This week in our Fall stewardship series, we come to the third of our four “anchors” of COA:

our family of faith

our vibrant and meaningful worship

our desire to grow in faith**

our faith witness to the world

What does it take to grow in faith? How do we pursue a lifelong discipleship journey of learning, no matter our age or stage of life? What holds us back from that kind of growth? How has such learning been pivotal to COA’s reaching this 40 year milestone that we will soon celebrate? Join us in the reflection!

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This week, we come to the second “anchor” of COA. In asking what it is that makes us who we are  (or what anchors us), this week our answer is “OUR VIBRANT AND MEANINGFUL WORSHIP”. Worship has changed dramatically in the last two years, and we anticipate many changes for churches to come. What do we want and what does God want for our worship together? What does worship even really mean? Why do we need it as part of our faith journey and growth? How does all of this connect to our stewardship?

Join us in the service to reflect on these with our community!

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This week marks the beginning of our four week long stewardship campaign at COA. Our theme is “Celebrating Our Past, Anchoring Our Future”. This theme was particularly chosen by our Generosity Team because our church turns 40 in the coming year (2022). This is a momentous milestone to remember how far we have come, but also to continue focusing on our dreams for the next forty years. What kind of a church will we provide for our children and their children? What is the future of the Church at large in the post-pandemic world?

Each week during this campaign, we will ask ourselves WHAT ANCHORS US? What has made COA uniquely who we are? Each week reflects on core values of our community that emerged during our last big period of transition when we had an Interim Pastor. These core values are….

Our Family of Faith

Our Vibrant and Meaningful Worship

Our Desire for Spiritual Growth

Our Faith Witnessed to the World

This week, we consider our connections to each other; OUR FAMILY OF FAITH. How do the relationships that we build in this church community affect our relationships in other areas of life? How does God use them to teach us about our faith?

WE ARE ALSO THRILLED TO ANNOUNCE FROM OUR REGATHERING TASK FORCE THAT BEGINNING THIS SUNDAY 10/10, WE WILL BE ALLOWING MASKED CONGREGATIONAL SINGING IN WORSHIP AFTER OUR CHILDREN DEPART FOR FUN-DAY SCHOOL. We hope you will join us!!

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Today is World Communion Sunday, and as such, all of our thinking about God’s purpose and call for us will be tied to God’s larger purposes for all the families of the earth. What does God want for our world? Where could we perhaps be used in our little corner of that world to accomplish His purposes?

We continue on in the Narrative Lectionary today and come to the story of Moses’ call to go to Pharaoh (one of the highest and most powerful leaders of the world in his day) and demand that his people be set free from slavery. With the help of God of course! How do we respond when we encounter God and God’s call in surprising and scary ways? How do we reconcile the fact that perhaps we feel unworthy of such calls, but that God calls us anyway, just as He called Moses?

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This Sunday, we continue through the story of God’s first chosen family. Where last week, we saw Abraham almost sacrifice his son Isaac, this week we see a bitter conflict erupt between Isaac’s own twin boys Jacob and Esau. How do we deal with our own rivalry, sibling or otherwise? What do we do when we are striving for our own blessing, maybe against other people? What is God’s plan for any of us and why do some people seem to be luckier than others in this world? These are all questions we will continue to think about together as a community.

Link to readable sermon PDF