Faith For All

Dealing with Doubt

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord! But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
John 20:19-29 NIV

Discussion: Dungeons and Dragons and God Oh My! part2

The D&D group from Cross of Glory discuss various wide ranging topics surrounding the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game. 
The Kids D&D group shares stories from their play, and we talk more about playing D&D from a Christian perspective 

Discussion: Dungeons and Dragons and God Oh My! part 1

The D&D group from Cross of Glory discuss various wide ranging topics surrounding the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game. 
Defining D&D, Fellowship, the satanic panic, raising children in a modern world, and what it's like to play a character in a fictional world are all discussed in this episode.

Caring for our planet, part 7:What God wants us to do

I am the Lord, and there is no other;    apart from me there is no God.I will strengthen you,    though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun    to the place of its settingpeople may know there is none besides me.    I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness,    I bring prosperity and create disaster;    I, the Lord, do all these things.
 “You heavens above, rain down my righteousness;    let the clouds shower it down.Let the earth open wide,    let salvation spring up,let righteousness flourish with it;    I, the Lord, have created it.
 
Isaiah 45:5-8 NIV

Caring for our planet, part 6: The time is now

The time is now to act on Climate Change
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.    And what does the Lord require of you?To act justly and to love mercy    and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8 NIV
 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10 NIV
 
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Matthew 25:31-40 NIV

Caring for our planet, part 5: Together, We can make a difference

 
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
    the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas    and established it on the waters.
 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?    Who may stand in his holy place?The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,    who does not trust in an idol    or swear by a false god.
They will receive blessing from the Lord    and vindication from God their Savior.Such is the generation of those who seek him,    who seek your face, God of Jacob.
Lift up your heads, you gates;    be lifted up, you ancient doors,    that the King of glory may come in.Who is this King of glory?    The Lord strong and mighty,    the Lord mighty in battle.Lift up your heads, you gates;    lift them up, you ancient doors,    that the King of glory may come in.
Who is he, this King of glory?    The Lord Almighty—    he is the King of glory.
Psalm 24 NIV
 
For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.  So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.
2 Timothy 1:1-12 NIV
 

Discussion:Should Christians care about the Environment?

This week Cross of Glory's Climate Action Team, alongside a couple of random church members, discuss the topic of Christians and the Environment.
 
 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
Genesis 2:15 NIV
 
 

Caring for our planet, part 4: I can make a difference

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?  If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
James 2: 14-17 New International Version
 
He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Matthew 17:20 New International Version

Caring for our planet, part 3: The number one thing we can to to combat it.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.  And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
1 John 4:7-21 NIV
 
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

Caring for our planet, part 2: Climate change impacts us all

**This sermon was recorded during an outside worship service (somewhat appropriate for a sermon on the environment) and the sound quality is lacking.