The Church of Jerusalem

April 30, 2023

Acts 1-8 — Jesus builds his multi-cultural church from all peoples, tribes, languages, and nations. He sends us into the world to be his witnesses here and there to everyone everywhere. We are to be his witnesses in our own communities, in our region, in our Samarias, and to the ends of the world.

This is part of our series — Jesus Builds His Church. In this series, we look at the early church in Acts and the corresponding letters of Paul to see how Jesus builds His church, then, through the ages, and now. From the early church in the New Testament, we learn what the church is and how to be the church in these challenging times. This series is based especially on the book of John Stumbo, A Stained Beauty: The Church Ancient and Present. Full credit is given to him. His ideas have been adopted and adapted into this sermon series. The book of Scott McKnight & Laura Barringer, A Church Called Tov: Forming a Goodness Culture That Resists Abuses of Power and Promotes Healing, has also been used.

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Jesus Builds His Church

April 23, 2023

Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:11-16; 5:25-27 — Jesus loves his church, and so should we. Because He loves His church, Jesus builds His church to present her to Himself as His radiant bride. He gifted every one of us to build up His body, the church. We are called to participate in the work God is doing in and through His church. No church is perfect. It has many flaws and failures. We make many mistakes, but the church remains God’s sanctified, holy, and blameless people. The church is stained but beautiful. Let us be the church and love the church as Jesus loves her.

This begins our new series — Jesus Builds His Church. In this series, we look at the early church in Acts and the corresponding letters of Paul to see how Jesus builds His church, then, through the ages, and now. From the early church in the New Testament, we learn what the church is and how to be the church in these challenging times. This series is based especially on the book of John Stumbo, A Stained Beauty: The Church Ancient and Present. Full credit is given to him. His ideas have been adopted and adapted into this sermon series. The book of Scott McKnight & Laura Barringer, A Church Called Tov: Forming a Goodness Culture That Resists Abuses of Power and Promotes Healing, has also been used.

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Becoming Like the Father

April 16, 2023

Luke 6:27-36 (& 15:11-32) — Coming home is not the end of our spiritual journey nor the goal of our spiritual life. Now that we have come home, we are called and challenged to become like the Father. We are to love as the Father loves us and to show compassion as He shows compassion to us. The hands of the Father that forgive, console, restore, heal, and give a feast must become our own hands so that we can make the Father’s love known and call home His lost children.

This concludes our Lent series for 2023 — Come Home! This series is based on and informed by the book of Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son, as well as Rembrandt’s painting, The Return of the Prodigal Son.

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The Father Calls for a Celebration

April 9, 2023

Luke Luke 15:22-24, 32 — God the Father gives us the new kingdom life in abundance because Jesus is raised from the dead and alive. God’s kingdom has come and is coming. The Father invites us into the kingdom of joy and to celebrate with Him when his lost children come home. When and because we have come home, we choose joy, life, and truth in the midst of the sadness and sorrow of this world. God’s joy can be ours in this life.

This is part of our Lent series for 2023 — Come Home! This series is based on and informed by the book of Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son, as well as Rembrandt’s painting, The Return of the Prodigal Son.

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The Father Welcomes Us Home

April 2, 2023

Luke Luke 15:20,28 — The Father’s love is seeking us and waiting for us to come home. His arms are outstretched, and his hands are waiting to grasp and hold us, to comfort and protect us. We must allow God to love us, find us, and bring us home. Trust his love. Come home, and give thanks with joy and celebration at his table.

This is part of our Lent series for 2023 — Come Home! This series is based on and informed by the book of Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son, as well as Rembrandt’s painting, The Return of the Prodigal Son.

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The Older Son’s Return

March 26, 2023

Luke Luke 15:28, 31-32 — Our Heavenly Father loves all of us, his younger and older children, equally and totally. He goes out to search for us and calls us home. We should let go of rivalry and resentment and surrender to his love. Only Jesus Christ, the Son of God the Father, is the Shepherd that can bring home. And when we, as older sons, surrender and listen to his voice, we come home by practicing daily the disciplines of trust and gratitude.

This is part of our Lent series for 2023 — Come Home! This series is based on and informed by the book of Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son, as well as Rembrandt’s painting, The Return of the Prodigal Son.

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The Older Son (We) Leaves

March 19, 2023

Luke Luke 15:25-30 — We are like the elder son when our hearts are filled with self-centered and self-righteous pride. We leave home and become lost like him when we surrender our hearts to resentment, envy, self-pity, anger, and fear. There is only one way home. We cannot find or save ourselves. We must be born from above. We can only be healed from above, from where God has come to us in Jesus Christ, to invite us to come home.

This is part of our Lent series for 2023 — Come Home! This series is based on and informed by the book of Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son, as well as Rembrandt’s painting, The Return of the Prodigal Son.

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The Younger Son’s (Our) Return

March 12, 2023

Luke Luke 15:13-20a — When we leave home to seek love and belonging in the world, we become lost and slaves to the world. We are on a path that leads to self-destruction and death. We must come to our senses and choose between death or life. We must reclaim our childhood and begin the long journey home by becoming again a child of God. Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became a child so that we might become children again and so re-enter with him into the kingdom of the Father

This is part of our Lent series for 2023 — Come Home! This series is based on and informed by the book of Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son, as well as Rembrandt’s painting, The Return of the Prodigal Son.

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