December 29, 2012 - Church at Worship

Sermon: "A Tale of Four Cities – Epilogue: Loma Linda" - Randy Roberts

Pastoral Welcome: Timothy Gillespie

Children’s Feature: Shawna Campbell

Child Dedication: Alexa Rachelle Morel - Richard Rice

Meditation:

“A Tale of Four Cities”
Chapter One: Jerusalem
God has every bit of me. – William Booth’s account of why his life displayed such spiritual power
 
 “A Tale of Four Cities”
Chapter Two: Bethlehem
The higher we are placed, the more humbly we should walk. – Cicero
 
 “A Tale of Four Cities”
Chapter Three: Ramah
It will greatly comfort you if you can see God’s hand in both your losses and your crosses. – Charles Haddon Spurgeon
 
 “A Tale of Four Cities”
Chapter Four: Nazareth
Providence is the care God takes of all existing things. – John of Damascus

Scripture Reading: Matthew 3:1–6, TNIV Carla Blum-Johnston, Miranda Roberts

Sermon Notes: 

One of the dictionary definitions of the word epilogue is as follows: “a short postscript to any literary work, such as a brief description of the fates of the characters
in a novel.” In other words, an epilogue answers the question, What happened
next? Once a story is over, what is the rest of the story? What became of the places
and the people involved in the drama?

Thus it is that in our Advent series, A Tale of Four Cities, we come now to the epilogue. We come to asking the question, What happened next? Or, to state it in the
present tense, What happens next?

We don’t come to worship to simply sing and pray and listen to the sermon. We
come first and foremost to worship God; we then leave this place, however, to go
out into the world to serve others. What will the four places we have visited this Advent season—Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Ramah and Nazareth—tell us regarding how
we are to do that?

It is to such thoughts that we turn our minds today.

May God bless you in the New Year!

Randy Roberts
Senior Pastor

Note: Baptisms and child dedications are in the extras section in the DVD