December 31, 2016 - Church at Worship

Sermon: “Do You Want a Changed Life or Just More Knowledge?” by Filip Milosavljevic

Pastoral Welcome:Darold Retzer

Child Dedications: Jema Roa-An Fang

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 4:12, Romans 15:4, TNIV read by Ashley Domingo and Kaitlyn Mamora

Sermon Notes: When you get to the end of a year, logically several things happen: you look back, and you look forward. You look back at how life progressed with its highs and lows, and you evaluate the year. You can look back and see how God has led your life, or that of your family, and feel a sense of gratitude, though for some things, you may feel sorrow, regret, and missed opportunity. After evaluating, you can look forward, making new goals, anticipating better results. As you look forward into this next year, my hope as one of your church pastors, is that one of your goals would be spending the year in the Scripture and truly understanding what you read. After some 3,500 years since its inception, the Bible has become the best seller of all time, selling more copies than the major classics combined. It has found its way into most hotel rooms and homes across the western world, and in every library in the entire globe. According to a recently released six-year Barna research study, in partnership with the American Bible Society, the Bible is the most widely owned book in America, “nine out of 10 adults say there is at least one Bible at home.” Interestingly, the study concludes that only a quarter of the population actually reads the Bible a few times a week or more. One thing is certain. Ownership or knowledge of the Bible’s existence does not give rise to its reading or understanding. Today we look through the fascinating history of the Bible’s writing and the countless perilous sacrifices made that we would be able to read and own a copy of divine inspiration. How should we treat this gift of God’s Word given to us through the Bible? Filip Milosavljevic Pastor for Youth Ministry