Cambria Pulpit

Guest speaker, Pastor Wayne Muri, presented the four tests believers must face from John 21. 

In our final outdoor service, we looked at the events of Palm Sunday: I have come to the point where I have no desire to turn on the news. I hate social media more and more every day. 2020 has given us a worldwide pandemic, crushing economic struggles, murder hornets, and now anarchy in the streets (not just of major cities, but even smaller towns). I waffle between consternation and hopelessness....

Wearing masks is really important, everyone should do it when in indoor public spaces. Wearing masks is worthless and stupid. It is simply another way the state is trying to control us. We need to open the economy up today. If we don’t many will lose everything and then the death due to suicide will be numerous. If we open the economy up now more people will die, don’t you care about life? The chu...

For many of us there came a time when we had to acknowledge that we could no longer see the way that we used to see. We were going blind. Perhaps the chalkboard began to get blurry, or we struggled to see the words on the page, or maybe we took the eye test at the DMV and didn’t pass, or we went to a routine eye examine and were informed there was a problem. For whatever reason we needed correctiv...

In 1776, on July 4th, the Continental Congress released a Declaration to the King of England declaring the 13 American Colonies to be free and independent. Every year we joyously celebrate the freedoms that we enjoy because of these men. In that text, the deist Thomas Jefferson wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator w...

In this Drive in Service, Pastor Dave expounds Mark 10:13-31 For years, in the early exploration of North America, the Spanish sought for the fabled fountain of youth. They searched in vain for this fabled spring whose waters created eternal life. Today we recognize this as a fable, but we seek other forms of delaying death. We live in a day that is keenly aware of death. We are taking all measure...

Thursday, the Wall Street Journal published an article which revealed that the marriage rate has plunged to its lowest point since the government started tracking it in the 1860’s. This cannot be explained away as an economic issue, this is at its core a moral issue. We live in a society that no longer sees the purpose of marriage. When people “love” each other, they simply live with one another....

Recently we celebrated two monumentous anniversaries. At the end of December, we celebrated Harold and Geneva’s 70th wedding anniversary. And just a couple of weeks ago, we congratulated as best we could during this time, Chuck and Barb’s 64th wedding anniversary. That means that for the majority of most of the lives of the members of this congregation, these two couples have been married. These a...

What is the one issue that divides churches more than any other? What is the one issue that splinters friendships and relationships more than any other? The answer is without question, “pride!” Our natural sinful tendency is to seek our own elevation even at the expense of others. Our natural sinful tendency is to elevate our opinions and thoughts above others. We naturally demand our own way. We...

A walk through the Easter narrative and a discussion of its importance. 

In the midst of a confused age, one of the challenges for Christians is the idea of faith. What exactly is faith? What does it look like? We know that 2 Corinthians 5:7 states … 2 Corinthians 5:7 – 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.  But how exactly does that work. Does that mean that we throw off all precautions and jump into any unknown? Does this mean that we drive without our seatbelts on t...

As the realities of the current situation continue to set in, many of us have begun to feel the impacts. Some of you have lost jobs. Some of you are facing deep loneliness. Now all of us are stuck at home. For many, this is just another challenge on top of deep life challenges you are already facing. Congress can’t seem to make up their mind. The press conferences from our leaders many times feel...

This is an unusual time. I hope that you miss gathering with the body like I do. That you recognize what we are doing here is a poor substitute for the gathering of the body together. And in these times, it is easy to lose sight of God himself. It is easy to forget that the sovereign God reigns. We see a rogue virus wreaking havoc on the world. And we wonder if God is still in control. We see deci...

The following statement was made today by Pastor Dave regarding the COVID-19 pandemic

What is a Christian? How would you answer that question if you were asked? Perhaps you would say something like, “Someone who believes in God.” Or maybe you would say, “Someone who has been saved.” Perhaps even simply, “Someone who goes to church.” For some time now, American churches and therefore the rest of culture has gotten the answer to this question wrong. The view has been one of moral peo...

We have all had those moments in life when the light bulb goes on for us. You know what I am talking about. Times like when a baby figures out that they can walk. Or when they try ice cream for the first time. Times like when you learned to ride a bike without training wheels. We have all had those time. Something happens and now what didn’t make sense before, what seemed impossible before, now ma...

Are you struggling right now in life? Are you burdened by worry? Why is it that we are not marked by joy? Your view of God dictates your view of life. The answer comes back to the fact that we are blind in our view of God. In the narratives we began last week, Mark challenges us to open our eyes and see Jesus for who he really is, God the Creator the Sufficient Savior.  In this section there appea...

Why don’t people see Jesus for who he is? Why don’t I often see Jesus working in my life? Why is it that sometimes it just feels as though this is all just a show? The reality is that often we share the Gospel and the ones with whom we share it fail to grasp the significance of Jesus. Sometimes we walk through the course of our lives and it feels as though Jesus isn’t real at all. If God is so gre...

What happens when we have been cleansed by Christ? What are the marks of a person who has a relationship with God? Are there things that should happen when we have confessed Christ as our Lord? Ephesians 2:8-9 inform us that salvation is by grace through faith. But then verse 10 informs us that we have been predestined to good works. So what are these works? In the narrative this morning, we disco...

What must be true about a person in order for them to enter into a relationship with God? While we would hopefully quickly say something to the effect that all that is needed is repentance and faith, often we act as if there is more. We act as though a person needs to get their life cleaned up in order for God to accept them. We act as though there are certain people that are too far gone so that...

The Pharisees hated Jesus because he did not keep their traditions. In our text this morning, this frustration reaches a boiling point, and results in a classic confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees. While the Pharisees believed that their tradition kept them in communion with God. Jesus countered that, since sin proceeds from the heart, human tradition cannot make us clean. And so, he cha...

There is a pandemic sweeping the nation. Do you fear it? No, I am not talking about this new super virus people are scared is going to come from China. No, this pandemic is far worse. It is a pandemic of murder. This murder has nothing to do with gangs and guns. This murder is not confined to a large metropolitan area. This murder takes place all over the country, and even in our own county. Last...

We understand what it means to worship in truth, but what does it mean to worship in spirit? We need to understand three important factors to worship in spirit. You can learn more about our church here

There are two more foundational principles in worship if we are to worship the right one the right way.

Foundations Series 2020 Worship & the Church Everyone worships, so how do we worship the right one the right way? This sermon begins to answer that question. Learn more about the church here