This week is the first of a four-part series focusing on mental health. There are three major points I want to establish this week:

1. Mental health affects us in some way, directly or indirectly
2. The Bible offers many examples of folks who had mental health struggles
3. We love God best, and promote our own mental health, when we help our soul, heart, strength, and mind.

Scriptures references include: 1 Kings 19:1-10, Psalm 42, and, John 9:1-10.

This is Baptism of the Lord Sunday and the gospel reading for this week is Matthew 3:13-17.

I decided to share some of my thoughts on the sacrament of baptism. I'll spend some time talking about the differences between Christians over time about what the best way is to baptize. I'll reflect on what baptism signifies for us. I'll finish by expressing some of my concerns about living out our baptismal faith.

Remember...

...baptism is not a box to check off. It is not an ending. It is the beginning of a life-long journey!

Focus Text: Isaiah 60:1-6

This week's sermon comes on Epiphany Sunday, remembering that time when the wise men came to visit the young Jesus. Matthew 2:1-12 chronicles this account.

The Old Testament Reading for this Sunday comes from Isaiah. I chose to focus on this reading for the service. We'll do the following:

• Understanding the context for the reading and how it fits into Epiphany
• Reflect on glory, what it is and how we can live into it
• Remember the gifts we have in Jesus
• Conclude my looking ahead to a new year

This Sunday we wrap up the "Our Dear Christ Enters In" series with a sermon called "Company Comes." We explore Luke 1:39-45 and Mary's interaction with Elizabeth...what do Elizabeth's words have to tell us about Jesus?

As we continue through our series called Our Dear Christ Enters In, we focus on Luke 1:26-38 and explore "baby names. We'll look at gender reveal parties, times in the Bible in which God reveals the gender of babies to come and explore how Jesus got his name!

Our own homes experience hurts, whether they are within our control or not. Where do we find God in midst of out hurts?

We look at Luke 1:5-25 and see how Zechariah and Elizabeth experienced hurts in their lives, but remained faithful and experienced something remarkable in their life!

How can we seek to acknowledge our hurts, but not lose our connection to God?

The is the first week of our series Our Dear Christ Enters In!

This week we will be focusing on Matthew 1:1-17. I encourage you to read through it first before listening to the message. It's a genealogy...and it's not easy reading. Be thankful that you are not reading in front of others. Lots of confusing names.

As we dig into the family tree, we realize that there are a lot of folks in Jesus's family tree that have done some questionable, and even downright evil stuff. There are some "knots" in his family tree. The same might be said of our own family trees.

We don't have to be perfect, or have perfect families, to be grafted into God's family through Jesus Christ!

It's hard to believe that the season of Advent begins on November 30th, 2025. This means that November 23rd is Christ the King or Reign of Christ Sunday. It marks the end of the Christian calendar.

What does it mean to have no king but Jesus Christ?

What does it mean to place Jesus Christ first in our lives?

That's what I explore in this sermon. Enjoy!