Spring of Life Messages

God’s love for humanity is at the core of why God couldn’t allow humanity to go off the rails any longer. God made covenant with Noah to reboot the earth and He made promises to be faithful, hanging the rainbow in the sky.

We know we are called to be salt and light. But what does that mean? We don’t overpower, we don’t blind. We allow people to see and give food flavor, creating purpose and meaning in our own lives as well as the lives of others.

We were so fortunate to be joined by Pastor Erwin Lopez from UCF Wesley for this message. How do we make ourselves holy in the same way that God is holy? John Wesley writes that acts of piety and acts of mercy are the keys to being holy.

King Josiah makes covenant with the Lord and then follows it up with a removal of all the things that were distorting and distracting from the covenant.  When we make covenant with God to live God’s way, it is important for us as well to remove the things that prevent us from living in healthy relationship with God. 

We continue on the Christmas story just over a week later, Simeon and Anna speak a word of blessing and truth to Jesus and his parents the first time he comes to the temple.  This is startling but also hopeful to see how already he continues to be hailed as a savior.  How do we respond to prophecy today?

The lessons and carols format will allow us to reflect on many scriptures we have used in advent.  We invite people to see themselves in the lives of Zechariah, Elizabeth, Magi, Shepherds, and even Herod.  May God use each one of us to spread the light of Christ. 

The birth of Christ was first celebrated by humble workers without benefits.  Every day people celebrate and participate in the story of God as they did when Christ was born.  Who would Jesus first appear to today?  How does that impact the way we understand God’s redemption story unfolding. 

God’s unfolding Grace invites people who seem to be beyond the scope of the faith community into the heart of the celebration.  The birth of Christ challenges our assumptions and our behavior to be the church always expanding work of God.  The birth of Christ calls us to open wider. 

Even Herod, the villain has a role in shaping the story of Christ.  How do we recognize the Herod within each of our hearts that prioritizes our own wants and needs to the detriment of everyone else.  There is a little bit of Herod in all of us. 

Zechariah and Elizabeth wonder if the dream they are waiting on will ever come to happen. They had a dream of being parents and they were waiting not passively but actively.  How would God use them in this larger redemption story?  How does God use us the same way? 

Giving is the goal of earning and saving.  Having Christ at the center of every area of our life includes our finances and allows us to have a life filled with the riches of sharing our time, talent, and treasure. 

How do we save in a way that is responsible and not greedy?  By saving we look towards a bigger future than our immediate wants and needs.  We earn and save with the end goal in mind, using our resources for a greater purpose. 

Earn but not at the expense of your health, soul, neighbor, honor God. What is our relationship with money?  We work hard to earn money and we need wisdom.  This sermon will also introduce John Wesley’s advice, earn, save, give . 

Jesus spent his ministry seeking out people who were overlooked, forgotten, on the margins.  If we believe that everyone is made in the image of God then we also must believe that every voice matters thus we should encourage people who are able to vote to do so.  

Jonah can only see the Ninevites as the bad guys.  Jonah is an Israelite partisan who can’t understand God’s heart for people beyond his partisan beliefs.  God’s love transcends partisanship and Jonah’s loyalty to party prevented him from accepting God’s redemptive work

We see repeatedly in scripture a call to care for others.  This is an act of worship to God and our shared political life together gives us opportunities to do that.  We must think beyond our personal interest and ask questions about how policies impact people in poverty. 

Nicodemus doesn’t understand grace so Jesus explains it to him in a way that he could understand.  How would God describe grace to us today?  Our lives look pretty put together on the outside but deep down we know we yearn for grace. 

Jesus was a servant who invites us into a life of servant.  Truly following God means that we have to be willing to love others through service when it is inconvenient or when we don’t feel like it.  Jesus models servant leadership and it cost him something great.  Are we willing to pay the cost of service?