Sermons

God calls people into relationship. But they are not loosely formed but rather involve mutually-binding commitments of loyalty and faithfulness. The Old Testament points to the New Covenant that God will make with His people through Jesus! God’s gracious covenant making becomes the manner in which we are to relate to one another as we follow Jesus together.

“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.”
-- Ezekiel 11:19-20

How do we relate to those who are considering Medical Assistance in Dying as a way to end their lives? What does the Bible say? How does our Anabaptist Theology inform our view of this issue? God enables us to live and die for His glory!

For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
-- Romans 14:7-8

Not only is God our creator, He is the sustainer of all life. In light of that, how should we die? Yes, also, how should we live? How should we view life and death? Is it up to us to disconnect from life?

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
-- Psalms 90:12-14

We connect with God through faith. He helps us connect with each other. In God’s plan, relational connectedness leads to oneness with God and one another.

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you…..Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
-- James 4:7-10

God is best at building connections because He is the source of all things and in the end, all will be under Him. That is the summation of all things which is possible because of His great power demonstrated through the resurrection.

“Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?” For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.
-- Romans 11:35-36

I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
-- John 14:16-17

Hear, O people: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
-- Deuteronomy 6:4-5

One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.
-- Psalms 27:4

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
-- John 3:16

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
-- Ephesians 3:20-21

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
-- John 14:27; 16:33

Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
-- Proverbs 19:21

In his name the nations will put their hope.
-- Matthew 12:21

Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
-- Matthew 6:20-21

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
-- John 15:9-12

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
-- Philippians 3:13-14

If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
-- 1 Corinthians 10:12-13

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
-- Isaiah 40:29-31

The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty One who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”
-- Zephaniah 3:17

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.
-- Deuteronomy 7:9

This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.
-- Isaiah 30:15