What if today was your last? Have you lived and loved today the way you want? These last few weeks have been a time of sadness and mourning for our church family. But maybe we can gain some valuable life lessons from our recent losses. Some day each of us will breathe our last. Will […]
Author Archives: Melody Merida
Jesus Is…?
As the recent holiday may have pointed out, most of us are blessed. Even if we’re nowhere close to the American definition of “wealthy”, there are many who are much worse off than we are. Do we go about our business each day with eyes closed to the hurting world around us? What do we […]
Courage or Cowardice?
What keeps us from doing or being all we can be? For most people, the answer is probably fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of failure, even fear of success. This sermon looks at the example of Joshua and Caleb, two Old Testament heroes who can give us some insight for working through our fear. […]
Jesus Changed Everything
Have you ever read some of the things Paul said in his epistles and concluded that he must really have been a jerk? Where did he get some of that stuff? There may be another way to see it — even things like his pronouncement that women are to remain silent while in church. In […]
The Donkey, The Stallion, and the Strategy of the Hills
We’re offering something different this Palm Sunday. Melody Merida presents the message in the form of a story about a king who sends his son to make peace with the subjects of his kingdom. The son is sent on a donkey, like a common beggar, to denote the humility of the king. Watch the webcast. […]
The Donkey, The Stallion, and the Strategy of the Hills [ 28:59 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadThis Is All Your Fault!
Have you ever been told — or felt like it was implied — that Christians can’t feel sad or depressed or angry? Would it surprise you to know that over a third of the Psalms, most of Job, plus an entire book — Lamentations — are all prayers that express anguish to God? The writers […]
Seeing-Eye God
We’re continuing our series on names of God. This sermon examines the name El-Roi, the God who sees. What does it mean to know that God sees me, that God is watching out for me? How could my life change if I really believed that God never let me out of sight? Watch the webcast. […]
An Unlikely Candidate
Do you think of yourself as the last person God might choose to do something important or worthwhile in this world? Well, then, congratulations! As we see from our examples in scripture, that’s exactly the sort of person God chooses. Strange, huh? Listen or watch as we examine this counter-intuitive way that God works, and […]
Messy Spirituality
Have you ever thought, “I must not be a very good Christian. Everybody else is so together — and I’m just a mess.” Well, guess what — God knows what a mess we all can be. Listen or watch as we wrestle with the idea that there’s no need to pretend before God, or hold […]
Navajo Mission Team Report: The Great Adventure
In October, 2007, a group of our folks went on our first-ever missions trip to the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. This worship service is a report from some of those who went on this trip — what they did, what they learned, and the possibilities that await us as we work to minister to […]
On the Road
With this sermon, we’ll have an opportunity to get to know our new Minister of Congregational Care, Melody Merida. She shares both the story of her own faith journey, and the vision God has called her to with Jesus MCC, especially with children’s and family ministry. Click to watch the webcast test of this sermon. […]