This is week three of our sermon series, connecting lessons we learn from our digital lives with the lessons Jesus continually offers us about discipleship in the “real” world. This week, we focus on one of the all-time most famous parables: The Parable of the Good Samaritan, as we call it in Luke 10. Jesus uses stories when the lessons are especially hard for us to learn. This story is in answer to a question that every human being asks at some point: “who is my neighbor?”;

or in other words, who is my responsibility? What am I supposed to do when someone else is in crisis? What about when I am the one in crisis? Who can I count on to help me then? Be prepared for some surprising answers…

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This second week of our sermon series continues to connect lessons from Jesus’ real life with the lessons that we are learning in this age where everything has been moved to online and virtual platforms. In this new world, how do we belong? How do we love? How do we grow and connect? This week, we look more closely at a story with two very different healings, but the common thread is that they are “unplanned connections”. How can we make the most of our own “unplanned connections”? Maybe God is using them in our lives for a larger purpose. Join us in thinking and praying through these things…

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This Lent 2021, we will begin a new sermon series that will be called Jesus “IRL” (In Real Life). In these highly virtual pandemic times, perhaps we are all challenged about how we connect to God and to each other. Jesus is familiar with redefining connection and broadening the meaning of community, as it was the cornerstone of His ministry. This is especially evident in the Gospel of Luke. In this series, each week we will examine how Jesus authentically connects with other people, and how He challenges us to connect as well.

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Tonight’s sermon is for Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Church season of Lent. The sermon focuses on the true meaning of sacrifice, and especially in light of these pandemic times we are all continuing to endure together.

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NOTE: This is not a formal part of the dialogue sermon series for Epiphany, but is a way for us to begin a year of remembrance because COA turns 40 in January of 2022.