July 3
Preacher: Gary Dennis
Special Event: The Lord’s Supper
Scripture: 1 Kings 19:1-18 — Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” 3 Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.
4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 The angel of the LORD came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” 8 He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. 9 At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.
Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He answered, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”
11 He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He answered, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” 15 Then the LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. 16 Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. 17 Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill; and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
Ortberg Book Chapter: Chapter 6, The Me I Want to Be, Trying Softer
Sermon Theme: John Ortberg calls it, “trying softer.” It is the prescription for people who have to be control of every dimension of life, including their relationship with God.
In this sermon, I will use the story of Elijah to describe the problem with God and people who have to be in control. We want God to jump through our hoops, and this God whom we know in Jesus will not jump. This creates a crisis of the first order for us. Either we have to pretend that God did jump through our hoop or we give up on any living dimension to faith, quickly moving to the sidelines of faith and the church.
Let me say this as clearly as I can. It doesn’t matter how articulately or passionately you describe your hoped-for flow to God, the Living God does not get in our flow. There is only one option. We must give up control, stop trying so hard, and get in the flow of God’s grace.
This is precisely what happens to Elijah. Only when the fireworks were finished and a terrible hush fell over the mountain did Elijah hear something, and what he heard was so much like silence that it was only through the ear of faith that he heard anything at all.
Elijah heardthe message loudly and clearly. There is no question of who was the star at Mt. Carmel. Not even Elijah could get God to jump through a hoop. God never jumps into our flow. Yet, the living Lord is always encouraging us to stop trying so hard, to give up control and jump into the extraordinary flow of his grace. The river of his grace is all around us. The contemplative Franciscan priest Richard Rohr puts it like this,
“Faith does not need to push the river because faith is able to trust that there is a river. The river is flowing. We can be in it.”
There is a river of God’s grace that is flowing through our lives. To those who will stop trying so hard, to those who are willing to give up control, the river waits. It is a great float. I commend it to you.
Sermon Title: “Trying Softer – The Key to Getting in the Flow of God’s Grace”
July 10
Preacher: Jim Milley
Ortberg Book Chapter: #7, Let Your Desires Lead You to God
Scripture: Matthew 13:44-46 (NRSV)
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; 46 on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Sermon Title: Getting What We Desire
Sermon Theme: Our desires lead us to God, and god loves to give us our desires.
July 17
Preacher: Jim Milley
Ortberg Book Chapter: #8, Think Great Thoughts
Scripture: Romans 8:5-9a
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Sermon Title: Unstinking our Thinking
Sermon Theme: The Spirit of God sets us free from stinking thinking
July 24
Preacher: Jim Milley
Ortberg Book Chapter: #10, Never Worry Alone
Scripture: Mark 4:35-41
35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Sermon Title: On Belay: How to Live When Scared to Death
Sermon Theme: God is not anxious, and we don’t have to be. God’s peace can become our peace.
July 31
Preacher: Kristin Leucht
Ortberg Book Chapter: #12, Temptation: How Not to Get Hooked
Scripture: Luke 4:1-13
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. 3The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” 4Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’” 5Then the devil£ led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And the devil£ said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” 9Then the devil£ took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ 11and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” 12Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 13When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
Sermon Theme: The Temptation of Jesus
