Melbourne Heights - Sermons

From presents to buy to trips to arrange, Christmas is filled with plans. But, if we want to leave the ugly to the sweaters, we also need to plan how we will act this Christmas. But sadly most of us spend way more time picking out the perfect gift or putting together an itinerary than we do thinking about how we will respond when we face difficult situations. But in this sermon, we'll be reminded...

Everyone loves giving and receiving presents at Christmas. But what motivates you to buy the gifts you buy for the people you love the most? Sometimes our motivations are a little selfish. And these ugly motivations keep us from truly enjoying this season. So, to leave the ugly to the sweaters this Christmas, we need to be reminded of what should truly motivate us in everything that we do.

How do you feel about Christmas lights or egg nog? Without making you hang a single light or drink a drop of egg nog; these words are powerful enough to make you feel a certain way.  But we often forget just how powerful our words can be, which can lead us to say some pretty ugly things. But to make sure we leave the ugly to the sweaters this Christmas, in this sermon we'll talk about how we...

From singing carols to decorating the tree, we all have our favorite Christmas traditions. But one tradition may do a better job of capturing what Christmas is really like to do than any other: the Ugly Christmas Sweater. ​Ugly Christmas Sweaters remind us that even during Christmas our attitudes can become pretty ugly. In this series, we'll discuss how we can leave the ugly to the sweaters this C...

After being forced to cancel our Thanksgiving plans and Christmas celebrations last year, many of us are feeling more thankful than ever to just be able to sit down and spend time together with the people we love the most. But Thanksgiving should be more than just a time of gratitude. Thanksgiving should also be a time when we remember that this world is filled with people who aren't as fortunate...

We all have baggage that can cause us to do villainous things. Like we may not be the parents we want to be today because we had a rocky relationship with our own parents. Or we may struggle to trust our co-workers now because people we worked with in the past betrayed us. ​But our past doesn't have to define our future. So no matter what baggage we have, and no matter what villainous things we've...

We may all love our heroes...but sometimes our heroes turn out to be the villains. In this week's service, we'll talk about how one man, who should have been a great hero, ended up becoming the villain of his own story instead. And we'll learn from his mistakes so that we don't become the villains in our own stories.

From Snidely Whiplash to Biff Tannen to Frankenstein's monster, we all have images that come to our minds when we think about villains. But what makes villains do villainous things? Well, a lot of villainous acts start with being selfish. So in this sermon, we'll talk about how to avoid selfishness so that we don't become the villain in our own stories.

When you're talking about villains in the Bible, there's really only one place to start...and that's with the man who betrayed Jesus, Judas Iscariot. ​But even though Judas committed one of the most villainous acts in history, there is an important lesson he can teach us to make sure we don't become the villains in our own stories. We all need to realize we are capable of doing villainous things.

A dollar bill is quite possibly the most recognizable form of currency in the world...and that means that a dollar bill is was made to be spent (whether we spend that dollar immediately or save it for the future). But there are two ways to think about every dollar that we spend. We can think about how much something costs us, or we can think about the blessing we get from the money we spend.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began more than 19 months ago, we have all faced uncertain times. And, when we're not sure what the future holds, it's easy to be afraid. ​But even though no one can tell you exactly what the future holds for your family, your job, or your life; we can look back over the last 19 months and see that God has been with us throughout these uncertain times...and we can trust...

There are a lot of words that people use to describe the Bible. You'll hear people talk about the Bible being all-knowing, all-seeing, infallible, and our first and last line of defense against the darkness of this world. ​But is that really what the Bible is? In this sermon, we'll be exploring some of the things that we say about the Bible, and we'll also discover that the Bible is way more than...

There are people out there that will try to convince you that all you have to do to be a Christians is say a little prayer. They'll tell you that once you pray this prayer, Jesus will come into your life and then everything in your life will be perfect from that moment forward. ​But there's more to being a Christian than saying a prayer. In this sermon, we'll be exploring what it really means to f...

It's been said that being smart means you know a tomato is a fruit, but being wise means that you know better than to put a tomato in a fruit salad. What this little joke tells us is that there is a difference between knowing something and applying something. ​Throughout this series, we've covered a lot of information. But this week, we'll see how all of the information we've learned about God and...

If you grew up in church, you probably remember the little rhyme and hand motions that taught you about the church. It went something like: Here is the church. Here is the steeple. Open the doors and see all the people. ​Now, that's a cute little game to play with kids...but the church is so much more than a building where Christians meet. So, this week, we'll be talking about what we, as Christia...

When we talk about what we, as Christians, believe, we have to talk about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. And that also leads us to talk about the Trinity. But let's just be honest here, the doctrine of the Trinity can be pretty confusing - because basic math tells us that 3 cannot equal 1 and 1 cannot equal 3. But the idea of the Trinity has far less to do with mathematics and fa...

As Christians, when we talk about God, it's not too hard to talk about God the Father and God the Son. But when it comes to God the Spirit - or the Holy Spirit - it gets a little trickier. As a matter of fact, trying to explain the Holy Spirit can feel about as productive as nailing Jell-O to the wall. ​But just because it's not always easy to talk about the Holy Spirit, that doesn't mean it's not...

With more than 2.3 billion Christians worldwide, it's safe to say that you'll find Christians all across the theological spectrum. You'll find Christians who are more conservative and Christians who are more progressive. You'll find Christians who are more charismatic and Christians who are more reserved. ​But when it comes to what we, as Christians, believe, you'll find that we all get together a...

There are roughly 7.9 billion people in the world today. About 30 percent of these people - or roughly 2.3 billion people - call themselves Christians. Based on these numbers alone, it's hard to imagine we could all agree on anything...let alone something as big as God. But we do. ​In this sermon series, inspired by the Apostles' Creed, we'll be exploring the beliefs that make us Christians.

When you sit back and watch the incredible displays of athleticism at the Olympics, it's easy to feel a little inferior. No matter how hard we try, we'll never be on the same level as Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky, or any of the other athletes who competed in this year's games. ​Fortunately for us, our value as human beings doesn't come from our athletic ability. Our value comes from the God who cre...

There are times in life when we all feel discouraged. We might feel discouraged because of something happening with our health, in our family, or at our job. And when we feel discouraged, we're all tempted to give up. ​But in this sermon, we'll hear the remarkable story of a future gold medalist who almost walked away from his sport because of a devastating injury. And through his story, we'll be...

From the original Dream Team to Vitaly Scherbo, the 1992 Olympic Games featured some of the greatest athletes to ever compete in the Olympics. But the most memorable moment from these games didn't happen on a basketball court or during the gymnastics competition. The most memorable moment from these games happened on the track...and it featured an emotional moment between a son and his father.&nbs...

If you've spent much time around a church on Sunday morning, then you probably have an idea of what worship is all about. Worship is about singing songs, saying prayers, collecting an offering, and listening to a sermon...right? Well, even though all of these things are part of our regular worship services, they are not what worship is all about. Worship is about taking God with you wherever you g...

For many of us, when we think about rest, we think about lounging around on the couch all day while we scroll through social media or binge watch something on Netflix. But that's not exactly what rest means. Rest is about rejuvenating our body, mind, and spirit so that we can live out God's purpose for our lives. ​But how do we do that? How do we find time to rejuvenate our body, mind, and spirit?...

Work. We all have to do it, don't we? We have to earn a living so we can put food on the table, clothes on our backs, and a roof over our heads. But, for many of us, work is more than simply what we do...work has become part of who we are. But our identity is not defined by the work that we do. Our identity comes from God. And, although our jobs are important, we have to find a rhythm with our wor...