Sermon Reflections from Feel | Alex Hardt | May 19, 2024  
 
We know that emotions are unavoidable.  God created us with emotions. He created Adam and saw that it was not good for him to be alone.  Loneliness is part of the human experience.   When Jesus was on the cross, he was separated from God by our sins and he felt alone and even cried out from the cross, why have you forsaken me? Matthew 27:46   God created the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve and put many wonderful things for them to eat and plants and animals to see and experience.  Feeling pleasure, joy, love and awe are all emotions that God created in us.   After the fall and sin entered the world, sin corrupted our emotions and made things more difficult.  The only way to navigate all our God given emotions is through the help of Jesus.  Remember all God’s promises are Yes in Him! 2 Corinthians 1:20 “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.”

Our feelings are unavoidable as God created us with them.  How we deal with them is a matter of choice.   Pastor Alex gave several examples of how Jesus dealt with his emotions as he faced the cross: fear, dread, anxiety, etc.   Jesus did exactly what 1 Peter 5:7 tells us  “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”   Jesus knew that God loved and cared for him.  He laid his fears and anxieties before God in the Garden of Gethsemane.  The Bible is filled with godly people who made the right choice- taking their problems to God and those that did not.  Genesis 12 tells of a time when Abraham went to Egypt with Sarah.  He was afraid to tell the Pharaoh that Sarah was his wife because he feared they would kill him as Sarah was beautiful.  So he lied.   God sent a plague on Pharaoh’s household and discovered that Sarah was Abraham’s wife.  It all ended in their leaving Egypt but all this could have been avoided if Abraham had told God in prayer what he was facing and sought His help.   Elijah was pursued by King Ahab in 1 Kings.  He was afraid and ran for his life but God answered his prayers and fed and led him to safety.  David, Jeremiah, Elisha, Ruth and Esther were all people of God who turned to Him in their time of need, in prayer. They acknowledged their need and humbly relinquished their emotion filled requests to God.  Where do you need to turn over your worries and doubts?  I had a good friend say, Linda, “I turned it over to God last night.  But I got into trouble today when I decided to pick it up again!” We need to turn our worries to God and let him truly have them. He promises to guide and help us.  He is sovereign and in control of all things. He sees the beginning and the end.  Claim Romans 8:28 and hide its precious words in your heart.  “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose.”   We can trust God- He has this!

What was the end result for Jesus after relinquishing his worries to God in the Garden of Gethsemane?  He got up and went to the disciples filled with resolve and purpose.  Luke22:46 “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”   Jesus was at peace with God’s pathway for him.   God listens to our prayers and gives us guidance, release, comfort and hope.   Our memory verse for this series is Hebrews 4:14-16 “So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. 15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”   God’s Word tells us to take our worries and concerns of this world and seek His help.  It is a system He put into place for us here on earth and He desires that we use it effectively just as Jesus did.  Jesus got the strength he needed to see his mission through.  Prayer brings peace, resolve and hope and His grace when we need it the most. 

Seek His throne and feel His grace today.
Linda

​MESSAGE LINK
Click Here to View the Message on Youtube
Our Sunday service is online and in-person at 11:00am.
​Come visit us at 5353 Concord Blvd, on the corner of Concord Blvd and Kirker Pass

Sermon Reflections from Name | Alex Hardt | May 12, 2024  
 
Throughout his sermon Pastor Alex reminded us how Mothers or Mother figures are vital to our emotional health.  By providing that listening ear and gentle guidance they emulate Jesus’ loving care and help us to lead stronger and more resilient lives. 

For his text this week, Pastor Alex chose the story of the Samaritan woman in John 4.  Jesus’ encounter with this unnamed woman showed his great love and careful counseling that led to her transformation. When he first met her in John 4:1-9 she was what we would consider today a ‘hot mess’.  She was an outcast in her village because of her immoral behavior but Jesus reached out to her when she least expected it.  Jesus was tired and thirsty sitting strategically at the well knowing she would arrive.  He asked her for a drink of water.  She was doubtful and filled with trepidation as men did not speak with lone women especially one like her.  She had come in the heat of the day to avoid the other women who had shunned her.  Since Jews did not associate with Samaritans, she did not expect him to speak let alone ask her for something.  He realized her fear and led her into a discussion that pointed her towards a deeper meaning as he introduced the idea of living water.   She was intrigued and asked him about this thinking this living, eternal water could be the solution to her having to come to the well and face those she lived around.  Just like many of us, she sought to avoid her problem emotions and was structuring her life so that she could avoid conflict. However, Jesus is teaching us here that we need to openly discuss our issues and realize that HE is the solution.  I love 2 Corinthians 2:20 which assures us, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.”

Next, Jesus invites her to partake of the living water. John 4:13-14 “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  She was eager to embrace this idea and was joyful at the thought of such water.  Then Jesus caused her to have to confront her sin.  John 4:15-18 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”   His words caused her to think and reevaluate who this man could be.  She saw him as a prophet and moved the conversation to religious differences between the Jews and Samaritans.  Jesus was not waylaid, he confronted her with the truth of her sin and guided her to seek the truth of who he was.  4:25-26 “ The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”  When she realized the truth of his words, she was transformed!

Jesus had made her world turn upside down.  She was no longer afraid or cowering when thinking about those around her and their criticisms.  She became bold and returned to them changed. John 4:39-42 “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers. 42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”   She was transformed by Jesus and his message and taking his message of how he had changed her life impacted on those around her.  Jesus not only transforms our lives through faith in Him but it spills out and over as we share with others.  Just like the Samaritan women did for those around her, we too are God’s plan to share and spread His Good News to those around us!

Blessing,
Linda
​
MESSAGE LINK
Click Here to View the Message on Youtube
Our Sunday service is online and in-person at 11:00am.
​Come visit us at 5353 Concord Blvd, on the corner of Concord Blvd and Kirker Pass
 
 

Sermon Reflections from Notice | Alex Hardt | May 5, 2024  
 
Pastor Alex began his sermon this Sunday by opening up that mysterious box called emotions. Because of our emotions run amuck, we often feel invisible, overwhelmed, unloved, downtrodden or despairing.  In the midst of our turmoil, he suggested we need to take a pause to reset our perspective and look up.  God knows, God notices and God can take care of us because He is sovereign and loves us beyond measure.  Looking up to God and giving Him our worries and concerns- the roots of our emotions, will bring us back to a life that is resting in Him.

Pastor Alex used the telling scriptures from Mark 5 to show us how we operate in our own human realm.  We cope with our situations until we come to the ‘end of our rope’.  Jairus, a synagogue leader, who was desperate to find a solution to his daughter’s seemingly fatal illness.  In spite of the Jewish leader’s opposition to Jesus, he humbled himself and came to Jesus seeking healing.  He begged Jesus to come and heal her as he believed that he could restore her.  Likewise, the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years came to Jesus in a crowd of people.  She believed if she could just touch Jesus she would be healed.  She certainly had not been able to find any sort of healing from doctors or medicines.  Jesus was her last hope as well.  Both of these people had exhausted their own resources and turned to Jesus as a last resort to find help.   Jesus was willing and agreed to go with Jairus and felt the woman’s touch in the midst of the crowd.  Jesus felt power leave him as she was healed.   Jesus’ healing always cost him something just as our salvation cost him his life.  They had tried to ‘fix’ the problem themselves but realized they were trying to do the healing in their own power and needed Jesus.  Our own strength can accomplish much but the reality is that we need Jesus with us each step of the way to reach our goals and His purposes for our lives.
Both the woman and Jairus were noticed by Jesus.  He acknowledged Jairus’ problem and was willing to go with him and bring healing.  He recognized the pull of power from his body when the woman touched him and saw her faith.  God notices you and me and desires to ‘help’ us in our times of need. I love Nahum 1:7 “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble.  He cares for those who trust in him, “ and 1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you”.  What emotion are you harboring today?  God sees you and knows you.  He is ready and willing to help you as He helped Jairus and the woman.  All you need to do is ask Him for His help like they did.  He will be there for you!

Lastly, Pastor Alex reinforced the fact that God knows, sees, understands and hears our cries in sharing the Exodus 3 story of Moses and God in the burning bush. Moses was a simple shepherd tending his flocks in the wilderness of Midian.  God appeared in a burning bush, burning but not consumed, and spoke with Moses.  He told Moses He had heard the cries of his people in Egypt, knew of their oppression by the Egyptians and was concerned for their lives.  He then told Moses he was going to go and be part of the solution.  God was going to use Moses to rescue his people.   I know Moses was overwhelmed as he objected to God’s request putting up several excuses as to why he could not possibly do this for God.  God however is sovereign and through His might and power can and did overcome all of Moses objections. 

What problems are you facing that seem overwhelming today?  Is the emotion of overwhelm putting up excuses in your mind as to why you can’t trust God to help you?  Like Moses, we need to step back, pause and let God’s Holy Spirit fill us with resolve and purpose so we can walk with God all the way into it and then through where God is leading.  Can you be a Moses?  Can you step out with Jesus and embrace what God has for you and trust Him with the solution?   Perhaps God will go with you to fix the problem like Jairus, or his touch will cause you to be healed and ready to go forth in faith or maybe God is asking you to partner with Him in His work and move with Him.  In all cases, the way with God moves us forward and involves faith and trust.  Memorized Nahum 1:7 and 1 Peter 5:7. God’s promises are true and He keeps all his promises. Claim them in your life and move forward with Jesus.

Blessing,
Linda
​
MESSAGE LINK
Click Here to View the Message on Youtube
Our Sunday service is online and in-person at 11:00am.
​Come visit us at 5353 Concord Blvd, on the corner of Concord Blvd and Kirker Pass