Saved to Serve

Message, Mission, Ministry Parts 2 & 3

 

Sorry for the delay. Here are the final two parts of Linda's sermon "Message, Mission, Ministry."

 

 

 

 

 



Message, Mission, and Ministry

Matthew 7:1-29

Your obligation to God does not stay within the church building on Sunday, 

but starts as you walk out the door. Go and serve the Lord.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The first year of this blog is a success. We have had a few glitches, some human error,  some technical error, and a couple of delays. The weekly Sunday Service has gone out to those of our congregation that were unable to attend, for whatever reason, and also to many that found us from around the world. We were also able to keep you updated on area activities of interest, and cancellations due to nasty weather. In the next year, we hope to give you music cut out of the service. We have many talented musicians in our congregation, and a joyful noise is a wonderful way to celebrate our Lord. Suggestions are welcome, and we appreciate your interest in this blog, and your return visits. Blessings in the new year. 

Merry Christmas

Linus Christmas Monologue

This Sunday, December 22, 2013, we had our traditional two services. Sylvia Thomas and Becky Henry gave us the signs of Christmas, including the call to worship from Luke 2:8-14. 

Then we enjoyed our evening Candlelight Service with the message from Linda Lambert. She had a lot of help with several readings, a youth skit, and all the music. 

The true meaning of Christmas is the love of Jesus Christ. 

Past Services from before 2013 are being added.

You may notice a new item on the right side of this blog page. It is the "Potluck Services - mixed up & unknown past services." 

Due to human error, and bad weather, we have not had a recording of the Sunday services for a couple of weeks. I am downloading as many services from previous years, as I can find. 

There is no bulletin to guide you through the service, and some of the CD's do not have labels on them, so you get potluck.

I hope you will enjoy.

Services are Canceled Today

Due to a RED ALERT weather forcast in our region, the worship services at Thurmont Church of the Brethren have been canceled for today.

Have a safe and blessed day.

First Sunday Music

As The Deer sung by The Trio

Put Your Hand in the Hand sung by The Trio

Why Me Lord sung by Allen Brown

Unfortunately, there was a snafu with the audio of our Sunday service, and it is not available this week.



The Best is Yet to Come

Joel 2: 23-32

We were blessed to have Melva Witmer as our worship leader on Sunday. She did an exceptional job.

We were also blessed to have Becky Henry give us a thoughtful sermon from
the scripture of Joel 2: 23-32.

Updates

 Due to a technical glitch, the Sunday Service is not available at this time. I will attempt to fix the problem. 

Here is what is happening in our church community, and around the local area. 

Friday, November 1, 2013
Dinner is at 6:00 pm, not 6:30 pm.

Belivers Baptism, Children's Dedication

The Brethren movement began in early August 1708 when eight brave souls went to the Eder River where one of them baptized Alexander Mack, who then baptized the others. This beginning occurred at Schwarzenau because Count Henrich Albrecht was tolerant of Pietists and permitted them to gather there to read the Bible and discern for themselves how a follower of Jesus should live and what the nature of a Christian church should be. As Brethren gathered in 2008 to celebrate 300 years of Brethren experience, they also celebrated the tolerance by Count Albrecht which enabled the Brethren movement to begin in the Eder River with adult baptism, an illegal act at that time. *

The Church of the Brethren is a community of faith where the HOLY WORD is our creed. Our ordinance is the teachings and examples that Jesus Christ set. Our CHURCH is not a building, but the brothers and sisters that form the church COMMUNITY. We are members due to the faith in our hearts, and baptism is an outward sign of what is already formed and shaped in our hearts. We are a priesthood of believers who minister the Gospel of Jesus Christ, every where we go, and not just when we are in our church building. We use our gifts and character to carry out our mission to make Christ known, loved, and obeyed, as God equips and empowers us.


I am blessed to have the gifts and knowledge to be able to affirm the word of Christ from Pastor Linda's lips, to the CD that Garrett Lowe creates by recording the Sunday Service, which I download onto my computer, and then use to create this blog. It truly takes a community to spread the Word.


* taken from http://www.brethrenencyclopedia.org/pages/300th-anniversary

What's in Your Heart

We commit ourselves to follow Jesus Christ,
     through whom God has made friends with the world and in whose name we share the     work of reconciliation.
We commit ourselves to the way of the cross,
     living a life of simplicity, self-denial, and prayer.
We commit ourselves to love each other,
     serving the church, and sharing our time, talents, and possessions.
We commit ourselves to care for the world,
     bringing good news to the poor, setting free the oppressed, and proclaiming Jesus as Liberator and Lord.
In this commitment we find joy, peace, and new life.


Linda preaches about the history of World Wide Communion Day and how it affected the Church of the Brethren. What is the difference between an ordnance and a sacrament? What is sacramentalism? What is the power and meaning of the bread and the cup? It is not magic, but we give meaning to what is in our heart. We are to remember His death and sacrifice, through the symbol of the bread and the cup. The bread and cup symbolizes our commitment to our Lord. Live worthy, and by what is in your heart. 

Holes in the Heart

 

 

Pastor Joanne Gaver gave us a lesson from Jeremiah 17:5-24 and Ezekiel 36:22-27.

The church was so quiet, as she delivered the sermon, that everyone either took a nap

or was so enthralled with her message. I, for one, was enthralled.

 

 

My Faith Looks Up To Thee

 

Pastor Linda finished her series with Titus 3

Saved in Order to Do Good

3 Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2 to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.

3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law,because these are unprofitable and useless. 10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. 11 You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned.

Final Remarks

12 As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there. 13 Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way and see that they have everything they need. 14 Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives.

15 Everyone with me sends you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith.

Grace be with you all.

It Is A Process

Pastor Linda teaches us from Titus 2, that we are to teach from one generation to another the basics of sound doctrine. We are to have respect for humanity, self-control to do what is correct, integrity, kindness, endurance, love, trust, faith, purity, kindness, temperate, and be upright and godly. 

Now I apologize for posting this a week late. I was not able to attend church service last week, and I was not able to listen to it until this weekend. Within that time, a high school classmate of mine was on headline news. His vacant home was broken into by several teens, and used as a party house, and was damaged extensively. He has reached out to the offenders, since they posted their own offences on Twitter, hoping the teens would make things right. Only 5 teens have approached him to apologize. Of the remaining teens, some of their parents want to sue the homeowner for re-posting their childrens shame online. 

I brought this subject up because as I listened to Linda's sermon from Titus, I was reminded of this incident. How could 300 teens, from the same geographic area, not have been taught the basic teachings of sound doctrine, as described in Titus, and many other books of the Bible? How could the parents of these teens not be dragging their children by the ear, to the same home, and be begging for forgiveness from the homeowner?  Who are teaching these teens how to respect and be upstanding citizens? It takes a village to raise a child. How are the children of these teens going to be taught respect, responsibility, integrity, and self-control if the village let's them down? 

I pray that these teens, and their parents, can learn a reverence for God, and a respect for all people, and also responsibility to God, others, and self. I also pray for my high school classmate, that he may continue to lead by example, and continue to be forgiving to those that have harmed his property. He has such a Christian heart. They do not see that he is attempting not to punish them, but save them from themselves.

"Last Days....Time for Action"

Luke 21: 8-36

Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah

¹⁸ Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”
¹⁹ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”
²⁰ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”

Jesus Predicts His Death

²¹ Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. ²² And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”
²³ Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. ²⁴ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. ²⁵ What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? ²⁶ Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
²⁷ “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”

The Transfiguration

²⁸ About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. ²⁹ As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. ³⁰ Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. ³¹ They spoke about his departure,^[a] which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. ³² Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. ³³ As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.)
³⁴ While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. ³⁵ A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” ³⁶ When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen.

The Appeal of Love

Pastor Linda finished her series of sermons about Colossians and the tiny book of Philemon.

The apostle Paul had a dream long before Martin Luther King. Paul's dream was to value every human being as God created them. Deeper than human rights is the value of love. Master = slave. We are all worth the same, because we are set free from the slavery of sin through the life blood of Christ. As you do your job, remember you are not working for man, but for the Lord Jesus Christ.

We are saved by Grace, through Faith, sanctified by the Holy Spirit, through the scripture.

Jesus, Our High Priest

August 18, 2013 was a terrific sermon by Becky Henry, inspired by Hebrews 10:19-25.
I apologize to her for not getting a blog post done last week. Sometimes a busy life gets in the way.

Hebrews 10:19-25 (NIV)

A Call to Persevere in Faith

¹⁹ Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, ²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵ not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Love Says What?

Pastor Steve shares the morning with the youth of our church. The youth gave us a presentation from the Junior High Work Camp and the a presentation from the National Junior High Conference. As each one spoke, it sounded like they had fantastic learning and working experiences, made new friends, and had a lot of fun.

Then Steve gave us a brief sermon about love.

 

 

 

A Live Demonstration



 

 



Linda continues her series with Colossians 3.
Homework for next week is to read Colossians 4 and the tiny book of Philemon.

Welcome to all of our visitors. We were blessed to have a full sanctuary, and being that it was the first Sunday of the month, when we have special music, today we were blessed to have original music by the people who wrote the music. That music you may view below.

 

Be Still ~ Bill Caputo

 

 

Eternal Love ~ Mariah Neff

 

 

Breakdown Hideaway ~ Debbie Barnes

 

 

Anniversary Song ~ Nancy Wiles Nicely

 

 

Fighting Our Battles

 

1 Samuel 17:12-52

The story of "David and Goliath."

 

Pastor Joanne Gaver read us the story of David & Goliath, and reminded us how passionate  we should be when we fight our battles. We all have battles in our lives, and when the need for fighting comes, we must put on our own armor and weapon, and fight in the name of the Lord.
Take a firm hold on who you are in Christ.