March 6
Preacher: Gary Dennis
Special Events: The Lord’s Supper; Annual Meeting of the Congregation
Scripture: Acts 15:36-16:10 — After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Come, let us return and visit the believers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 38 But Paul decided not to take with them one who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work. 39 The disagreement became so sharp that they parted company; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. 40 But Paul chose Silas and set out, the believers commending him to the grace of the Lord. 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
16:1 Paul went on also to Derbe and to Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer; but his father was a Greek. 2 He was well spoken of by the believers in Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him; and he took him and had him circumcised because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they went from town to town, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in numbers daily.
6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; 8 so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.
Sermon Theme: Doing God’s will – it is an important next step in faith for all of us. When Adam and Eve sinned, God said to Adam, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field” (Genesis 3:17-18). Once man sinned, God made work—even good work—hard. He did it so that we would be impelled to turn to him when the thorns get to be too much for us. This turning to God drives us to know and to do his will. I absolutely believe that learning to seek and do God’s will can transform the most mundane job.
Yet, on the other hand, choosing to pay attention to God’s presence in the places that you spend your time each week and to listen for God’s call to participate in his activity in your circle of influence will take you to another new depth of faith. You are moving from faith being more of a social thing in your life to faith becoming a defining reality for you. You are no longer simply playing at relationship with God but now you are taking it quite seriously. While the benefits of approaching faith in this way are extraordinary, you will also experience greater demands in your relationship with the LORD. The scripture that I read to you describes both the benefits and demands of deciding that you want to be responsive to God’s will.
Sermon Title: Doing God’s Will – It Doesn’t Always Mean Lassoing the Wind
March 13
Preacher: Richard Mouw
Special Event: 1st Sunday in Lent; Daylight Savings Time Begins;
March 20
Preacher: Gary Dennis
Special Event: 2nd Sunday in Lent
Scripture: Acts 17:1-15 — After Paul and Silas had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days argued with them from the scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This is the Messiah, Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you.” 4 Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. 5 But the Jews became jealous, and with the help of some ruffians in the marketplaces they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. While they were searching for Paul and Silas to bring them out to the assembly, they attacked Jason’s house. 6 When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some believers before the city authorities, shouting, “These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also, 7 and Jason has entertained them as guests. They are all acting contrary to the decrees of the emperor, saying that there is another king named Jesus.” 8 The people and the city officials were disturbed when they heard this, 9 and after they had taken bail from Jason and the others, they let them go.
10 That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas off to Beroea; and when they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 These Jews were more receptive than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message very eagerly and examined the scriptures every day to see whether these things were so. 12 Many of them therefore believed, including not a few Greek women and men of high standing. 13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Beroea as well, they came there too, to stir up and incite the crowds. 14 Then the believers immediately sent Paul away to the coast, but Silas and Timothy remained behind. 15 Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and after receiving instructions to have Silas and Timothy join him as soon as possible, they left him.
Sermon Theme: There will always be criticism and accusations, especially if you are a leader. You can’t escape it.
You see this in Paul. While he was a magnificent leader, yet he was often treated unfairly. He was run out of Damascus, Jerusalem, Antioch of Pisidia, Lystra, Thessalonica and now Beroea, because of the trouble generated by those who maliciously opposed him. Yet, Paul never allowed the criticisms and accusations get in the way of the bigger thing that God wanted him to accomplish. He was willing to live with misunderstanding, if it allowed his friends and him to proclaim Jesus another day.
What can the Apostle Paul teach us? Some of the criticism will be true. It must be addressed, first in our relationship with God, then in our relationship with our Christian community, and then in relationship with the critical person or group. If we have hurt someone, we need to face what we’ve done wrong, confess it to God and then to the person we have hurt, asking for their forgiveness. On the other hand, some of the criticism and accusations will be false, the result of envy, jealousy, malice or misunderstanding. There are more malicious people out there than we like to admit. The majority of the undeserved criticism is best dealt with by ignoring it. We should deal with the rest in our relationship with God and our small group.
Relationship with Jesus is a tremendous resource for dealing well with criticisms and accusations. In this sermon, I will suggest several ways that our faith can help us do this. Deal well with the criticism and accusations and you will be amazed at what you can accomplish in Christ’s name in your sphere of influence.
Sermon Title: Remembering Who Has the Last Word Over Your Life – A Recipe for Dealing with Criticism
March 27
Preacher: Gary Dennis
Special Events: 3rd Sunday in Lent; 3rd Grade Bible Sunday
Scripture: Acts 18:1-11 — After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, 3 and, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them, and they worked together—by trade they were tentmakers. 4 Every Sabbath he would argue in the synagogue and would try to convince Jews and Greeks.
5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with proclaiming the word, testifying to the Jews that the Messiah was Jesus. 6 When they opposed and reviled him, in protest he shook the dust from his clothes and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 7 Then he left the synagogue and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God; his house was next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the official of the synagogue, became a believer in the Lord, together with all his household; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul became believers and were baptized. 9 One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; 10 for I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are many in this city who are my people.” 11 He stayed there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
Sermon Title: “Weakness, Fear and Much Trembling – The Importance of Christian Community.
Sermon Theme: In Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, he tells that when he first came to their city, he came to them, “in weakness and in fear and in much trembling” (1 Corinthians 2:3). Some scholars believe Paul had given up. After the debacles at Philippi, Thessalonica, Beroea and Athens, Paul was in a bad place. Because Corinth was a seaport, some wonder if Paul came here to find a ship that would take him home. It was a bad time for the apostle.
Then he found Aquila and Priscilla, Jewish believers from Rome, who took Paul in. He lived with them. He worked with them as a tentmaker. He healed with them. Then, he began again to do ministry with them, so that the good news of Jesus had a profound impact in Corinth. The city became a center for Christianity in the ancient world. I believe that one of the reasons this happened is the way Christian community came around Paul during this very dark time in his life.
This sermon will explore the importance of community for our congregation if we are going to genuinely reach out to LA County in Christ’s name. Can we develop new communities within our church that are committed to doing ministry with other members of their group? Small groups must be an important part of any congregation’s life, especially one that is deeply involved in outreach.
