiness, justness, and compassion. And we’ve seen each week that the Lord desires for those of us who trust him and follow Jesus to demonstrate those same traits in the world around us. It’s how God created us, in His image, it’s the obedience He requires of us, and it’s the life of blessing others that he desires for us...
Jan 30, 2023
SERVICE VIDEO ( LINK ) TEXT: Psalm 136; Exodus 34:1-9; Luke 10:30-37 So far in our “What is God Like?” series we’ve talked about God as holy and as just. We’ve also considered how God’s followers are supposed to reflect the character of God, so also be holy and just. Today we are talking about God’s mercy, God’s compassion. We’ve touched on that before back when we looked at key words in the original languages of the Bible. The word that is translated as mercy and compassion is the Hebrew word h...
Jan 22, 2023
SERVICE LIVESTREAM ( LINK ) TEXT: Deuteronomy 32:3-4; Isaiah 1:17-20; Matthew 23:23 We are continuing today in a series called, “What is God like?” We are looking at a number of the characteristics of God over the course of about six weeks. Last week we looked at holiness using Isaiah’s vision of God seated on a throne, high and lifted up. The winged seraphim were singing “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord Almighty; the earth is full of God’s glory.” (Isaiah 6:3) We talked about how an understanding...
Jan 16, 2023
SERVICE VIDEO ( link ) TEXT: Isaiah 6:1-7 Do you remember “Raiders of the Lost Ark?” It was an exciting movie about Indiana Jones, a professor/archaeologist who spend his time away from class going to remote parts of the world to unearth or rescue ancient artifacts. One of these was the biblical Ark of the Covenant, which had not been seen for over one thousand years. Even secular Indiana Jones knew better than to open the Ark where the presence of God once resided. Near the end of the movie, th...
Jan 08, 2023
TEXT: Matthew 2:1-12 It’s 2023 and we have a new year ahead of us. Interestingly enough, the church calendar celebrates Epiphany in the first week of January, so we aren’t quite done with the Christmas story yet. Today we look at the visit of the wise men. There are a number of connections with what we talked about during December. Is God trying to get your attention and what is God trying to say to you? How do you bring into focus what God is doing? What does it look like to believe God’s promi...
Jan 01, 2023
