7/17/2011

Missionaries Ethan & Melissa Molsee

Missionaries

The Molsees - Missionaries to Togo, West Africa

Ethan & Melissa Molsee present their hospital ministry to the people of West Africa.

7/10/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

Communion

The congregation enjoys a passover sedar meal together. As such there is no sermon this week.

7/3/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

Hebrews 3

Hebrews

Better than Moses

The book continues in its description of the Son, Jesus. Here the author presents Jesus in comparison to the one great and universal hero of Israel—Moses. Moses is in no ways painted in a bad light, he is used as comparison to Jesus. While Moses was a great and faithful servant, Jesus is a better Son. If He is better, then He must be believed and followed, so do we faithfully obey what He commands?

6/26/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

Hebrews 2

Hebrews

Christ’s Humiliation

The author moves to the heart of his argument as he transitions to focusing solely upon the Son and His role as our High Priest. He transitions from Heaven to Earth to describe the important role Jesus fulfills for us as both God and man. We have a Savior who loves us and knows us and can relate to and with us…

6/19/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

Hebrews 2

Hebrews

Warning #1: Don’t Drift Away

The book of Hebrews includes 3 warning sections sprinkled throughout the book. These seem at first to be rabbit trails, but actually serve as reinforcements for the ideas the writer is emphasizing. The Son is better than the prophets and angels and needs to be believed. Those who have believed, must be cautious that they don’t fall away from the message that was given.

6/12/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

Hebrews 1

Hebrews

Better Than Angels

The writer starts right in comparing the Son to angels. It may seem strange to go there, but the writer wants to quickly assert that no one, seen or unseen, physical or spiritual, is better than the Son. Angels played a crucial role in the Old Testament narrative. Even in the gospels and Acts we see their importance in the early church…Jesus is better than even the highest and strongest angels…

6/5/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

Hebrews 1

Hebrews

God Spoke

One of the least studied, yet perhaps one of the most important theological books is Hebrews. It is rich in depth and helps us to properly understand the Old Testament and how we relate to it. It is swirling with questions, many of which we cannot answer. It is a book though that is filled with relevant warnings for today as we grow together in more fully knowing Jesus Christ.

5/29/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

Loving as God Loves

Love Never Fails

As we wrap up our study on Agape Love, Paul ends with the overarching idea that love does not fail or quit or give up. God's love for us is everlasting and enduring. Our love in return and ot others needs to be the same kind of love...

5/22/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

Loving as God Loves

Love Believes, Hopes, Endures

Paul gives us a threefold description of godly love. These are bold, rich words that sound noble; yet also seem out of touch with reality. How do you love this way when all you get in return is unbelief, despair and unfaithfulness? We have developed a cynical approach to love that is not like God…

5/15/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

Loving as God Loves

Love Covers All

Paul is coming to a close in his description of Agape Love and he starts his conclusion with a repetitive use of a Greek adjective. Four times we have the same word used with a different verb. This section reminds us that God’s kind of love is all inclusive…is your love able to cover another’s faults?

5/8/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

Loving as God Loves

Love Distances Itself From Sin, But Welcomes Truth

One of the difficult things to do is to confront someone we love who is living a life of sin. Avoidance, denial, even tacit approval are not biblical or loving responses; yet it is what most of us do. Most of us do not welcome nor enjoy conflict, but if we truly love someone we will not stand by as they follow an ungodly life path...

5/1/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

Loving as God Loves

Love is not Angered nor Retaliatory

This aspect of God’s love (Agape) is difficult. God expects us to react to wrongs in the same way He reacts to wrongs—long fuse, intentional oversight. At times it would be easier for God to ask us to drain the ocean with a straw; or at least it feels that way. Do you deal with disappointments, even offenses, with God’s reaction; or are you more self-focused?

4/24/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

John 3

Easter

God’s Love so Clearly Demonstrated

Resurrection Sunday is a date we celebrate Jesus return from the dead. It is the culmination of the passion week, a week filled with highs and lows; from the joy of Palm Sunday to the fear of betrayal to the melancholy of death. Why did it happen? What is the meaning of all of it? John tells us so that God could show His love for us…

4/24/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

Philippians 3

Easter

The Power of the Resurrection

Probably all of us in this room have experienced death. One of the most often asked questions, 'Will I see them again?' It can be a favorite cat or Grandma or a friend. Where does this come from? It runs counter to the evolutionary design scheme of survival of the fittest. Why long for something/someone that was weak and inferior; death is just the natural way of the universe...

4/10/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

Loving as God Loves

Love is not Rude nor is it Self-Serving

We all have a problem, and the problem is almost always us! Oh we blame it on others ineptness or being born in a sin-cursed fallen society; but the truth is we are the source of our angst. We want what we want and will not take NO for an answer...

4/3/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

Loving as God Loves

Love Does Not Brag Nor is it Arrogant

We live in a society of self important, self promoters. Even in the church, we have allowed a culture of braggadocios blowhards that care only about what others think of them. God says though that those who love like He loves have a correct view about themselves and their accomplishments...

3/27/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

Loving as God Loves

Love is Not Envious

One of the downsides to new, immature love is a tendency towards envy or jealousy. God’s kind of love is different though. He says that envy or jealousy is not a character of true love. Envy is what makes marketing happen and the great capitalist system begins to fall apart without envy. How do we learn to love as God wants us to without succumbing to the world’s definitions?

3/20/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

Loving as God Loves

Love is Kind

Paul continued his list of Agape characteristics and tells us that love is kind. Kindness is a positive attribute that certainly brings thoughts of love or at least friendship with another. The opposite- being unkind- is universally recognized as unloving behavior. So how kind are you, in other words, how much do you love?

3/13/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

Loving as God Loves

Love is Patient

Why did Paul have to start with patience? If you are making a list of what love looks like, most of us probably move patience to at best the middle of the list; but not Paul! To be patient is certainly a character of love, so how patient are you?

3/6/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

Loving as God Loves

God is Love, Love is God

We are going to consider over the next several weeks the concept of God’s love for us and how we are to reflect that kind of love in our own lives. We are going to look in depth at I Corinthians 13:4-8, but before we do that we must explore what the concept of love. Today we are going to examine God’s love from a biblical theology point of view. If God is love, and we are to be like God, what should our love look like?