December 9, 2017 - Church at Worship

Sermon: "When God’s Call Makes No Sense" Mary Moments: God’s Unexpected Calls (part 2 of 4) by Randy Roberts with Tyler Stewart 

Pastoral Welcome: Otis Coutsoumpos

Advent Candle-lighting: Fellows Family: Ben, Marta, Erika. Baroi Family: Earnest, Wendy, Nate.

Scripture Reading: Luke 1:11-17, TNIV read by Liane Magnaye & Nathan Fisher

Sermon Notes:

As a guest columnist for Christianity Today, the writer Bud Wrenn describes Mary Moments in the following way: My definition of a Mary Moment is this: a critical moment when God reveals himself in a way that challenges you to make decisions that have significantly life-altering implications. Mary was indeed faced with a decision that would have life-altering implications—not only for her, but for you and me, and the whole world! With that definition, we recognize two things. First, that we’ve all faced Mary Moments, whether we recognized them as such at the time or not. And second, that Mary Moments far exceed Christmas. However, the first Christmas specialized in Mary Moments. Mary. Zechariah. Elizabeth. The shepherds. Simeon. Anna. Herod. The wise men. The citizens of Jerusalem. And the circle continues to spread outward. Each one, in his or her own way, was faced with something unusual. Unexpected. Difficult. Glorious! Challenging. And what they faced demanded a decision, a reaction, a response. So it is in our lives, at Christmas and other times. Moments come—perplexing, disheartening, enlivening, devastating. And, at some point, in the moment or afterwards, we realize that God was there. Sometimes God caused the moment. Sometimes God did not cause the moment but did use it as an opportunity for something else. But, in each case, we had to decide what to do with it. Such is the theme of this year’s Christmas sermon series. Each week, someone will share his or her story in the sermon. Each is a member of our community. Each has a compelling story to tell. Today, I thank Tyler Stewart for his willingness to share his Mary Moment. Randy Roberts Senior pastor