Choose the World You Want to Live In
June 6-July 25, 2021

Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven as Matthew identifies it. It’s not heaven; it's life lived genuinely and authentically in this world. But it is also like stepping into a foreign country where the culture and foods and music and expectations are different, because this kingdom is God’s, not ours. Jesus showed us what that kingdom looks like by the way he lived his life. But he also taught us about that kingdom by telling particular kinds of stories we call parables. The parables were descriptive, but they were also invitational. Each telling invites us to choose which world we want to live in…the world we have structured, or the kingdom of heaven? 

June 6	Trust the Gospel	Rev. Tom Are
June 13	It Matters What Kind of Soil You Are	Rev. Tom Are
June 20	More Than a Mustard Seed Faith	Rev. Melanie Hardison
June 27	Can I Fix This?	Rev. Tom Are
July 4	A Different Kind of Patriotism	Rev. Tom Are
July 11	Who Can Be Saved?	Rev. Sally Wright
July 18	Grace Expectations	Rev. Tom Are
July 25	Faith Requires Patience	Rev. Tom Are

Faith Requires Patience
July 25, 2021 - Rev. Tom Are

As the parable goes, the bridesmaids had to wait. They had to wait longer than you might expect. Someone once said, “Good things come to those who wait.” But waiting doesn’t guarantee that good things will come. After a while, you begin to wonder if you are really waiting or just wasting the day with no good thing coming. Our scripture reading is Matthew 25:1-13.

Bulletin 7-25-21
Sermon Transcript 7-25-21

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Grace Expectations
July 18, 2021 - Rev. Tom Are

Change can be hard; everyone knows that. Even if the change is for our benefit, there is a comfort in the ways things have always been. “The devil you know,” as they say. But no one draws closer to God’s promised day by living yesterday all over again. Our scripture reading is Matthew 22:1-14.

​​Bulletin 7-18-21
Sermon Transcript 7-18-21

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Who Can Be Saved?
July 11, 2021 - Rev. Sally Wright

Jesus tells a story where a landowner goes out to hire day-laborers for his vineyard. The issue is the ones he hired at the beginning of the day receive the same wage as the ones hired at the end of the day. Rev. Sally Wright asks what does the story tell us about ourselves? More importantly, what does this story show us about who God is? Our scripture reading is Matthew 20:1-16. 

​Bulletin 7-11-2021
Sermon Transcript 7-11-2021

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A Different Kind of Patriotism
July 4, 2021 - Rev. Tom Are

Jesus pointed her out. She was a woman who gave a gift to the temple. It wasn’t much, but she gave all she had. The truth is, the temple was so corrupt, some argued it wasn’t worthy of her gift. But Jesus pointed her out.  Rev. Tom Are preaches those two were a lot alike. Our scripture reading is Mark 12:41-44.

Bulletin 7-4-2021
Sermon Transcript 7-4-2021

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Can I Fix This?
June 27, 2021 - Rev. Tom Are

We hear another one of Jesus’ stories about farming. Farming is hard work and failure is a frequent reality. This time, the farmer does the best he can, but weeds invade the garden. The problem can’t be fixed. You don’t have to be a farmer to know that some problems can’t be fixed. What do we do when things have gone so wrong we can’t make them right? Rev. Tom Are ponders this question in the next sermon in the series, “Choose the World You Want to Live In.” Our scripture reading is Matthew 13:24-30.

Bulletin 6-27-21
Sermon Transcript 6-27-2021

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More Than a Mustard Seed Faith
June 20, 2021 - Rev. Melanie Hardison

In the parable of the mustard seed, Jesus says the tiniest of seeds can become the greatest of trees. Rev. Melanie Hardison preaches it’s easy for us to focus on the transformation of the seed into the tree and to use it as a metaphor for our own lives. But what Jesus is talking about is the realm of God. God doesn’t call us to the work of transformation for transformation’s sake. There is more to the story. Our scripture reading is Matthew 13:31-32.

​Bulletin 6-20-2021
Sermon Transcript 6-20-2021

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What Kind of Soil You Are Really Matters
June 13, 2021 - Rev. Tom Are

For Jesus’ first parable, the one about the sower who sows seed like a maniac, he provides an explanation. Those seed-snatching birds are really a metaphor for the evil one, and so on. But if we read with care as we walk through this parable a second time, it becomes clear there is a new point being made. Last week, the story was all about the seed. This week, it’s all about the soil. Rev. Tom Are preaches what kind of soil we are really matters. Our scripture reading is Matthew 13:18-23. ​

​Bulletin 6-13-2021
Sermon Transcript 6-13-2021

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Trust the Gospel
June 6, 2021 - Rev. Tom Are

Rev. Tom Are begins a new sermon series on the parables of Jesus titled, "Choose the World You Want to Live In." Whether talking about seeds, weeds, lost sheep, lost sons or how to behave on a wilderness road, his subject matter was always the same. His stories were about the kingdom of God–the promised day of God. In this sermon, he reflects on the sower and the seed, and what it means for us to live a life of faith in every choice and every relationship and every circumstance. Our scripture reading is Matthew 13:1-9. ​

​Bulletin 6-6-2021
Sermon Transcript 6-6-2021

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