On Easter Sunday we take a moment to celebrate all the work that God has done. This year we focus on the gifts giving in communion. Listen as Pastor Derrick shares a poem he wrote that reminds us of the real meaning of Easter. Then explains how powerful communion is for those of us who celebrate Jesus.
Category: Messages (Page 27 of 41)
Throughout the season of lent we’ve been looking at communion from different angles, gaining a deeper understanding of what this thing is that we do every single week. We’ve gazed at the fruit of knowledge and compared it to the fruit of life. We stood in awe of the daily bread that God provides. We recognized the healing medicine of forgiveness offered in communion. We felt the unity we have in Christ as we gather together at the table. We acknowledged that Christ has done everything needed to grant us forgiveness, so we’re left to just rest in Christ. Then we saw the imagery of the wedding feast of the Lamb brought forward in communion. But last night we talked about a strange word – covenant. Continue reading
There is one thing in life that really matters. It’s not our power nor our prestige. It’s not a clean bill of health at the doctor’s office. It’s not even living a debt free life. The one thing that really matters is…Listen as Pastor Derrick shares the answer to what really matters in life.
The church is much larger than we all realize. In this message we look beyond the holy Christian church into the church that spans the living and the dead. Listen as Pastor Derrick shares what it means to be part of the communion of saints.
In week 4 of our series titled One Foundation, Pastor Derrick shared what it means to wait. No one likes to wait especially when we don’t know exactly what the outcome of our waiting will be. But how we wait matters. Listen as we learn what it means to wait well.
How do people outside the church see those in the church? Unfortunately we don’t always give a good demonstration of what the church is supposed to be. We fail to contend for the faith we confess. This week listen as Pastor Derrick shares the importance of the content of our faith.
This week we look at verse two of the hymn “The Church’s One Foundation.” In this verse, we see how God’s work did more than just save you and me. It was enough to save all people. The church is much larger than what we see on Sunday mornings. It’s vast and it spans space and time. Listen as Pastor Derrick shares the wonders of the Christian Church.
Throughout Lent this year we’re looking at something we do in church all the time. We’re dissecting it and looking at it from different angles to see all that God wants us to know. We’re looking at communion.
Now at face value it seems pretty simple actually. On the surface, it’s just bread and wine. The bread in many cases is dry and the wine isn’t really of the greatest quality but that’s not the point. The point of communion isn’t the pastor, the wine, the bread, whether you use a small plastic cup or a large gold-plated one. It’s not about red vs. white wine. It’s not about whether you stand or kneel. It’s about something happening that you can’t even really see. It’s about the word, the promise that’s connected to the bread and wine.
This week we look at communion through an old testament story known where Israel was complaining about being hungry so God fed them with bread from heaven. Each day they received just enough for that day. They couldn’t vacuum seal it or put it in a storage bag. Only take today what you can eat today.
Now look at communion for a minute. We don’t come up here hungry for food. And if you do, you’re likely going to leave still hungry! There’s not enough bread there to fill even the smallest of bellies. You don’t come to get your thirst quenched because that tiny sip of wine really isn’t going to do a whole lot for a parched tongue. No we come because we have a different hunger that needs fed. We have a different thirst that needs quenched. Like the Israelites, we can’t take extra for tomorrow. We can’t pack some in a baggie or freeze it for tomorrow. Just take what you need for today.
In the New Testament, Jesus tells us he’s the bread of life. He’s the bread of life that we receive when we eat this bread and drink this cup remembering what it means. It’s a celebration. It’s a memorial of what Jesus did on the cross. Communion is about Jesus’ work done for you and me. Jesus as bread of life is a reminder that even our daily needs are taken care of by the God who sent his son to die for you.
Each Wednesday through Lent, the goal is to write a little poem that brings the promise of God with the reality that this promise was fulfilled in Jesus. Here’s the poem for this week.
We gather here this Lenten eve, our souls some truth to find
Onto the cross we all must cleave, with faith some say is blind.
We see tonight God’s people old, they whine for drink and food.
God will provide is what they’re told, but will it taste so good?
They grumble that they should have died, with in their place of woe.
They think their fearless leader lied, they should have told him NO!
But God was faithful to them still, They would not starve and die
For each new day it was his will, to give them food. But why?
Each morning when they did awake, upon the ground they’d see
Some bread that fell they need not bake, and take just what’s for thee.
This bread they found would point us to, our savior’s pain and strife.
His body broken all for you, is called the bread of life.
Now at the altar when we stand, and take this bread and wine
It is his body in our hand, upon which we now dine.
All this he did to give us hope, our sins he did forgive
And snatch us from the downward slope, eternal life to give.
Jesus saves is the foundation of the confession of the church. But over time we’ve added something to the message. We’ve added things to the message of Jesus saves. This week Pastor Derrick shares how Jesus plus anything is really no gospel at all. Pastor Derrick takes some intentional time to teach about the importance of Jesus and the means of grace in this week’s message.
When Jesus went up to the mountain, he took on a different form. He glowed in white. He was bright and shining. It was great for the disciples to be there but they couldn’t stay. They had to leave. We’re tempted to teach about a faith that is more show and tell than go and see. Listen as Pastor Derrick shares how you must go and see before you can show and tell.