Sermon Preview

December 8th  2nd Sunday of Advent
Leviticus 2: 12-13; Colossians 4: 5-6; Mark 9:50 
“Salt of the Earth”

 















Leviticus 2:12-13

12 You may bring them to the Lord as an offering of choice products, but they shall not be offered on the altar for a pleasing odor. 

13 You shall not omit from your grain offerings the salt of the covenant with your God; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.

 















Reading from the Church Letters   Colossians 4:5-6

5 Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. 

6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone.

 














Reading from the Gospels  Mark 9:38-50

38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 

39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 

40 Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.

42 “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.

43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 

45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. 

47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, 

48 where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.

49 “For everyone will be salted with fire. 

50 Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another.”

December 15th  3rd Sunday of Advent & Children’s Christmas Program 

Isaiah 51:1-3, 1 Corinthians 10:1-4, Matthew 7:24-26
“Rock of Ages”
Isaiah 51: 1-3

Listen to me, you that pursue righteousness, you that seek the Lord . Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, but I blessed him and made him many. For the Lord will comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places, and will make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord ; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.

1 Corinthians 10: 1-4

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.

Matthew 7:24-26
24“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

 

December 22nd  4th Sunday of Advent

Exodus 13:21-22, 2 Corinthians 4:5-7, Matthew 5:14-16

“Light of the World”

Exodus 13:21-22

The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day, to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

2 Corinthians 4:5-7

For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.


Matthew 5:14-16
14 “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15 No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

 

December 24th  Christmas Eve (4 pm service)

(Isaiah 9:2-7, Galatians 4:4-7, Luke 2:1-20)

“Born in a Manger”

Isaiah 9:2-7

2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined. 3 You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder. 4 For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. 5 For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire. 6 For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Galatians 4:4-7

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. 6 And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.


Luke 2:1-20

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3All went to their own towns to be registered. 4Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

8In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 14“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” 15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.












 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 






















 























Leviticus 2:12-13

12 You may bring them to the Lord as an offering of choice products, but they shall not be offered on the altar for a pleasing odor. 

13 You shall not omit from your grain offerings the salt of the covenant with your God; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.

 























Leviticus 2:12-13

12 You may bring them to the Lord as an offering of choice products, but they shall not be offered on the altar for a pleasing odor.