Sermon text: Genesis 22:1-24
Hi everyone, my name is Mark Fisher, I’m finishing up eighth grade at West Side, and today it’s my job to bring together all you’ve seen, heard, and experienced.
Today has all been about worship. On your way in today I hope you noticed our welcome sign that says, “The reason we breathe, is to sing of His glory”. That sign sums up our reason for being here today, tomorrow, the next day, and the next day-we exist to bring glory to God. Hopefully you’ve experienced a new way to glorify God today-who would have thought that God and bubbles could mix so well? Or maybe for you it meant stepping out of your comfort zone while singing-maybe today you lifted up your hands a little-not a lot, just a little. Maybe that baby step will be the first of many steps out of what is comfortable towards a deeper connection with the Lord.
What I really liked about today was how our individual and collective testimonies all point to a God that loves us. We can respond to His love in tons of different ways. What He wants most from us is to make our entire existence an act of worship. Worship is singing His praise but it is way more. Worship is loving our neighbor, worship is respecting our parents, worship is taking pride in our work, worship is making dinner for a friend who has too much on their plate, worship is supporting a kid across the world so they can grow up strong, worship is being aware of how what we do can hurt or help other people, worship is turning the other cheek, worship is giving hope to the homeless, and worship is obedience.
Sermon text: Acts 26:9-18
Our passage this morning is about Paul and particularly what happened to him when he was arrested for preaching about the resurrection of Jesus and that Jesus was the Messiah that the Jewish people had been waiting for.
Paul has really upset the Jewish authorities of his day and they are doing whatever they can do to stop him from talking about Jesus. In Acts 21 a mob of people attempted to lynch Paul. They were responding to suggestions that Paul was attacking the fundamental symbols of Jewish national solidarity, the people, the law and the temple. One follower of Christ, Stephen, has already been stoned to death in Acts 7 . . . and Paul is now being treated the same way.
The mob is particularly upset that Paul may have brought Gentiles (non-Jews) into the temple, thereby making it unclean according to their laws. They were looking for reasons to accuse him because they did not like a lot he was saying. In Acts 21, it says that some Jews had seen had seen Paul hanging out with a guy named Trophimus and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple. And for the Jews, the temple rules were a big deal and there were certain parts of the temple that only Jews were to have access to.
Sermon text: Acts 10:1-11:18
I like to people watch. And often as I sit in some public place and just watch people I like to ask myself what Christianity has to offer various people.
So I see a guy sitting on a bench waiting for a bus. He looks pretty worn. His pants have holes in them and he is holding a brown bag with a bottle in it. Some kids walk by him and they stare, but they don’t make eye contact. Then they laugh with each other after they have passed.
Or I see a couple sitting together having dinner and by all estimates they look happy, they have nice clothes, their kids are cute and not screaming more than would be expected. I watch as they go outside and get into their nice vehicle and drive away content.
Or the other day in the bank while I was waiting to speak with someone I watched a middle-aged man in a nice suit talk with other employees of the bank. He was confident and firm, yet still kind and easy to listen to.
Sermon text: Acts 11:1-11
Introduction:
WSJ Article about Extreme Home Makeover foreclosures
Tiger Woods
Countless Politicians
Movie stars with drug addiction and suicide
Recently I pulled out my cordless drill to do some projects in our backyard. I put the battery in the drill and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. I put the other battery in the drill, but again nothing happened. I then charged the batteries overnight again, put them in the drill, but again nothing happened.
There is not much you can do with a cordless drill without any power. I can use it like a screwdriver, but that is not very effective. A drill needs a power source to function the way that it is designed to function.
Christians need a power source to function the way we were designed to function as well. All humans have life in us, but then there is a more significant power source for those in relationship with God.