In our sixth week of Heart Smart our team of panelists read and responded to Dear-Abby-style letters about difficult relational situations from members of the church community. For each letter, they gave advice on how to approach the problem from a Kingdom point of view. Read More
In our sixth week of our sermon series, we shed a new vision on the Book of Revelation. Greg empowers the church to interpret the text through the non-violent, self-sacrificial love of Jesus. There should be a joy found in the hearts of the church—the bride of Christ—as we look forward to the final consummation of Jesus and the church. Read More
The Charismatic thread helps us understand and delve into how the Holy Spirit works. In this sermon, Greg talks about the life of William Seymour and how the gifts of the Spirit are to be used today, in addition to counter-cultural Charismatic perspectives on race and gender that were a part of the movement from the beginning. Read More
When Jesus prayed from the cross, “Father, forgive them …” he was expressing the radical love of the Father that extends forgiveness to all the world. While such an expression of forgiveness is far from typical, it contains the ability to heal, transform hearts and release people to forgive others. Read More
When John the Baptist was proclaiming the coming of the Messiah he preached repentance for the forgiveness of sins and called people to be baptized. Jin Kim connected this proclamation to faithfulness in the body of Christ and the importance of bearing fruit in the world. Read More
The Importance of Knowing Ernest: Sandra shares experiences and insights that have come from her family’s “unlikely” friendships with people on St. Paul’s East Side. In our movement toward the issue of poverty, it’s easy for the ‘haves’ to feel heroic for seeking to give to the ‘have-nots’. Through her relationship with Ernest, Sandra explains what can happen when we pursue relationships instead of responsibilities, or people instead of poverty. Read More
We know that we are saved by God’s grace, not our own good deeds—but God still intends that we do good deeds. In fact, God saved us so that we can be restored to right relationship with God and all of creation. This restored relationship includes the activity (good works) that God has planned for each one of us. Read More
We see many examples of celebration in the Bible. By reading through these verses we can learn a lot about what celebration is and how it was done during biblical times. [Focus Scripture: Psalms 66:8] Read More
Christmas is a time of both celebration and reflection on the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Through the use of Christmas hymns and carols, we are reminded of just how amazing God’s love for us is, and of the sacrifice Christ made for us all by dying for our sins and redeeming us. Read More
God’s kingdom is paradoxical. The paradox is displayed in how God uses our weaknesses to make us strong. In spite of our weaknesses, God uses us to bring about His kingdom. The things in our lives that we see as weaknesses or stumbling blocks are actually opportunities for God to reveal to us his power and strength in us and through us. Read More