“Who Are You, Jesus?”
Romans 5: 1-11————John 3: 1-21————John 4: 1-30 July 25, 2021—————-Rev. Kate Freeman—————9th Sunday after Pentecost Good Morning, Spanish Springs Church. It is good to be back together with you all. Today I invite us to take a look at two familiar conversations which involve Jesus and someone who is seeking to know, “Who is this man?” Want to get to know someone, have a conversation, right? Let’s discover how Jesus reveals his Identity and what that means for us. These…
Drawn to Power
Drawn to Power 8th Sunday after Pentecost Ephesians 2:11-22 July 18, 2021 Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 I’m willing to bet that something like this has happened to you: You’ve been working on something really hard (without a break), and you are really looking forward to a chance to kick back and relax. And just at the time when your break comes, someone asks you to help them—and it’s obvious that you have to defer that break. Something in you says,…
It Is For Freedom
2 Corinthians 12: 2-10; Mark 6: 1-13 July 4 6th Sunday after Pentecost It Is for Freedom 6th Pentecost 2 Corinthians 12:2-10 July 4, 2021 Mark 6:1-13 The word freedom is tossed around a lot these days, and it has been especially on my mind as we have approached our country’s Independence Day. Freedom! It’s the battle cry of every person who is struggling against powers that would enslave them, that would imprison them unjustly. Freedom. I’m remembering a conversation…
Normal or Nomad
1 Samuel 8: 4-11, 16-20; Mark 3:20-35 June 27, 2021———-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost Guest Preacher, Rev. Christy Ramsey We have all felt like Samuel. No, I’m not talking about being called old by the people, although we may have been there, too. I’m talking about Samuel going crazy. This is crazy Samuel time. When you know what is right. When you know what happens, and what will happen, and how the world is arranged, and you tell the people that. …
Praise to Our Fathers
Isaiah 40:28-31;———–2 Timothy 3:10-17———— June 20, 2021 Praise to Our Fathers Elaine York, Commissioned Lay Pastor This morning I will speak of three kinds of fathers. One, our biological fathers, grandfathers and great grandfathers. Do we have any great grandfathers here today? Please raise your hands! Thank you!! Second, we will talk about step fathers, father’s through adoption, uncles, mentors and any other significant men in the lives of children. And third, we will give praise and honor to our…
God Sees the Potential
1 Samuel 15:34 – 16:13; 2 Corinthians 5:6-17; Mark 4:26-34 God Sees the Potential 3rd Sunday after Pentecost – – – -June 13, 2021 Many of you know the name of Ben Carson, the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Still more of you know that he had a career as an acclaimed brain surgeon. But I think that most of you don’t know that Ben was born to a woman who only completed 3rd grade. She married real…
From Temporary to Eternal
From Temporary to Eternal 2nd Pentecost Psalm 138; 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1; June 6, 2021; Mark 6:20-35 Most of us know what a mirage is, right? You’re out in the desert, hot and parched, and you see up ahead some WATER, shimmering in the heat! You move toward the water, anticipating a good drink. But, of course, when you get there, the water has all disappeared! It was an optical illusion, not really there at all. We’ve seen this…
The Father’s Adoption
The Father’s Adoption Trinity Sunday Romans 8:12-17 May 30, 2021 John 3:1-17 In 1954, just four years after The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe made a big splash on the literary scene, C. S. Lewis published The Horse and His Boy. It’s actually the fifth book published in a series that later came to be called The Chronicles of Narnia. (Now, remember: Lewis was a man with a deeply-held Christian faith, and his books convey an underlying message of…
The Work of the Spirit
The Work of the Spirit Pentecost Acts 2:1-21 May 23, 2021 John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15 The book I want to highlight today is called The Hiding Place. It’s a true story about the amazing things God did with Corrie ten Boom during the Nazi occupation of Holland. Corrie and her family had been hiding Jews so that they wouldn’t be sent off to concentration camps (or extermination camps, as they turned out to be). When they were caught, they were…
While We Wait
While We Wait 7th Sunday of Easter Acts 1:1-11 ———- May 16, 2021 ———– Luke 24:44-53 Last week, I shared an excerpt from one of the Chronicles of Narnia, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. This week, I will share some snippets from the book that kicked off the whole series, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The author was an Oxford professor named C. S. Lewis. Although the book was written for children, adults responded to it in…
The Wide Family of God
The Wide Family of God ———–Mothers’ Day ————–6th Sunday of Easter Acts 10:44-48 —————May 9, 2021—————-John 15:9-17 Today’s story comes from the pen of C. S. Lewis, from his book called The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. One of the main characters is described in the opening sentence: “There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.” He is described as an annoying, spiteful, friendless know-it-all who gets dragged into Narnia with his cousins (who had been there before). …
The First to Love
The First to Love 5th Sunday of Easter 1 John 4:7-21 May 2, 2021 John 15:1-8 The story I want to share with you today is my favorite from Leo Tolstoy. His title is Where Love Is, God Is but you might know it as “Martin the Cobbler.” It’s about an older man whose home and shop were in the basement, and he had one window looking out on the sidewalk. He was able to recognize his…