Peace Seymour Weekly Messages

Why do we always do the same old things in Church? We always have confession. We always say the creeds. We always say the same old things at communion, at confession, at the prayers. Why don't we do new things? It can seem tedious and dull and too repetitive to do the same thing over and over. So why aren't we doing new stuff? It's not that we do the same old stuff just to do it. We keep a pattern...

Communion and who should receive it is one of the most complicated and controversial conversations in the church today. In our church body, it's a very complicated issue. We think that not allowing people to come to communion is unwelcoming, unfriendly, and unfaithful. If it's a gift of God to all, shouldn't we be giving it to all people? The meal of the Lord's Supper, is for the church. It's for...

In life, we rely heavily on our rational thinking. We wonder how water can do something as amazing as what we say it does in baptism. We question why we should baptize babies if they don't know what's going on. We contemplate whether baptism is not just a passive event, but a decision that we make. Yet, our rational minds fail us when we compare what we think, with what God's Word says. When we re...

We know we're supposed to forgive, but where's the line? Should I forgive someone who hurt me? Am I supposed to forgive someone even when they continue to hurt me? Should I just forgive and forget? It seems like that's what Jesus is saying, but how can I forgive if someone continues to hurt me? How am I supposed to forgive, when someone doesn't actually seem like they are sorry? Our emotions don't...

Jesus has severe judgment for those who cause others to sin, and who sin themselves. For the one who causes a 'little child' to sin, it would be better for them to be drowned in the bottom of the sea. For the one who sins, he is told to cut off his limbs and gouge out his eyes that lead him to sin. Our question is, does sin really matter that much? Is it that disastrous? Jesus brings forgiveness a...

Jesus calls us to deny ourselves. To give ourselves up, that we may follow Jesus and bear our cross. Just like Jesus' cross was unpleasant, so are our crosses that we must bear. We don't want to have to go through suffering, to deal with issues, problems, and other pains in life. We'd rather avoid suffering, pain, and difficulty altogether. Yet Jesus calls us to follow him, picking up the crosses...

The Peace and Seymour communities gather to worship, spend time in community together, and hear about God’s goodness and see how he works even in our daily lives.

Many things that Jesus say make us wonder what he really means. Is Peter the rock of the church? Will armies of demons come marching at us from the gates of hell? Why does Jesus tell his disciples not to share this great news? If Jesus is supposed to be so clear about who he is and what's happening? Then why does so much of what he says bring confusion? Jesus did not come to bring confusion, but c...

Often it feels like God is far from us. That he is distant from us. That he is apathetic and unfeeling towards our problems and issues. It seems that Jesus acts the same in this instance. We can often feel as though our problems are not God's problems. That we are simply weak, sinful creatures that are too small and too unclean for God's care. People disregard, ignore, and cast our problems away,...

God calls many to be his guest in his kingdom, yet many do not return the invitation. Many are called, but few are chosen. We often find ourselves with his invitations going unanswered. We receive his call to come hear his word every Sunday, to study his word and promises with our families and spouses, to have faith in his promises. We get distracted, preoccupied, and we don't think it's a 'big de...

We want everything in life to be fair. We want equality. We want fairness. We especially want that for ourselves. Our sinful broken selves desire everything to be equal for us. We want the same or better as what everyone else gets. If we put in our time, money, and effort, then we want to be paid fairly. Rewarded for it. This goes for our employment, our home life, and our life in church. God is u...

As imperfect sinners, we often give up the most valuable thing, for the worthless things. We sacrifice God's law and life with him, for our sinful heart's desires, preferences, and wants. We chase after idols, we worship false gods, and we ignore the life that God intends and wants for us. We take the gift of life with God, and throw it away, to try and satisfy ourselves with that which never can...

We are often quick to judge. We jump to conclusions. We speculate about our neighbors. We assume rather than search for the truth. We talk behind the scenes like we have the whole story, but we only recycle old rumors. We think we know all there is about an issue, a person, and even someone's faith, yet the truth is, we don't know as much as we think. God is patient. He waits to act. He desires th...

Often, we are hesitant to share God's Word. We're worried about if people will believe it. If they'll receive it. They fear and worry about the potential reaction to talking about Jesus or sharing God's Word. Will this person laugh? Will they get offended? Will they be awkward? Will they stop being my friend? We often shrink from sharing about Jesus and living out our faith, because of our fears a...

Heaven sounds great, but is that all there is? What comes after heaven? If heaven is simply living as a soul floating with Jesus, then is there more for us? Do we see our loved ones again? Do we get to do what we loved to do on earth, or is just being with Jesus enough? Heaven sounds good, but shouldn't there be more? Heaven is living with Jesus in paradise, but God has even more planned for us! H...

Many people say that we have to prepare for our death. We have to 'get right with God', or 'fix our ways'. We have to clean ourselves up for God and make sure we're in good standing to be brought into heaven with him forever. What do we have to do to get ready for our death? What do we have to make sure we do before Jesus returns? God does not require you to clean up your life or do anything to be...

We are often anxious about the details of the end. Not only details of our own death, but details about the end of all things. We often want to look for signs and indications that the end is coming and is near. We think we can pinpoint the time either generally or specifically of Jesus' return, or we grow anxious and worried about what that end will be like. No one knows the day of his death. Jesu...

Death is scary. It's the great unknown. We don't know what it will be like, what it will feel like. What we will see. What we will be like. Death is a slow, painful process, and we largely don't know what's coming up on the other side. Our sin has caused death to enter into this world. Death is a negative consequence of our sin, and while we know it's not right, we don't what what it will be like....

The Peace and Seymour communities gather to worship, spend time in community together, and hear about God’s goodness and see how he works even in our daily lives.

The Peace and Seymour communities gather to worship, spend time in community together, and hear about God’s goodness and see how he works even in our daily lives.

The Peace and Seymour communities gather to worship, spend time in community together, and hear about God’s goodness and see how he works even in our daily lives.

We carry much shame with us in our lives. We're ashamed of our past, our actions, our mistakes. If guilt is the recognition of our sin, shame is the emotion and feeling that comes with it. We are ashamed of who we are, what we've done, and this shame drives us to separate ourselves from others, and even from God. Jesus does not let us be ashamed. Rather he takes on shame for us. He becomes the one...

Compared to the strength of the spiritual powers of evil in this world, we are weak. We are vulnerable to the temptations and oppression of the devil and his demons. We are powerless against sin in this world. We are captive to these things, let alone the earthly powers of this world that can harm us. We cannot protect or save ourselves. But Jesus is more powerful than all these things in this wor...

In our Western world, we often seek to maintain our innocence. We try to keep our hands clean. We stay out of trouble so that we can remain innocent. Yet, we all do things that we regret. We all have made mistakes. We are all guilty of sin. Even though we are and still live as sinners, we know we have forgiveness in Jesus. Our sin has been washed away in our baptism. The record of sin against us h...

The last stage of life is one that we fail to look forward to, and that we often dread. We devalue the elderly and old in our world today, rather than valuing their worth, wisdom, and wellbeing. This is stage where we look back on our lives, reflect, have regrets, and begin to become isolated from the people and things that we love. Rather than enjoying this time and finding fulfillment in it, we...