SPY Costume Party

"While We're Waiting: What is the Significance of My Life?"

Meditation
“May the God of peace sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23



Call to Worship  
Leader: You are in our midst, O Lord, and we are called by your name.

People: Stir up in us the desire to fulfill this sacred calling.

Unison: May we devote each day to serving your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.


Prayer of Confession
Gracious God, you know our frailty and understand our failures.  Cleanse us by your forgiveness, purge the stain of sin, and make pure our hearts within us.  Mend what is broken in our lives, that we may be whole with the peace of Jesus Christ. Amen.


Assurance of God's Faithfulness
Leader: Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." (John 14:27)

People: Jesus also said, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

Leader: May these words of Jesus bring rest to our weary souls and comfort to our aching hearts. Amen.


Scripture Lessons  New Testament: 2 Peter 3:8-15a
Sermon: "While We're Waiting: What is the Significance of My Life?"  (Dr. Calvin Reynolds)

You can listen to this sermon as well as the other sermons in this series by going to the following link: http://www.sppcsa.com/pages.asp?pageid=93516

Boomer's Haunting Halloween Party

Girlfriends' Cozy Mountain Retreat

"While We're Waiting: Stay True to the Faith"

Meditation
“May we continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.”   2 Peter 3:18

Call to Worship
 Leader: Eternal God, you never fail to give us each day all that we ever need, and even more.
People: Give us such joy in living and such peace in serving Christ,
Leader: that we may gratefully make use of all your blessings,
People: and joyfully seek our risen Lord in everyone we meet. Amen.


Prayer of Confession
God of wonders, you work your mighty will in amazing ways and claim us to serve your purposes as you have revealed them in Jesus Christ.  Take us and all we are and all we do; forgive what is imperfect and flawed and show us how to make amends, so that our lives may be better witnesses to the presence of our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Assurance of God's Faithfulness
Leader: Eternal God, remind us always that you have gone before us through every dark valley, and that Christ walks with us still.
People: Free us from fear and the pressure to conform to this world that we may be firm in our discipleship. Unison: Lead us to stand with all who suffer and to champion the cause of justice and truth in Christ’s name.  Amen.

Scripture Lessons
Old Testament: Zephaniah 3:8-13
Sermon: “While We'reWaiting: Stay True to the Faith” (Dr. Calvin Reynolds)

You can listen to this sermon as well as the other sermons in this series by going to the following link: http://www.sppcsa.com/pages.asp?pageid=93516

“While We're Waiting: Carpe Manana”

Meditation
Matthew 25:4 The Parable of the Ten Virgins: 5 were foolish and 5 were wise.  Jesus says, “The wise took oil in jars along with their lamps.” 

 

“Now this kind of wisdom Jesus describes by saying, that they are to provide themselves with supplies necessary for completing the course of their life.”  John Calvin

Call to Worship (Psalm 24:7-10)
Leader: Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
People: Who is this King of glory?
Leader: The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
People: Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
Leader: Who is he, this King of glory?
People: The LORD Almighty - he is the King of glory.

Prayer of Confession
Heavenly Father, we humbly come before you with empty hearts.  We spend so much time with the activities of life that our souls are shriveling up.  Often our Christian walk is something we think of later.  Forgive us, O God, for our neglect.  We are not prepared.  We are not ready.  Our spirit is often too weak to withstand the day to day onslaughts of life.  We are caught unprotected by the enemy. Eternal God, be our starting point and our haven, and accompany us in this day’s journey.  Prepare us for the day.  Prepare us for the hour, so that we might not be found wanting.  Amen. 


Assurance of God's Faithfulness
Leader: God of all joy, fill our souls to overflowing with the fullness of your grace.
People: Remind us of your triumph over the tragedy of the cross, and your victory for us over the power of sin and death,
Unison: so that we may reflect your glory as disciples of Jesus Christ, our risen Lord. Amen.


Scripture Lessons
New Testament: Matthew 25:1-13
Sermon: “While We're Waiting: Carpe Manana” (Dr. Calvin Reynolds)

 

You can listen to this sermon as well as the other sermons in this series by going to the following link: http://www.sppcsa.com/pages.asp?pageid=93516

“While We're Waiting: Looking Is Not For Us”

Meditation
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8

 

Call to Worship

Leader: Blessed is the one who makes the Lord his trust, who does not look to the proud or to those who turn aside to false gods.

People: Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you have planned for us no one can even number.

Unison: We come this day to give you glory and honor and praise for what you have done in our past and what you will do in our future. Amen.

 

Prayer of Confession (Psalm 38:4-6a)
“O Lord, my guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear. My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly. I am bowed down and brought very low.” Lift me up, O God. Deliver me from my sins. Take away the guilt, so that I can press on for you, so that I can live again in your glory. Amen.

 

Assurance of Pardon (Psalm 32:1-2, 7)
Leader: Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.

People: Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.

Unison: You are my hiding place, O Lord. You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Amen.

 

Scripture Lessons
New Testament: Acts 1:6-11
Sermon: “While We'reWaiting: Looking Is Not For Us” (Dr. Calvin Reynolds)

 

You can listen to this sermon as well as the other sermons in this series by going to the following link: http://www.sppcsa.com/pages.asp?pageid=93516

Confession

Confession is one of the reasons why believers join in worship, plus it frees us to enjoy fellowship with Christ. It should ease our consciences and lighten our cares. But some believers do not understand how it works. They feel so guilty that they confess the same sins over and over; then they wonder if they may have forgotten something. Other Christians believe that God forgives them when they confess, but if they died with unconfessed sins, they would be forever lost. These believers don’t understand that God wants to forgive us. He allowed his beloved Son to die just so he could offer us pardon.

When we come to Christ, he forgives all the sins we have committed or will ever commit. We don’t need to confess the sins of the past all over again, and we don’t need to fear that God will reject us if we don’t keep our slate perfectly clean.

 

Of course we should continue to confess our sins, but not because failure to do so will make us lose our salvation. Our relationship with Christ is secure. Instead, we should confess so that we can enjoy maximum fellowship and joy with him.

 

When you confess your sin(s), it involves a commitment that you not continue to sin. We wouldn’t be genuinely confessing our sins to God if we planned to commit them again. As we pray, we should also ask God for strength to defeat temptation the next time we face it.

 

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and

will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:29

 

By Elmer Freed

 

 

 

Fantastic Friday Super Spooky, Kinda Cooky Halloween Hullabalu

True Disciple of Christ

As followers of Jesus, if someone asks you what the Great Commission is would you be able to direct them to Matthew 28:18-19? Jesus' Great Commission to his followers was to make disciples of all nations. Jesus wants us all to be disciples of him. What exactly does that mean? Are we all supposed to drop everything we are doing and leave everything behind to do God's work like the original 12 Apostles? Are we supposed to put on our white shirts and black ties or Sunday dresses and go door-to-door talking about Jesus with anybody who will open their doors?

First maybe we need to define what the word "disciple" means. Webster defines it as "1. A learner; a scholar; one who receives or professes to receive instruction from another. 2. A follower; an adherent to the doctrines of another." Doesn't that sound like all faithful Christians? It sort of does to me. We faithfully follow Jesus. So maybe we are already disciples of Jesus. Is there a difference between being a disciple and being a believer? I believe they are not synonymous. Jesus made that pretty clear. Every disciple is a believer. However, not every believer is a disciple. It is too simplistic to think that a disciple is just a more serious version of a believer. I believe a disciple is much more than a believer. To be a disciple of Jesus we need to be more disciplined in our Bible study, prayer, witnessing, non-conformity to the world, giving to the work of God and other aspects of our walk with God. Being a disciple of Jesus is about committing to a way of life and of learning and growth. It goes past just believing in something, it is more about learning to follow and to live our lives in a new direction, full steam ahead.

The Bible tells us that God has a plan and purpose for each of our lives and a disciple of Christ knows and understands this. Read Ephesians 2:10; “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”. Because of this plan He has created us with certain gifts and abilities so we can play our part in it. Just imagine that we could have been born at any time in history, but God chose for us to be born now. We are not here by chance and we are not living at this time in history without purpose. God has a plan and purpose for each of us and it is a great one! When we deliberately seek out God’s plan for our life and play our part in it, we find ourselves being the most happy and as fulfilled as we can be in this life. Finding and following God’s plan is a big part of being a true disciple.

In John 13:34-35 Jesus says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” A true disciple loves people like Jesus did.

In this life we have a choice to spend our money how we please. We can choose to save it and spend it all on ourselves or we can see ourselves as stewards of God’s resources. A true disciple sees the world and its needs through God’s eyes and uses their resources accordingly.

A true disciple knows how great it is to know, love and serve Christ and they want to help others to follow Him too. For me personally, the day I became a Christian is the greatest day of my life. Knowing Jesus personally and asking Him into my life was a true turning point for me. My life is full of hope, purpose and meaning and I want to share this with others. I also want to share the great love Jesus has for others too. I am more than a believer; I am one of Jesus' disciples. We all need to be one of Jesus' disciples. To answer our questions above; no we don't have to drop everything and we don't have to go door-to-door. We just have to know God's purpose for us, use the gifts He gave us to shine a light on God's grace and love for all of us, love one another as Jesus loves us all, be wise stewards of His resources, and share the good news of God's love every chance we get.

By Ed Olson