First Mennonite Church March 27, 2016 A Living Faith Text: Matthew 27: 45-54 45 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. 46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). 47 When some … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church March 20, 2016 All are welcome to the table Text: Luke 22:14-23 22:14 When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. 22:15 He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 22:16 for I tell you, … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church March 13, 2016 Why Do We Need to Have Faith? Texts: Hebrews 11:6; John 17:20-26 Today I am continuing with the topic of faith. But first, just a summary of what we considered in our first session. Faith, according to Hebrews 11, verse 1, is confidence in what we hope for and … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church February 28, 2016 Faith: What Is It? Text: James 2:14-17 14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church February 21 “Two Kinds of Wisdom” Text: James 3:13-18 Who does not want to be wise? Nobody wants to be a fool! Nobody wants to be perceived as a fool, or, as we say, “I do not want to make a fool of myself.” And so, when we speak we try to … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church February 14, 2016 Faith Reflected in Consistent Love: The Problem with Partiality and Discrimination Text: James 2:1-13 My brothers and sisters, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, do not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church February 7, 2016 Blessed Who Endures Temptation Text: James 1:12-18 Blessed is the one who endures temptation. We would think that the one who has no troubles, trials or temptations is the blessed one. James calls blessed, happy, or favored by God, not those who have no trials and not even those … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church January 31, 2016 Jesus and Temptation Text: Matthew 4:1-11 In James 1, verse 12 we are given some insight about nature of trials and temptations. No one, when tempted, should say, I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one. We will … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church January 24, 2016 The Tongue, Small But Dangerous Text: James 3:1-12 Someone said it could be about 90 percent of butchers only have 90 percent of their fingers. That is because butchers work in a hazardous environment. Every tool they use is razor-sharp, but butchers cannot do otherwise without their sharp knives, … [Read more…]
First Mennonite Church January 17, 2016 Consider It Pure Joy Text: James: 1:1-5 Beginning today and for the next couple of Sundays, I will take the Letter of James for a new series of Bible study. As we will see, James presents a wide range of topics on practical aspect of the Christian faith. But … [Read more…]