“SIMPLICITY, GENEROSITY AND JOY”
February 5 – 26, 2012
Our nation is experiencing what many have described as the “American Nightmare.” Increasing consumer debt, declines in savings, lower income growth, rising housing costs and a volatile stock market are all contributing to economic insecurity. We live in a society that tells us we deserve whatever we want, and we deserve it now—whether we can afford it (or need it) or not.
In this series we are going to explore what the Bible teaches about financial management. Each week we will provide you with tools you can use to assess your financial situation and develop a financial plan with a biblical foundation.
Sunday, February 5 – “When Dreams Become Nightmares” – Ecclesiastes 5:10-11
The American dream has become a nightmare for too many of us. Even those of us not personally circling the drain are paying a price for past excesses and lack of sound financial wisdom. We can point fingers at others . . . at ourselves . . . but finger pointing isn’t going to help us deal with the challenges we face. Conducting an accurate financial audit and a fearless moral inventory of our relationship with money is the key first step. The St. Andrew Singers get us off to a rousing start this morning and we will celebrate Communion together.
Sunday, February 12 – “Cultivating Contentment and Simplicity” – Ecclesiastes 2:10-11
The English word “contentment” traces its roots back to a French word meaning “restrained desires.” Living simply is one of the essentials of Christian tradition. Living simply relieves us of much of the stress of taking care of our “stuff” and worrying about lives that become more and more complicated. Our Band leads us in worship and our Drama Team is with us again.
Sunday, February 26 – “Defined by Generosity” – Timothy 6:17-19
Throughout the Scriptures individuals willingly sharing their wealth are seen as important to God’s plan. This is the investment plan that pays eternal dividends. Wealth is determined by what we can affect, not by what we hoard. This morning The Festival Bells share an arrangement of a favorite hymn, “Day by Day.”
“CHRISTMAS SURPRISE:
BECAUSE JESUS IS STILL CATCHING US OFF-GUARD”
The story of the first Christmas is full of surprise. Everyone seems to be surprised by the first coming of Jesus. We find God in surprising ways… surprising places …surprising people … surprising problems …surprising demands. The danger for us is to think we’ve got God figured out so that we can predict God’s next move and therefore walk by sight and not by faith. God’s words as spoken through Isaiah are as true now as they were then.
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)
Our task this advent season is the task of being alert and watching to see where and how God is at work today in our lives and not letting our assumptions get in the way of our seeing and hearing God.
Sunday, November 27 – “Surprising Times: Herod” – Matthew 2:7-12
Herod thought he was in control-until his reign was threatened by the arrival of the Messiah. He wasn’t expecting God to do anything new. The story can be expanded to include the Wise Men who read the times, but the religious authorities missed it. They were working on a different timetable and didn’t have time for God to be at work. What do we miss because we are too pre-occupied with our own schedule? Pastor Rich will also divulge his annual list of Neiman-Marcus fantasy gifts and the St. Andrew Singers will sing “Ding! Dong! Merrily on High!” with Jim and Patricia Berry playing piano-four-hands.
Sunday, December 4 – “Surprising Ways: Zechariah” – Luke 1:5-21; 57-66
Zechariah of all people should have expected God to show up … he’d been waiting all his life … but when God did show up … Zechariah was caught off guard because it didn’t look the way he thought it would look. What was most surprising was that, rather than be a spectator; he was going to be a participant. What is it about our religious training that still gets in the way of recognizing God’s appearance and action? Our Drama Team will reprise an entertaining scene from “DoveTale” that tells the story of Zechariah. We will also celebrate Communion.
Sunday, December 11 – “Surprising Circumstances: Joseph and Mary” – Luke 1:26-38 and Matthew 1:18-25
We like to think that when God shows up, our problems go away. Mary and Joseph can report that isn’t always the case. In fact, it was in the midst of problems, that God brought, that they experienced God. God’s opportunities so often show up as problems bigger than we are … problems we can’t solve. It is in our surrender that we find God so that we look back and say, “That was the worst thing that ever happened to me – that was the best thing that ever happened to me.” Our music this morning is led by The Festival Bells.
Sunday, December 18 – “Surprising People: Shepherds” – Luke 2:8-20
Announcements of great and important events get made to great and important people. The birth announcement of Jesus came to … shepherds! Our service this morning begins with the annual Children’s Christmas Pageant … with hopefully no surprises!
Sunday, December 25 – ONE SERVICE AT 10:00 A.M. – “The God of Surprises” – John 1:1-18
It is God himself who shows up as the long awaited Messiah. God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are part of the operation which is all about love, not judgment. (John 3:16-17)
Sunday, January 1, 2012 – “Surprising Demands: The Wise Men” – Matthew 2:13-22
The arrival of God often means we have to live differently. God’s arrival means there are new demands of how we live. The Wise Men had to go home ‘another way.’ Mary and Joseph had to flee to Egypt. John the Baptist had to become ‘less’ so that Jesus could become ‘greater.’ Weren’t things supposed to get easier once Jesus showed up? This morning we will have both of our regular services, at 9:00 a.m. and 10:45 a.m., and we will celebrate Communion.
“What’s So Amazing About Grace?”
September 25 – November 20, 2011
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9
We all know John Newton’s song, “Amazing Grace.” Like our national anthem, most people know at least the words to the first verse: “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, which saved a wretch like me; I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see.”
Grace is amazing, but as with all things we consider familiar, the very familiarity of grace means we gradually take for granted what is truly so amazing. This is a chance for us to either connect for the first time, or reconnect at an even deeper level with the true breadth and depth of God’s love as reflected in God’s truly amazing grace for every one of us. We’re going to use as our guide the scriptures and Phillip Yancy’s profound book, “What’s So Amazing About Grace.”
In addition to the messages, everyone associated with St. Andrew will be asked to read Yancy’s book and participate in some sort of group study using the associated study guide. The synergy we’re hoping is created by the message, reading, and discussion will fill us with a new sense of gratitude, humility, and sheer awe at the wonder of God’s amazing grace. It is also our hope and prayer that the very nature of our community relationship will be further transformed as we experience in a new way God’s grace, and find new ways to share that grace with the ones right next to us.
September 25 – “The Lovesick Father” – Luke 15:11-32
The unique characteristic of the Christian gospel is “grace.” No other religion starts with God’s unreasonable and freely given love and grace. There is no “catch” when it comes to God’s grace – we just have to ask. We don’t deserve it and we can’t buy it. We can only receive it in humility and gratitude which lays the axe to the root of our deepest problem, pride. Then God throws a party for the one who was lost and is now found. David and the band will lead us in worship, our fine handbell choir will play and our Drama Team joins us with a profound depiction of the gospel.
October 2 – “The New Math of Grace” – Matthew 20:1-16
The parable of the vineyard workers is just wrong! Why should the one who goes out into the field at the end of the day get paid the same amount as the one who spent the entire day working? Yet that’s Jesus’ revelation of God’s new math. How do I feel when someone gets the check stand which just opened while I stand in a long line? Righteous anger – it isn’t fair! God’s grace is free, but it isn’t fair. This morning we celebrate World Communion Sunday with Christian around the globe. Please join us for great music, a stirring message and a meal at Christ’s table.
October 9 – FAITH IN ACTION SUNDAY – “Don’t Go the Church, Be the Church”
This morning we’re to practice grace, not talk about it. You can find out information about “Faith in Action Sunday” elsewhere on our website.
October 16 – “Forgiveness is The Unnatural Act” – Genesis 42-45
Forgiveness makes no sense. It runs counter to everything we know. This morning we talk about Joseph who was a brat, but he didn’t deserve to be sold into slavery by his brothers. When the chance to get even presented itself, it was tempting, and Joseph did “mess” with his brothers a bit. But in the end, he surrendered to the unnatural act of forgiveness. Forgiveness is the evidence that God’s world of grace is upside-down. Our choir joins us this morning for a stirring medley of songs about grace and we also hear Chris Tomlin’s inspiring “My Chains Are Gone.”
October 23 – “So Why Forgive?” – 2 Corinthians 5:11-21
Short answer? Because our lives depend on it! Forgiveness is ultimately a selfish act – for in forgiveness we are freed from the bondage of ungrace. When we forgive we stop drinking the poison that we hope is killing the other person, but is in fact corroding us from the inside out. Ultimately, forgiveness breaks the cycle of blame and shame that gets passed on from one generation to the next. We live into our new identity as people of grace as we seek reconciliation as we have been reconciled. Our Drama Team helps us look at the forgiveness that Jesus gave Peter and our praise band and handbell choir also join us.
October 30 – “Compassion: The Result of Grace Filled Eyes” – Matthew 25:31-46
Jesus said it all – the one who has been forgiven much will love much – and vice versa. If we’re miserly with our compassion we have to ask whether or not we “get” what grace is all about. Do we offer the cup of water to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, food to the hungry . . . or do we stand in judgment and condemnation? This morning our Drama Team is on hand to give us a moving depiction of living with grace filled eyes.
November 6 – “Loopholes” – Romans 6:1-4
This morning we talk about the abuses which Bonhoeffer coined as “cheap grace.” A loophole is excusing our behavior and relying on grace to cover what we know is wrong. The question then has to be asked whether we’ve actually experienced grace, because grace will change us from the inside out. If not, then we are the hypocrites who change the outside while we are foul and disgusting on the inside. Being the first Sunday of the month, we will also celebrate the Lord’s Supper.
November 13 – “Serpent Wisdom” – Galatians 5:16-26
How do we live as people of faith and grace in a culture that no longer shares “Judeo-Christian” values? Is it our job to be the moral police or to undertake real change by exemplifying graceful living that takes on the BIG challenges of our time? To do this, we can’t be cozy with political power, but stand with those in need of compassionate action. We gently, but wisely, stand as a counterbalance to the ways of our culture. A cappella music is all the rage right now and this morning the St. Andrew Singers bring us a bebop setting of “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.”
November 20 – “Patches of Green” – Matthew 13:31-33, 44-46
God’s grace in Christ frees us to love as Jesus loved, and this ultimately will be how people know we are his disciples. The parables of the mustard seed, the treasure in the field, and the pearls of great value speak to the nature of God’s kingdom breaking into our lives. It starts small, but is of such great value that it’s worth everything we are. This Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of St. Andrew church. We anticipate a worship service worthy of that celebration. Join us, won’t you?
NEXT SERIES: “Christmas Surprise: Because Jesus is Still Catching Us Off-Guard”