today's sermon/message

[blackribbon]

Joel Osteen is considered "Christianity lite". I'm not so sure I agree based on the couple sermons I have listened to...or at least that he is "lite-r" than most other churches today.

Lets compare. So what was your Sunday message about today? I am heading out the door to go to my service and I'll add mine later when I get home.

 

[blackribbon]

No one went to church or no one is responding?

Anyway, today's message was about how does evil fit in with a loving God. Is evil evidence that God doesn't exist, doesn't care, or isn't powerful enough to do something about it? The pastor said that evil is proof that we live in a world of "free choice". And the fact that the presence of evil actually bothers people is really evidence that there IS a God...why else would we care?

He does not believe that evil or bad things that happen are necessary "part of God's plan" in that good comes out of them. But rather he used the analogy of a giant cruise ship that has many decks (St Mary's has 14, I guess)..anyway, God's plan is the cruise ship...and our lives with free will are what is going on on the various decks of that ship. On those decks are people making good choices and bad choices that will effect those around them and may help or hurt each other...but God's plan is the whole ship...and regardless of the choices being made on the various decks, they will not alter the ultimate course of the big ship....The ship will get to its destination and is not detoured by the activity of any individual within ... so we all exist within God's plan and it will be done in spite of the good and bad choices being made each day inside that plan.

 

[dayhiker]

My pastor has been preaching a series on the names of God. Today's name: [FONT=arial, arial, helvetica]Jehovah-Tsidkenu, [/FONT]
The Lord our Righteousness. The sermon was basic Christ is our righteousness provided thru the cross. 2ndly we are to live righteous.

 

[memoriesbymichelle]

My sermon was on Luke 2:1-7 and how the birth of Jesus was not as serene as we portray it and it was rather "messy" and how we don't like to think of it that way, but Jesus got messy to reach the messy because that's what we are. Sorry I didn't respond until now, I don't get on here on the weekends usually so...

 

[blackribbon]

And as an extension of your sermon, Michelle. Mary was an "unwed" mother to boot...can't get much more "messy" than that.

 

[dayhiker]

And what about the Holy Spirit getting Mary pregnant ... if anyone else had got her pregnant they would have been called an adulterer! God didn't even talk to Joseph till after the fact and then He sent an angel! I find that messy.

 

[memoriesbymichelle]

And as an extension of your sermon, Michelle. Mary was an "unwed" mother to boot...can't get much more "messy" than that.

And what about the Holy Spirit getting Mary pregnant ... if anyone else had got her pregnant they would have been called an adulterer! God didn't even talk to Joseph till after the fact and then He sent an angel! I find that messy.

Yep that was the whole point. Why was Jesus born like this? And why do we feel the need to sanitize it? We live in a broken world. If he would have been born any other way, God would not have the glory He deserves and Jesus would not have been able to touch the lives of the people he did. It's such a messy beginning but it was necessary.