Fall 2020 Sermon Takeaways

  • We follow God’s agenda not ours.  When we wander, there is always an invitation to join back in.
  • God, who created and gifted us our faith, will sustain our faith as well.
  • Following Jesus means giving up our lives (control, authority, ownership) in exchange for eternal life.
  • God takes our lives and uses them to turn symbols of fear into symbols of hope.
  • Forgiveness means we do not need to pay for what we did.
  • We forgive because it frees us from the ongoing destructive power of sin.
  • God’s justice and God’s generosity are linked. In God’s Kingdom, God simply makes sure that everyone is invited to work, and everyone is invited to eat.
  • We are invited to imitate God’s generosity.
  • Don’t be afraid to give up – for the sake of others – what you have gathered, achieved, or accomplished.  God will not hesitate to give or bless you with more than you will need.
  • Our motivation when confronting or disagreeing with others is that they see or experience what Life with God is like.
  • Our lives are like vineyards.  God is tending them and God will not abandon that work. God is creating a place of safety, of belonging, of peace for us.
  • God’s response to the cycle of violence is self-sacrifice.
  • The cross is the ultimate symbol of our violence – and the empty tomb the ultimate symbol of God’s answer: life, not vengeance.
  • True freedom is not being able to do whatever we want.  It is being freed to love others.
  • We are called to allow God’s Kingdom promises to transform our thoughts, words, and deeds.
  • The picture of heaven we receive today:  A gathering of people in the midst of tribulation “From every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues”
  • God’s people can confidently answer: “With God’s help, we are able to stand.”
  • Our life events will not keep us out of heaven.  We know Jesus and he is our savior.
  • Jesus’ parables are usually an invitation.  An invitation to kingdom living.
  • God loves us, accepts us, believes in us, trusts us, and invites us into joy that we, like the first two servants, might go out to live with courage, compassion, and confidence.