SERMONS
SERMONS
Welcome! We invite you to explore past messages to help connect you with God‘s powerful, life-changing word. We pray that the Holy Spirit works through them to bless your life!
CURRENT SERIES
OUR FAITHFUL GOD
Life is filled with so many ups and downs, twists and turns. Delightful surprised and distressing disappointments. But through it all one thing is true—our God is Faithful. Today we will lean into God’s faithfulness and claim the hope and promise that comes from it.
PREVIOUS SERIES
THE WELCOME WAGON
We live in a world where we have the opportunity to engage with different sorts of people is more and more common. Someone from Poland just moved in next door. Down the block there is a family that just moved in from Nigeria. And at work we might serve on a team with people who currently live in India, England and Singapore. The world is getting smaller and the variety of it closer. How do we follow Jesus in this more and more diverse world? In many ways, the answer is simple. We go back to the basics! Let’s learn together, let’s remember together what it means love our neighbors as Jesus would.
ALL SAINTS' DAY: TASTE THE FEAST TODAY!
Isaiah delivered a promise to God’s people to sustain them in their journey, a promise to give them hope. Death would not have the final word on their lives—as St Paul quotes this verse in 1 Corinthians he states it this way-- ”Death is swallowed up in victory!” Our lives live under the shadow, the gloom of death. We are concerned for each wrinkle that develops, each age spot that pops up, each diminishment of our abilities--”I heard a guy in his 30’s say, ‘I just can’t do what I did in my 20’s!’ We feel it, we know it, we fight it. Our time here is not forever. But we have a forever promise! And all God’s people are already sharing in the feast that awaits us. So today we come to glimpse that banquet, to sample that feast, to savor the appetizers for what is to come.
MONEY MONSTER
We often think the Bible talks about “spiritual” matters—God and worship and prayer. And of course it does. But do we often recognize the practical guidance and direction that God gives to us in His word. Over the next four weeks we will look at the wise and profound guidance that God gives to us regarding something we deal with every day—money. This isn’t a series about generosity, but about scriptural guidance on how to practically manage our resources—to receive the blessings and avoid the dangers. Let’s open ourselves to the wisdom of scripture, to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
LIVING FEARLESS
This series will be based on the talks and book by Jamie Winship. He is a Christian man who spent in law enforcement and overseas working in some of the greatest conflict situations in the world. He took Jesus powerful and simple promises and lived them out in powerful ways interacting with others in ways that was transformative. We will unpack the scriptural truths he points people to in his book and talks.
IYKYK...OMG!
For 3 weeks we will take a serious look at a playful idea—what spiritual truths might surface as we look at texting abbreviations. We have chosen three abbreviations, that point us to scriptures and invite us to reflect on practical spiritual realities in our lives. Join us for a deeper conversation about the texting shortcuts that fill our phones. God is everywhere if we have eyes to see!
Much Fruit
Summer is a season where we see growth all around us—trees in blossom, flowers spreading, gardens growing and producing. Everything is in growth and maturing. So why not us?! In our summer series we will investigate different parts of the Bible that point us to how God wants to help us mature—what are the steps, what are the processes. Fertilizing here, weeding there, continuous watering. We will do this in 3 “chapters”: first an overview entitled “Maturing Spiritually”, and then a focus on “Letting Go” and finally a chapter on “Facing Challenges.” As we watch the natural word bear fruit and mature around us, may the Holy Spirit do a maturing work within us this summer.
Dare to Dance Again
As Easter people, we are called to dance our dances of freedom for all the world to see–even and perhaps especially in times of great difficulty. Dances of hope. Dances of justice. Dances of love. During this season, post-resurrection stories point to the joy of living in the beloved community and extending that fellowship through our witness as we dare to dance again! “Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” — Psalm 30:5b
Entering the Passion of Jesus:
Picturing Ourselves in the Story
The events of Christ’s Passion, which take place during the last week of Jesus’ life, often don’t receive enough time in our worship and study. These stories are central to our faith journey and our identity as followers of Jesus. And yet we often move too quickly from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday with little time to take in the dramatic story of that last week. Throughout the six weeks of Lent we will “freeze-frame” moments in Holy Week so we might put ourselves in the picture, thereby “Entering the Passion of Jesus.” How might taking a closer look at these crucial moments in Jesus life open us to deeper conviction for our role in its ongoing message?
Drawn In: Living Out The Creative Life With Christ
God created the heavens and the earth…and called it all good! — Genesis
We spend too much time being “driven” rather than “drawn in.” We focus on what we “should” do rather than what we feel excited and compelled to do in our lives, in this world. During this series, we will connect with our inherent creativity and nurture this foundational aspect of being human, giving us renewed energy for passionate work, delightful play, and creative problem solving to make this world a better place for all.Christmas season is time when the juxtaposition of the sacred and secular feels sometimes blatantly opposed, and sometimes quite blurred. The word “sacred” points to something dedicated as “holy” and “set apart.” This year, you are invited to a spiritual journey of seeing ALL things pregnant with the Holy. What could your experience of the Advent and Christmas season be like if you lived it looking at everything through the “lens” of the sacred?
Reflecting the Sacred
The Christmas season is time when the juxtaposition of the sacred and secular feels sometimes blatantly opposed, and sometimes quite blurred. The word “sacred” points to something dedicated as “holy” and “set apart.” This year, you are invited to a spiritual journey of seeing ALL things pregnant with the Holy. What could your experience of the Advent and Christmas season be like if you lived it looking at everything through the “lens” of the sacred?
Grateful
In this short series we will focus in on the heart of this season—being grateful. And the truth is we can be distracted from it just as easily when things are good as when they are hard. But cultivating gratitude grounds us in God and in a perspective that can bring joy and peace to every part of life.
The Veil is Thin: All Saint's Day
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians reminds us that our inheritance with the communion of saints is greater than death. Paul knew anxiety, and he knew the messiness of being in community. Paul reminds us that we are subjected to and protected by powers greater than princes, principalities, and even death: the love of Christ Jesus. He writes that Christ has power over “every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.” We are unified in Christ’s love through his resurrection. We may mourn those we see no more, but we also remain connected to them in his triumph over death.
Reformation
"Everyone has sinned..., yet God in his grace freely makes us right in his sight." These are the two powerful poles of God's truth in scripture--there is sin and there is grace. Too often as people we lose sight of one side of this or another. We overlook our sin...or we are overwhelmed by it. Either of those is not what we need. Being honest about ourselves allows us to be amazed at a God of grace. So let's take a few moments to be really honest, so we can end up truly amazed again at our grace filled Savior.
Busy
We often live our lives chasing after so many things, overscheduling our time so as not to miss out on anything, and creating expectations for ourselves and others that aren’t sustainable. But what if instead of chasing our lives, we truly centered our lives? What if we found a rhythm, a center, a focus that allowed ourselves and others to find wholeness? Jesus invites us into such a life and in this series we will unpack His teachings and practice a rhythm that makes sense of who we are and Whose we are. Together let’s find little ways to step away from “busy” and find a real connection with our unhurried God.
Quest
As we launch into this fall, this three week worship series will encourage us to open ourselves more fully to the curiosity and wonder, reflection and transformation that travelers experience when they choose to immerse themselves in soul-widening adventures.
Questions God Asks Us
We always talk about questions we would like to ask God. Questions that we have wondered about, questions that have perplexed us. But have we ever paused to think about questions that God might ask us? Throughout the Bible, God asks individuals questions, questions that have forced them to look at something in their life differently, questions that have forced them to look at the world differently. So this summer we will take a tour of some of the questions that God asked people in the Bible, because they are also probably questions God has asked us or wants to ask us right now. So let’s be open to the questions that God is asking us today.
SERMON NOTES from: Who Do You Say I AM (August 6, 2023)
Faithfully & Joyfully
In this series we will dig into God’s equipping of us and Jesus amazing call to serve others. This is at the heart of who we are as Christians and at the heart of who we are at LOC. It is such a fundamental part of our mission that we say it in our statement —"Light of Christ exists…so that we might faithfully and joyfully serve Him.” People who are living out Jesus call to serve will be affirmed and those that haven’t yet found their calling will be given the tools to discover theirs. So that together we can live out Jesus mission for each of us.
Easter: This Changes Everything!
Easter is the Christian churches stake in the ground. It is the hinge on which everything hangs. Jesus was an amazing teacher, a beautiful soul, and one who had powers of healing. But he died. There are others in human history who seemed to have those other characteristics too and did much good in the world. So in the end, what is special about Jesus? Simply this—according to a slew of witnesses, Jesus didn’t stay dead. God raised him from the tomb which puts a supernatural stamp of approval on everything he said and did. His resurrection changes everything—everything we think about him, everything we think about ourselves and everything we think about our world. May the wonder of Easter grasp us anew this year.
Palm Sunday: Triumph & Turmoil
Jesus entered into Jerusalem and it looked like his ultimate triumph. A parade of triumph, entering as a humble king. Palm branches, people shouting. A beautiful, exciting day. At least that is how it looks and feels if you stop the reading at vs 11. But if you go on, you realize that Jesus isn’t just coming to be a sweet, kind king, but is coming to challenge the status quo, coming to uproot injustice and call believers back to a whole-hearted spirituality. It was triumph…but it was also turmoil. Jesus again shows that he doesn’t fit in any of our easy molds, but he comes for who He is, the Son of God coming to set the world right. He does it with his words, with his actions, and eventually with his life. Can we welcome the fullness of Jesus—his triumph and his turmoil--into our lives?
Fanning the Flames
"This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you."
-2 Tim 1:6
The New Testament is filled with words that encouraged people to continue to live into the calling that God had for their lives. The writers realize that it is not just learning new material, but being reminded to live into what we have already received and heard and know that is real and true. As we move into this series and reflect on the God’s vision to Ignite growth, engagement and our future, it isn’t something new that we need to hear, but to remember, to fan the flames, to rekindle our vision and our focus. Just as Paul did through the book of Acts as he visited tiny mission church after mission church, he would “encourage the believers” to stay strong. May the Holy Spirit use this series to do that same encouraging work among us.
A Journey Through Psalm 23
The Lord is my Shepherd: In this Psalm, David paints this beautiful, intimate personal picture of who God is to Him…and who God wants to be for all of us. In many ways this psalm is Yahweh’s resume—these verses lay out God’s way of acting and being in our world toward us. In this verse, we meet God as our Shepherd, Jesus as our Good Shepherd. And this isn’t just for the world out there, it is for me right here. That is what David claimed, and that is what he invites us to experience and know. Can you feel and know and see your Shepherds kind, consistent, attentive care? We understand that the very presence of Christ is in us and dwells in our hearts through faith, we become rooted in God's love and have strength to love others and do things that what otherwise seem impossible. When we allow Jesus to truly Lord over our lives the Spirit of God within us draws us out of ourselves and our comfort zones and often into service for others, opening our eyes to truly see and love others in profound ways.
Rooted in Love
When we understand that the very presence of Christ is in us and dwells in our hearts through faith, we become rooted in God's love and have strength to love others and do things that what otherwise seem impossible. When we allow Jesus to truly Lord over our lives the Spirit of God within us draws us out of ourselves and our comfort zones and often into service for others, opening our eyes to truly see and love others in profound ways.
Kingdom
E3 is an annual adult spiritual renewal retreat that has take place for over 20 years at Light of Christ. This weekend, the E3 volunteer leadership team will lead us in worship, step into serve, and the Director of Adult Ministries, Bonnie Kautz-Prasse, will give a message entitled, "Kingdom". E3 takes place annually in February. Come see a glimpse of the impact that this ministry has had over the years as we worship together!
The Greatest Gift: A New Life
Christmas is a day filled with both joy and many stressors. As we frantically run around placing more things to do and places to be on our plates we often forget the greatest gift given to the world within our Christmas story; a new life in Christ. Christ and the very presence of God have been a part of God’s story since the beginning of creation. Christ is the light of the world that allows us to discover and see that everything is beloved and sacred, that nothing is apart from God and everything belongs! The light of Christ is in everything and everyone. First discovered in creation, then in the life Jesus, so we could see, hear, watch, and touch, the word become flesh, who is life. Now, the very presence and light of Christ lives and moves through us, we are to be Christ’s body and light in the world. Just like Mary, God is calling us to birth the presence of Christ’s light out into the world, together as the Church.
Practicing Simplicity: With All Your Heart, Mind and Soul
The culture puts many demands on us this time of year, wanting us to complicate our lives by doing more, buying more, eating more, etc. Focusing on simplicity, especially a profoundly spiritual interior simplicity, is indeed counter-cultural. This makes it a perfect focus for Advent because the session of Advent itself is counter-cultural. So let us embrace whole-heartedly the season of Advent, along with these reflections, as the support we need to practice simplicity in a way that will help prepare us for the true meaning of Christmas.
Conquering Anxiety
As we read articles and listen to counselors, it is clear that we have an epidemic of anxiety in our world. Adults are anxious. Youth are anxious. Kids are anxious. All of the disruption in our world in the past few years has left us unsettled and uncertain. Whether it is our politics or our environment, our schools or our social media feeds, there is a battle with anxiety that we are facing. But God knows this. Jesus has addresses this. Anxiety is not new, it is an ancient foe that humans have fought with through the centuries. So let us listen and learn from the One who has won this battle and can show us how.
God's Cheering Section (All Saints' Weekend)
The last couple of years have been challenging, but we are moving forward. But for many of us, we are moving forward without some important people in our lives. We will pause today to acknowledge that. This has been a season of grief, of loss. And yet as the writer of Hebrews reminds us, we have not simply lost, we have gained. We have gained in our cheering section in heaven. We run our race and there is a crowd of witnesses cheering us on. You don’t need cheering when you are sipping a Corona on the beach. But when we are tired, when we are weary, when we are struggling to do the right thing because of pushback in our world, God’s word wants to remind us of the “crowd of witnesses” that is in the stands around us. May we hear their cheers today!
Amazing Grace (Reformation Weekend)
If the Reformation was about anything, it was about Grace. But this isn’t important for historical reasons—this is important because the Reformation re-established that the foundation of the Christian movement, the Christian Church is simply this…Grace. God’s unmerited love for us which reaches out to us. Not because we know we need it, but before we even know what we need. We don’t earn our way into God’s favor—God extends His favor because we need it. God’s radical grace as shown to us in Jesus needs to continue to startle, surprise and humble us with wonder. We have a God who loves us this much. Let’s be amazed by Grace again.
Lens Check
In this series we will come at the question of easy we fall into “judging a book by its cover.” We all have experiences and backgrounds that color how we see the world today, we have viewpoints and perspectives that lead us to pre-judge a person or situation before we get all the information we need. We assume, and we know what happens then. Even worse, when we do that with people, we end up dismissing them or ignoring them, or on the other side, idolizing them or minimizing their failures because they are “one of us.” The Holy Spirit wants us to see people as God sees them. We will look at some of the unhelpful lenses that we often use. this series we will be reflecting on how God puts us together in community to care for one another. Jesus assembled disciples and modelled it. Paul encouraged and taught it. It is crucial to remember and remind ourselves how simple and essential care is within a community of believers. And we will remind people in this series how we do it here, lifting up our Care Principles and reminding them of the practical tools available to us.
Who Cares?!
In this series we will be reflecting on how God puts us together in community to care for one another. Jesus assembled disciples and modelled it. Paul encouraged and taught it. It is crucial to remember and remind ourselves how simple and essential care is within a community of believers. And we will remind people in this series how we do it here, lifting up our Care Principles and reminding them of the practical tools available to us.
Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life
The battlefield is often in our minds. Our thoughts are powerful, and they often dictate our actions which changes our lives, for the good or bad. We will be discussing the power our thoughts have over our lives and what God says about guarding them, keeping them fixed, and allowing them to be transformed.
The Beatitudes: Jesus' Surprising Way
Join us as Christopher Mitchell, a regularly visiting Guest Pastor at Light of Christ, takes us through the story of Lazarus from a unique and thought-provoking perspective.
Show Me Where You Laid [Insert Here]
Join us as Christopher Mitchell, a regularly visiting Guest Pastor at Light of Christ, takes us through the story of Lazarus from a unique and thought-provoking perspective.
JULY 23/24 Show Me Where You Laid [Insert Here]
Youth Led Services: For Real: Love Authentically
Kim Carrera, Ryan Holmer, and Lindsey Gertz will speak about their experiences on the Youth Mission Trip in June to Nashville, Tennessee.
"I Am..."
In the Old Testament, when Moses heard God’s voice from the burning bush, Moses asked, “What should I call you?” And God responded, “I am who I am”. In the New Testament, Jesus claimed that powerful phrase “I am…” to convey that He was indeed from God and of God. Jesus combined that “I am” phrase with powerful metaphors to convey his work and calling in this world. Over the next two weeks we will reflect on how who Jesus is as we hear him call say, “I am the gate…I am the Good Shepherd…I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life."
Freedom! But for What?
Our country was founded on the idea of liberty and freedom. We fought our revolutionary war so that we could have freedom—freedom to worship, freedom to express ourselves, freedom to vote (of course it took another bloody war 80 years later before blacks could have the right to vote and another 60 years after that before women could vote, so we didn’t have it all figured out correctly at the start!). But we knew the US was about freedom! Paul also says, “for freedom, Christ has set us free.” But freedom in the bible is different than our country. In scripture, Paul makes it clear that our freedom has a purpose—not just to do what I want, but to build others up in love. As we celebrate our country’s freedom, let’s even more live into our Christian freedom… to love. Galatians 5:3
JULY 3 Freedom! But for What?
The Spiritual Realm
Through the years there has been much debate and speculation about the spiritual realm. We will take a dive into some of the key questions to acknowledge the realm of God’s working that we can see and that which is beyond our field of vision. The Bible doesn’t give lots of specifics, but it gives impressions and reminders, and that is enough to guide us on our journey.
Life Made New!
This Easter season we will dig into Jesus resurrection appearances in Matthew, Luke and John. In each of them there is a transformation that happens, an experience with Jesus that changes and renews someone’s life. It literally makes them new. We will hear those familiar stories and bask in the wonder of Jesus power to work in our lives today with His Resurrection power. Join us for one of four Easter worship services in-person on April 16 & 17, or join us online on April 17. We will also offer an Easter children's experience.Join us for Light of Christ's Annual Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 16 at 4:30 PM. Thousands of filled easter eggs will be spread out on our expansive lawn for kids to enjoy finding! Then immediately following the egg hunt, we invite you to stay and enjoy Easter Worship and a Children's Easter Experience at 5 PM. Don't miss the fun!
Ignite: Hearts on Fire
In this series, we will open ourselves to how the Holy Spirit wants to ignite a new vision, a new generosity, a new passion within us for all that is coming in the next couple of years. Pandemics come, pandemics go, but God’s work and God’s word last forever. May He ignite us for all that is to come!
Ash Wednesday
We will be using the movie “The Way,” that will mark the beginning of our journey through Lent this year. A journey that begins with a call from God asking us to give God our hearts so that he may ignite them once again. As we journey through our lives, we so often lose our way. Yet God is always calling us back, earnestly seeking us and asking us to change our ways not just our clothes. Crying out for us to align our lives with God’s ways and allow God to ignite our hearts once again, with a passion for living out his will for us. God has placed these passions on our hearts so that our pilgrimage here on earth will be a, “Buen Camino/Good Journey,” filled with God’s promises and good intention for our lives. We have a patient God who is extravagant in love and always ready with open arms to welcome us back home.
Holy Ambition
In this series God will help us to discover his Holy Ambition for our lives. Sometimes in the church, ambition is considered a “bad” word. It sounds like elbowing others aside for our agenda. But a Holy Ambition is a calling from God to bring blessing in the world, a calling that can shape our lives. But how do we discover it, discern it? And then how do we live into it? As we unpack the life of Nehemiah and the book of Nehemiah we will see how it provides profound guidance for our lives today.
Building Bridges
On this MLK jr. weekend, it is good for us to remember this Christian pastor who challenged the Christians in this country to live up to and live into our highest values as Americans and as believers. We have grown in this…and we need to keep growing in this. Paul cast God’s vision 2 millennia ago with these words in Galatians, remind those early Christians that our connections in Christ supersede the differences that we have culturally, socio-economically and by gender. But so often we let those distinctions carry greater weight that our unity in Christ. So we need to come back to this issue and work to build bridges across divides that shouldn’t exist, not because the world calls us to it, but because God’s word callus us to it. Where and how can we build those bridges as individuals and as a church.
JAN 15/16 Building Bridges
Rejoice in Hope
We haven’t done as much rejoicing as we would have liked in the past year. It's been filled with moments of it, but those moments woven through a lot of frustration, confusion, fear and disappointment. This Advent we need to reclaim Biblical hope. It isn’t just fun and pretty, but it is gritty and world-changing, life-changing. And it does bring joy. Together, we will engage these Advent scriptures with a lens to pulling out the gritty biblical hope they point us towards. “Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble and keep on praying.” Romans 12:12
Thanksgiving Eve: Thankful in all Circumstances
Our Thanksgiving Eve Service allows us a chance to give thanks to God in whatever circumstances we find ourselves. 100% of our offering at this service goes to support Lutheran World Relief’s amazing efforts in development work in 60 countries around the world. Whether you are worshipping with us in-person or online, you may submit your offering to LWR directly HERE, or make an offering through LOC’s giving portal and we will forward 100% to this important work. Then, we invite you to join us for our Annual Pie Fest, immediately following worship, in the Gathering Space in the Welcome Center. Bring a pie to share, and enjoy delicious pie with others!
Opening Doors
Jesus never told his followers to change people. He told them to love others. He told them to engage others. He called on them to go to others and share the Good news. Too often in the past the church has erred on one side or another. They have either ignored the call to go and share. Or they have dramatically misheard it and tried to go and force. Neither is what Jesus said. It is really about Opening the Doors for conversation with others and being ready to walk through the doors that the Holy Spirit opens for us. So we are going to study, to learn, to practice and experience over these next weeks together.
OCT 16/17 Love and Listen
OCT 23/24 Know Your Story
OCT 30/31 Reformation Weekend: The Heart of God's Story
NOV 6/7 All Saints Weekend: Remembering Their Witness
NOV 13/14 Seeing Open Doors
NOV 20/21 Holy Spirit: Door Closer & Door Opener
Worship in our Everyday Lives
Join us as Dr. Josh Jones, Light of Christ's Director of Music and Worship, helps us to explore Romans 12:1-2 and what it means to "Worship in our Everyday Lives".
OCT 9/10 Worship in our Everyday Lives
Promises: The Help and Healing of God
Recognizing that we are still coming out of a long season that has been hard on us all—and that we aren’t fully out of it--we want to take four weeks to reflect on God’s promises of healing and help in our lives. We aren’t in this alone—God is here, God is real, God is powerful, God cares. And scripture reminds us of this in powerful and practical ways. Let’s lean into scripture and let's lean into our Savior for his helping and healing touch.
SEPT 11/12 Comfort in our Losses
SEPT 18/19 Direction in our Questions
SEPT 25/26 Strength in our Struggles
OCT 2/3 Hope for our Futures
Better Together
In this series we will claim the biblical truth that Covid reminded us of—we are better together. It has been a hard last 18 months, and we want to remember and claim some of the variety of ways why God created us for community. And not just community in our families, but the community of faith we have in Jesus. Churches aren’t perfect communities, but Jesus band of 12 weren’t perfect either. But we need each other and as we start this fall, we wanted to reclaim those truths for our lives.
AUG 14/15 Created for Community
AUG 21/22 We Need Each Other's Gifts
AUG 29 We Need Each Other's Perspectives
SEPT 4/5 We Need Each Other's Support
Women Who Changed God's World
In this series we will look at five women in scripture who’s lives and actions were shaped by God’s calling and God’s guidance. And their lives impacted all who followed. Since so many of the men get highlighted in scripture, we want to take a few weeks to celebrate those women who equally shaped God’s work in the world.
JULY 17/18 Esther: For Such a Time as This
JULY 25/26 Hannah: Faithful and Blessed
JULY 31/AUG Mary: Apostle to the Apostles
Overlooked: Crazy Stories From The Bible
In this series we will pause at look at some overlooked, crazy stories from scripture and see if God can even speak to us through them. They are messy, unsettling, and even a little inappropriate. Oh well—let’s let God speak even from this part of His word.
MAY 15/16 Shadow Side of Our Heroes | Sermon Notes
MAY 22/23 Big Ideas, Wrong-Headed Pride | Sermon Notes
MAY 29/30 Balaam's Talking Donkey | Sermon Notes
JUNE 5/6 Left-Handed Assassin | Sermon Notes
JUNE 12/13 Biblical Trash Talking | Sermon Notes
JUNE 19/20 Security Resting (Guest Preacher - Christopher Mitchell)
JUNE 26/27 Walking Naked | Sermon Notes
Miracles of Grace
The most central truth that Christianity has to bring to the world is simply this: We worship a God of grace, who invites us to live in and by grace. What is grace? A surprising, undeserved gift of love. Jesus whole life—his teaching, his healing, his sacrificial death—was all an act of grace. And the only anger and frustration Jesus expressed was when people were not extending others the grace that they received. Let’s take some weeks to reflect on and marvel God’s miracles of grace…and how they call us to live lives that extend miracles of grace to others.
APR. 3/4 Easter: Jesus Alive!
APR. 10/11 Grace: For Everyone!
APR. 17/18 Grace: Amazing Patience!
APR. 24/25 Grace: Freedom!
MAY 1 Give Them Grace-Confirmation!
MAY 2 Give Them Grace
MAY 8/9 Living Gracefully
Lenten Series: Misunderstanding Jesus
One of the things that happens again and again in the Gospel is that people misunderstand Jesus. They misunderstand him and then try to set him straight…or just reject him. They expect him to be one way and He breaks their mold. So they reject Him. For all Jesus popularity, for all that people were drawn to him, many also walked away, stormed away, as they just couldn’t get their arms around who He was and what He was doing. We can fall in some of those same traps today. As we journey into Lent, let’s make sure we don’t misunderstand Jesus.
FEB. 27/28 Wrong People
MAR. 6/7 Too Familiar
MAR. 13/14 Tradition!
MAR. 20/21 Success, Not Suffering
MAR. 27/28 Expectations (Palm Sunday)
APR. 1 Maundy Thursday
APR. 2 Good Friday
NEXT: From Here to There
In this series, based on a series done by Seacoast church in 2013, we will be looking at the question of where are we right now—where is here?—and seek to discern God’s leading for what is next. Next for us as individuals, and next for us as a church.
JAN. 24 Moving Ahead with Courage
JAN. 31 Community
FEB. 6/7 Perseverance
FEB. 13/14 Faith
FEB. 17 Ash Wednesday
FEB. 20/21 God's Dream or My Dream
Strength to Love
To truly love another takes strength. This is why God instructed His children to be tough-minded yet soft-hearted. Before Jesus sent out his followers, he instructed them to be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves, using God’s Spirit and reason to sort out truth from fiction rather than to be soft-minded. MLK expressed how often he saw softminded Christians allowing evil to gain power in their lives. Martin Luther King Jr. was a beautiful example of a man who chose to live out this mandate of loving others, even his enemies. Like Jesus, MLK chose to practice love and compassion. Just like Christ, he encapsulated these opposing forces from the world yet held within himself the qualities of both the serpent and dove. Preaching that people should forgive and love others. As the church, we have a responsibility to not conform to this world but rather to live out the radical love of Christ in every facet of our lives, regardless of the cost.
JAN. 17 Strength to Love
Forward In Faith: Look at What God Has Done!
We have not had an opportunity to “dedicate” our new Church/Ministry Center yet, but we want to celebrate the culmination of our Forward in Faith journey. So I have chosen the scripture where Solomon prayed at the dedication of the first temple in Jerusalem. His prayer reminds the people of a number of things: 1) this was God’s work, 2) this is a place of forgiveness, 3) this is a place of practical ministry. And as He acknowledges by inviting them to pray “towards the temple” that it isn’t just a place for these works of God to happen, this is a symbol of God’s presence. Even though we can’t use our space quite yet, it will serve all of these functions and more and even right now it serves as a symbol of God’s faithfulness among us.
Jesus For The World (Epiphany)
For most of us, as soon as Christmas is over, we pack up the decorations, put the tree on the curb and get on to other things. But the 12 days of Christmas follow the 25th of December, culminating on January 6th, Epiphany. This is when we remember that the light of Jesus wasn’t just for His family, His people, but for the world - because the world showed up on his doorstep in the shape of wise men from the east. These men weren’t of Jesus' ethnicity, His background, or even of His native language. But in Jesus, they knew that they had found the answer to their dreams and their hopes. Jesus didn’t just come for my culture, my ethnic group, He is for the world.
JAN. 3 Jesus For The World
2020 Sermons
You're A Mean One, 2020:
Finding Hope & Peace This Christmas
In this series we will look at some classic Advent/Christmas passages to help guide us how to find hope and peace in this season. Many are hurting as the long-term challenges of Covid restrictions have truly come to wear on people. People are longing for peace and hope and we want to try and point them to the true source of both of those.
NOV. 29 Finding Peace, Finding Hope: Getting Real
DEC. 6 Finding Peace, Finding Hope: Trusting Promises
DEC. 13 Finding Peace, Finding Hope: Seeing God’s Hand
DEC. 20 Finding Peace, Finding Hope: Opening Scripture
DEC. 24 Finding Peace, Finding Hope: Turning to Jesus
DEC. 27 Finding Peace, Finding Hope: "Immanuel" God With Us: Now What?
Christmas Worship
Join us for these moving online worship experiences. Christmas Eve will include classic carols, contemporary Christmas music, children speaking and singing, and of course Communion and Candle-lighting. Join us at 3 or 10 to share in the experience communally online through Facebook and locchurch.com, or you can view on demand anytime after 3pm. Our Christmas Day service will be filmed outdoor with animals, remembering the first Christmas, and sharing a glimpse of our annual Christmas Day in a Barn service that will happen again next year. Join us online for carols and a simple Christmas message on Christmas morning. (Available on demand after that, as well). Our Christmas Eve offering will go entirely to the ELCA World Hunger Relief Fund.
DEC. 24 Christmas Eve
DEC. 25 Christmas Day
Blue Christmas
This has been a hard year for many and with the Christmas season upon us, you may be feeling a sense of loss, alone, or down. Join us on this special evening of worship as we will speak into that reality and bring a word of hope. We will offer two services this year on December 15 at 6 and 7:30, for in person gatherings of up to 25 people. We will also stream the services so anyone can be a part. This is a quiet, meditative service with candles, soft music, words of hope and comfort. This could be a blessing to family, friends, co-workers or neighbors—invite them. It is an evening to help us move from feeling blue to experiencing the true hope of Christmas.
DEC. 15 Blue Christmas
Thanksgiving Eve Worship
Our Thanksgiving Eve Online Service allows us a chance to give thanks to God in whatever circumstances we find ourselves. Join us! 100% of our offering at this service goes to support the work of the ELCA World Hunger efforts, supporting efforts in the US and in 60 countries around the world to provide food and development to people in need.You may submit your offering to the ELCA directly HERE, or send a check to LOC and we will send the funds on your behalf.
NOV. 26 Thankful In All Circumstances
Meant to Be
As we launch into our new space it is important to reflect what it is to be the Church. A church is not a building, no matter how beautiful and powerful this space is. A church is not a club, where there are secret handshakes and mysterious jargon. No the church is a community gathered around Jesus, following Him. A Church is a community with a calling. This is who we were meant to be. In these three weeks we will celebrate again what that calling is.
NOV. 8 Meant to Be: Invited to Invite
NOV. 15 Meant to Be: Nurtured to Nurture
NOV. 22 Meant to Be: Served to Serve
Almost There
We will be worshiping outside of the doors of our new space. We are so ready to be inside, to use this new space. But we aren’t quite ready. But we can almost taste what it will be like. Our mouths are watering for what is next. But in this short pause before we enter our promised land, let’s turn to scripture to hear again the truths and the promises that will need to guide us in this new place, in this next chapter. I can almost taste it…but hold on just a little longer.
Forward in Faith: Abraham and Today
In this series we will look back at the life of Abraham as we moved forward by Faith. But we will also be looking at how God has led us to this point by walking in faith. And this series will also challenge us to keep walking by faith, not fully knowing the next steps, but trusting the God who calls and leads us. This will be the worship culmination and celebration of the journey God has taken us individually on and Light of Christ on as a church.
Surprising Jesus
This is a series where we will look at some of the surprising things Jesus said and did. This is a series to get a little shocked, a little surprised and stunned—did He really mean that?! We have a surprising Savior who is still doing surprising things among us …if we are open. Let us be open to meeting our surprising Savior afresh this month!
AUG. 16: Don't Settle for Success
AUG. 23: The Wrong People Are the Right People
AUG. 30: Family Isn't Your Top Priority
RELATE•ABLE: The Enneagram
The origins of this tool are still in debate, but from Roman Catholic retreats to Evangelical millennial small groups, the Enneagram is a tool that can help us to not only understand ourselves better, but to relate to God, to ourselves and to others in healthier ways. Over the next 9 weeks we will be looking at these 9 personality types and Biblical characters that embody them. We will admire the thumbprint of God in each perspective/outlook and celebrate that. But we will also look at the shadow side of our types and how the Holy Spirit wants to speak into that for healing. We will also look at how do we best interact with these individuals in our lives, encouraging them, loving them and helping them to be their best.
JUNE 14: #1 The Reformer, Paul
JUNE 21: #2 The Helper, Martha
JUNE 28: #3 The Achiever, Moses
JULY 5: #5 The Investigator, Thomas
JULY 12: #7 The Enthusiast, Solomon
JULY 19: #6 The Loyalist, Ruth
JULY 26: #8 The Challenger, John the Baptist
AUG. 2: #4 The Individualist, Joseph
AUG. 9: #9 The Peacemaker, Jonah
Stopping...For A Miracle
In response to the current state of civil turmoil in our country, the sermon for this week is based on Matthew 20:29-34, where Jesus stopped to listen to the two on the side of the road, when the crowd wanted to push on.
JUNE 7: Stopping...For A Miracle
On Mission
We have all had our lives upended in the past two months, but it has also brought us new insight. One of the things that it has reminded us of – the church is, in the end, truly not a building. The Church, and Light of Christ, is a community of people gathered around a mission. This season has stripped away some things and forced us to see something more clearly. We are the church. We are a community gathered around Jesus and sent on a mission. That is what the church always has been and always will be. May this season drive that home more clearly. Are we living “on mission”?
Resurrection Hope
We often have different hopes and dreams for our lives. That can be fine, that can be good. But we get in trouble if we are creating those hopes and plans outside of our connection to Jesus. Because we can start putting our hopes in things that we never should. Actually, sometimes our hopes have to be crushed because we were focused on the wrong things, or focused on them in the wrong way. To find hope that can stand the test of time, we need to hope in the things that last and that are in line with God’s plans. Our final hope can’t be in things that don’t last eternally or they will inevitably disappoint us. The men on the walk to Emmaus were hoping in Jesus, but hoping in him in the wrong way. That had to get redirected, clarified.
APR. 19: Hope in the Right Direction
APR. 26: Hope Grows Through Struggles
MAY 03: Hope - Because God Redeems
Holy Week: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday & Easter Sunday
Jesus’ followers worshipped, grew spiritually, served, were generous, shared their faith, built their lives on Jesus’ practices. After Jesus died, Mary went to his tomb, saw it was empty and ran and told the disciples who ran home. They ran to the tomb, saw it was empty and returned home. But Jesus made himself known to Mary, her hope was renewed, and the challenge was given to continue the faith practice of sharing the good news. The challenge at the tomb is for each of us – how do we continue the faith practices to have a healthy spiritual life and impact not only our own lives, but our community, our world, for Jesus’ sake.
The Walk: Essential Practices of the Christian Life
What does it mean to be deeply committed Christians, growing in faith every day? How do we become fully engaged and flourishing in the Christian life? Lent has historically been a season for deepening faith and for taking on new spiritual practices. In this series, we explore a model for Christian discipleship built around essential practices that we engage in both collectively and individually in order to more fully follow Jesus.
FEB. 29 & MAR. 1: A Living Hallelujah
MAR. 7 & 8: Individual Prayer
MAR. 15: Do Not Fear
MAR. 22: Growing in the Word
MAR. 29: Living Generously
APR. 5: Share: Loud Voices / Palm Sunday
PG-13: Scripture and Sexuality
One of the most turbulent changing areas in modern society revolves around questions of sexuality. Marriage, divorce, Co-habitation, same-sex relationships, transgender, gender fluid. As Christians so much is swirling around us and we wonder, does the Bible have anything to say on this? Using the tools we worked on in January we will address a small portion of these questions and issues, seeking to listen for God’s leading as we address the questions and more importantly, the people God puts in our path.
FEB. 1 & 2: Singleness, Marriage and Divorce
FEB. 8 & 9: Sex, Dating and Cohabitation
FEB. 15 & 16: Same Sex Relationships
FEB. 22 & 23: Gender and Transgender Questions
Vision 2020
In this message I will lay out the two key things Jesus is calling us to individually this year: Invitation and Serving. We are constructing this new building not for ourselves, but for our neighbors. “I love you all, but I wouldn’t work as hard as I have if it was just for you, I believe Jesus will use this new space to draw new people to Himself. People need Jesus.” And if we are going to use this new space and technology to its capacity, we will need all hands on deck. We will need more in FL, more greeters, more in technology.
JAN. 25 & 26: Vision 2020
Word of God Speak
We say the Bible is God’s Word. We say that it is “Inspired”. We believe that it is foundational for our Christian faith and is God’s primary means to speak to us and guide us today. But how do we hear God speak from the Bible when there are so many confusing parts? So many disturbing parts? So many seemingly contradictory parts? Does everyone just get to pick and choose their favorite parts and ignore the rest? Over the next three weeks we will look at three key tools and strategies that we as individuals and the church can use to hear God speak to our circumstances today.
JAN. 4 & 5: Context, Context, Context
JAN. 11 & 12: Through the Lens of Jesus
JAN. 18 & 19: The Bible's Big Story
2019 Sermons
ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING
We will engage one of the deep struggles of this era—anxiousness. It affects all ages. Building off of Paul’s powerful words in Philippians 4, we will seek God’s leading and power for moving beyond our anxiousness into Christ’s deep, deep peace.
SEPT. 28 & 29: When You've Had Enough
OCT. 5 & 6: Praying Through Pain
OCT. 12 & 13: The Perspective of Praise
OCT. 19 & 20: When You Just Can't Decide