Pastor of Community Engagement
Sermons by John O'Connor
Jesus knew when, where, and how we was going to die. Which meant that Jesus would have been intentional with the time He spent on this Earth. And you have to think that the closer that He came to this week, he’d really be intentional with who He spent with and what He said and did. Today we are going to explore the time he spent Zacchaeus, as well as, His actions on Palm Sunday.
Join us this morning as Pastor John O’Connor explores the dangers of living lives that are distracted.
Today we are continuing our sermon series “Therefore” in the book of Romans Chapter 12. In Verse 11, Paul encourages us to live with diligence, to live with a fervent spirit, to serve the Lord. Our call to diligence doesn’t mean we just need to go do any stuff. In reference to verse 11, this call on our lives is the consistent and persistent effort to pursue God’s will and fulfill our responsibilities with a right attitude. We are going to explore how we can achieve that in our personal spiritual walk, in serving others, and sharing the Gospel.
How often do you find yourself promising you’ll do something, and then immediately walking away and forgetting you promised? We live in a culture that rewards the talk, but not the walk. Today we are going to be studying from James 2:14-26, looking at the effect that empty words have on not only those that we are saying them to, but also the effect that is has on ourselves. Let your words be the precursor to His work.
The power of the Holy Spirit of God brings us hope in the midst of suffering! What a glorious blessing it is to know that there is Someone who is in control of all things and that someone is Jesus! All the events and situations of our lives–the good, the bad, and the ugly–are being used by God to make us into the people that He wants us to be.
Who we walk with in this life is a choice. Each of those relationships consciously and subconsciously impact the shaping of our lives. It is important that we are judicious in who we let speak into our lives. Proverbs 13:20 tells us that when we hang with fools we are on the road to destruction. Today we are going to look at 5 important relationships and how to discern if they are wise counsel or not.
Continuing on in our sermon series “it’s complicated – Navigating Life’s Relationships”, this week we are diving into Proverbs 31:10-31, Six Virtues of a Woman. There is no relationship more important to growth in the home and intimacy, than that with a mother and a wife. There are two sides to this coin, the importance on how we treat and value them, as well as, a wife and a mother treats others and values herself. “…But a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”
It isn’t difficult to love someone who already loves us. In the same vein, it isn’t hard to do something nice to someone who has already done something nice for us. In this sermon, we are looking at the passage from Luke 6:27-36 where Jesus calls us to love our enemies. The world still adheres to the thought “eye for an eye”. Jesus is calling us to show an Uncommon Love towards those who hate us in return.
Luke 2:1-21 is probably the most popular book of the Bible during December because it is the story of Jesus being born. It also mentions another authority, an earthly authority named Caesar Augustus. Through conflict and struggle, Augustus ascended to the title of Emperor, while offering the world his version of peace and joy. God sent His only son Jesus to the world as a baby, bringing true joy and true peace.
Anger itself is not sin. It is the natural reaction that we are not pleased with what is happening. Unfortunately, most of the time it is a foreshowing of the sin we are about to do. This morning we are digging into the conflict amongst Nabal, Abigail, and David, and how we can Deal with our anger appropriately, and not be dealing anger out.