Category: Sermons in Aptos CA Churches

Sermons (pithy digest) of sermons heard in Aptos, CA churches

It’s time to update your resume — your Life Resume — your ‘brand’ ….

  Yes, it’s a good time to update your resume.  Your Life Resume.  Your ‘brand’ ….

How to update your Life Resume?    Ask yourself  these five  questions:

 What important  experiences formed and shaped you?

What achievements have you accomplished over your life time?

What qualities and gifts are unique to you — that you know of or others say about you? What are your skills?

What are your Passions?  What do you love to do?

In summary, where are you?  Where have you  been?  And, where are you going?

As you look back, where has God been leading you  — then  — and now?

   A great book to read is Being Mortal.  It’s about End of Life Care and it asks  four questions:

  1. What is your  understanding of your situtation?
  2. What options are available?
  3. What are your Goals?
  4. What are you going to Do?

 

   Many years ago people put all their prized possessions in a wagon and set off westward for a new life.  They pressed on.  And when they came to swollen streams and difficulty moving their wagons they left behind all sorts of prized possessions.  They pressed on.  They did not look back.   The Oregon Trail was littered with prized possessions left behind.

 Similarly, the apostle Paul regarded all his ‘possessions’  — his personal life  resume of being circumcised, of the tribe of Benjamin, his great zeal as a prosecutor for righteousness, that he did it all ‘perfectly’…. Paul viewed all his ‘resume’ as ‘rubbish’ aka ‘excrament’ … Paul viewed all of his accomplishments as dead weight.  Paul’s goal was to press on …. with the goal of Christ Jesus.

 So — are your ‘accomplishments’ dead weight?  Is it time to leave behind those accomplishments as dead weight and press on?    Is it time to ‘pray and let God worry’ as Martin Luther said 500 years ago?    

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The above is based on a sermon by Pastor Dale Sollom-Brotherton,  October 8, 2017 at Christ Lutheran Church, Aptos, California.  Services are at 10 AM on Sundays.

To hear Pastor Dale’s  sermons, go to YouTube and search under Christ Lutheran Church Aptos — look for  the Sermon for October 8.

Want to catch some great organ music played at Grace Cathedral  and learn about the Reformation?

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)-affiliated organization Reformation 500 is holding an ecumenical celebration that includes a social justice event, a Eucharist, splendid music and a festive reception. See how the Reformation looks today.

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written by Cameron Jackson   DrCameronJackson@gmail.com 

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How increase your faith? Use it. Today. The “size” of faith does not matter. Blessings of the Animals at St. John’s in Aptos, CA

 

hot dogs
hot dogs 

How increase  your  faith?  Use it  today.

Use the faith you have — such as a small mustard seed. Size of your faith does not matter. Use it.

Tonight there was a Feast of Five service at a local church in Aptos, CA — St. John’s.

At this event:   Comfy foods for you?  Hot dogs? Other meats?    Those orange chips someone brought? Those chip that leave yellow  marks on your fingers and taste so good.

One month from now there will be another Feast of Five service.

Every day you can stop by for Pokemon Balls.  Coming soon:  more locations for Poke Stops.

 

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Fa. Ron’s Pithy Sermons: Be a ‘Stand In’ for God

 

Stand in for God
Fa, Ron Shirley’s sermon

Fa. Ron Shirley formerly with Resurrection Catholic Community Church posted:

“God is counting on all of us to be “Stand In’s” for the Lord, with each other. To make real Isaiah 55:7, “Turn to the Lord for mercy; to our God, who is generous in forgiving.”

“If an alien was to walk in to our church today and say, “Ok you Church people, describe God to me.”
I  Father Ron Shirley   http://www.ronshirley.com   wonder what our answer would be.

I believe one of the most powerful descriptions of God is contained in the 2 stories we just heard in Luke’s Gospel.

A. These images of God, too many people, don’t make any sense. When the sinner is found. Mercy, love and forgiveness are freely offered. No charge; no strings attached; no, “I told you so;” no finger pointing. Just, “Welcome Home.”

B. No matter how far we wander or stray from God, and we all do it at times, no matter how terrible our sins might be, God’s arms are always open to us. Jesus never approves of the sin, but he always embraces the sinner.

C. I could just hear a few of the people, when Jesus was telling his stories, making a few side comments like:
i. These stories are crazy!
ii. This God is ridiculous!
iii. Leave 99 good sheep to go after one stupid stray?
iv. That’s not very good business sense.
v. If I were the father I would stick it to that son.
vi. I would make him crawl back.
vii. This God doesn’t make any sense.

These people were right; our God doesn’t make any sense when it comes to loving us.

D. A final point, very important, comes from a quote by the director of Covenant House, https://www.covenanthouse.org/ a shelter for runaway kids in many large cities in the U.S.

The director of Covenant  says, “The kids we work with have a lot of questions…

‘Can I have something to eat? I haven’t had a good thing to eat in days,’ a 17-year-old boy asked me last night.

‘Can I sleep here? Where can I sleep?’ another kid asked an hour later. I think she may have been twelve. These questions come easy to them. They are the questions that a street kid asks every day, minute to minute. But what gets to me is the question they don’t ask. The one that hides deep in the eyes they turn away from you, the one that shows in nervous fingers. This is the question that comes from living a lifetime of days when you can’t seem to do anything right. It is, ‘

Does God still love me? – Will God forgive me?’ The kids would never say that out loud. Very few of them ever talk about God. They don’t know enough yet, and their minds and mouths are too preoccupied with the other questions: ‘Is it safe here?’ ‘Can I have something to eat?’ ‘Where can I sleep?’ But their hearts have only one question: ‘Does God still love me? – Will God forgive me?’ And their hearts look to me and to other adults at Covenant House for the answer to that question. I don’t think the kids think much about the theological idea that God lives in every one of us. With them it’s more instinctive.

All I know is that when they look at me and I see that question, I feel the incredible burden of standing in for our Lord. And I know our Lord is counting on me to say, ‘Yes! Heavens, yes! I love you!’ to those scraggly, hungry, angry children of the streets.”

In closing:
God is counting on all of us to be “Stand In’s” for the Lord, with each other. To make real Isaiah 55:7, “Turn to the Lord for mercy; to our God, who is generous in forgiving.”

 The above is based on writings from Father Ron Shirley   September 2016    For more, go to:     http://www.fatherron.com  

Father RonShirley
Father RonShirley
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