Messages on Isaiah
With Wings Like Eagles
Our scriptures today: Isaiah 40:21-31; Psalm 147: 1 Corinthians 9:16-23; and Mark 1:29-39. Pastor Wayne’s sermon on the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany explores the concept of waiting on the Lord. He challenges the traditional understanding of waiting as a passive expectation for God to act, suggesting that Isaiah calls us to recognize God’s presence within and around us. Waiting, in this context, involves trusting, relying on, and being confident in the Lord. The sermon emphasizes the power of service…
Yeilding Wild Grapes
We continue the series dealing with the prophets from the Revised Common Lectionary readings. This morning, we continue from Isaiah 5:1-7. It is a harsh word comparing Israel to “wild (rotten) grapes” and declaring that it would be destroyed. The people had lost their way, they didn’t acknowledge that their current state was a gift from God, and (most of all), they forgot the need to care for widows, orphans and the poor. Our Scriptures this morning:Isaiah 5:1-7Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19Hebrews…
Learn to do Good
We will look at the prophet Isaiah this morning as we continue with this series based upon the Old Testament prophets. In this opening to the book of Isaiah, the voice of God is telling us through Isaiah that our rituals our religiosity are not all that there is to a life of faith. The problem is that the people were substituting religiosity for an active faith that would “cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue…
Finding Joy in the Journey
Pastor Wayne continues this series, “Are We There Yet?” with this sermon, “Finding Joy in the Journey.” We’re not there yet. But we’re getting closer. Joy is part of our journey as we sing “Joy to the world, the Lord is come” but sometimes that joy is elusive because we are grieving. Regardless, the joy of the Lord is present even when we may not be aware of it. God is always present with us in our joy and our…
Finding Hope in the Desert
The secular world encourages us to seek Christmas earlier and earlier each year. But the hope of Christmas, the hope that Advent encourages us to seek, is not found in the halls of commerce. In his sermon this morning, this morning of the second Sunday of Advent, Pastor Wayne introduces us to John the Baptist, a prophet who “makes the way straight” for the coming of the Lord, but who will never be found on a Hallmark Christmas Card. The…
Choosing a Journey of Peace
Happy New Year! Well, it is if you’re looking at the church calendar. This is the first Sunday of Advent. We begin the preparations, not for the coming of a baby in the manger, but for the coming of our Messiah, Emmanuel, God made flesh… or, as Eugene Peters phrases it in The Message, “God put on skin and moved into the neighborhood.” Pastor Wayne’s message today is based on Isaiah 2:1-5 with a reference to Matthew 24:36-44. We’ll explore…
Disciples Take Their Faith Public
Isaiah 65:17-25 offers a description of the Kingdom of God. Join Pastor Wayne as he explores how this “Kingdom yet to come” is more than a future reality, it is part of what we should be striving for as the Body of Christ.
