This week we jump into our stewardship campaign. For the next three weeks, we will be thinking together in church about this series, and hearing from real church members about why they are inspired by us towards generosity. This week, we hear from Debbie Barbour (former Christian Educator; current Christian Education Elder; member with her family for 10+ years)

Stewardship Sermon Series: GeneroUS: Inspiring Generosity in our Community

Using stories in the Bible of extravagant generosity and stories from people in the COA community, we will explore what inspires us to be generous. What moves our hearts to give in a world anxious about scarcity? How is the God of abundance present in our particular church and its faith journey? 

Our life together as a family of faith is evidence that the “good life” is the generous life – a life through which the grace of God flows into the world.

ALSO TODAY IN WORSHIP WE ARE DIRECTING FOLKS TO GIVE SPECIAL OFFERINGS TO PRESBYTERIAN DISASTER ASSISTANCE FOR THE RELIEF OF HURRICANES HELENE AND MILTON.

Link to readable sermon PDF

This Sunday is a special Sunday every year in churches worldwide: WORLD COMMUNION SUNDAY. Established in 1936, when the world was deeply fragmented by the conflict that would be later known as World War II, World Communion Sunday (originally called World Wide Communion Sunday) has been an observance to help Christians all over the world affirm their unity in Jesus Christ as it is expressed so beautifully at the Lord’s Table. This day in 2024 also falls between two “High Holidays” of our siblings in the Jewish faith: Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. To honor this sacred time, we will take time in worship to consider how our holidays inform each other and how we can deepen our appreciation for the meaning of our traditions through the lens of others.

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This week we get the opportunity to hear from our church’s Clerk of Session Lawrie Gardner who is also a longtime Sunday School teacher, Choir member, Youth Group volunteer and more! She brings a lifetime of sincere faith and a passionate desire to convey God’s word. Pastor Jessie will be present for other portions of the service.

Today we come to the final week of this short series, and we continue to consider how things that feel scary or threatening could actually lead us to growth and even salvation as a human community. This last week we focus on how (good) trouble and protest can be used in the fight for justice. They all too easily get demonized as riots; the people urged to just get back in line and their turn will come. Yet we Christians descend from a leader who Himself stirred the pot, staged protests like the Palm Sunday parade and got into good trouble! As we remember this heritage, we will consider ways that perhaps we can move our world towards what God intends (or make way for those who do).

Link to readable sermon PDF

This week in our series, we consider how things that we largely are taught to be negative (limitations and failure) can actually save us; they can increase our humility, our creativity, and our acknowledgement of our interdependence within community. They can help to mitigate some of our harshest divisions because they can lead us into an open mind, admitting where we may not be right about everything. How can people of faith model an honest assessment of their limitations and a playful spirit of experimentation that may include success and failure? Perhaps if we can build our comfort with these things, we can rebuild a culture of dialogue, cooperation and REAL unity!

Link to readable sermon PDF