Winter Sermon Series: "I Am"

Who is Jesus? What does it mean to meet with him? How can we spend time with him, learn from him, and be led by him? One major way is by reading the Bible. On page after page, the words of Scripture bear witness to the Word who took on flesh and dwelled among us. Indeed, as Sally Lloyd-Jones says in The Jesus Storybook Bible: “Every story whispers his name.”

Trusting that this is so, we will be studying Jesus on Sunday mornings for the next few months at First Presbyterian Church! We'll look specifically at the ways Jesus presents and describes himself in the gospel of John, paying special attention to the "I am" statements scattered throughout the book ("I am the bread of life," "I am the true vine," etc.) What is Jesus teaching us in these statements? What does it reveal about who he is and who we are in his light?

I invite you to join us for Sunday School and worship this wintertime as we go deeper in life with God and life together.

Yours,
Blake

Sermon Scriptures & Topics

• 1/15/2023 - John 1:1-18 - I Am the Word

• 1/22/2023 - John 3:1-21 - I Am the Son of Man

• 1/29/2023 - John 4:1-26 - I Am He

• 2/5/2023 (Guest Preacher; Scripture TBD)

• 2/12/2023 - John 6:25-51 - I Am the Bread of Life

• 2/19/2023 - John 8:12-30 - I Am the Light

• 2/26/2023 - John 10:1-21 - I Am the Good Shepherd

• 3/5/2023 - John 11:1-27 - I Am the Resurrection and the Life

• 3/12/2023 - John 14:1-14 - I Am the Way

• 3/19/2023 - John 15:1-8 - I Am the True Vine

Mark: The Way of Christ

On Christmas Eve we heard the good news of Emmanuel, "God with us." But who is the God who is with us? Who, in other words, is Jesus Christ? And who are we in his light?

This is the focus of the gospel of Mark, and it will be our focus in this winter season. We invite you to join us as we study Mark together and recommit ourselves to the way of Christ. You can access our live-stream worship services on Sunday mornings at 11:00am by visiting www.sylvapres.org.

Weekly Sermon Scriptures*

• 1/10/2021 - Mark 1:9-15 (Baptism of the Lord)

• 1/17/2021 - Mark 1:16-20

• 1/24/2021 - Mark 2:1-12

• 1/31/2021 - Mark 6:6-13

• 2/7/2021 - Mark 6:30-44

• 2/14/2021 - Mark 9:2-10 (Transfiguration Sunday)

• 2/21/2021 - Mark 11:1-11 (First Sunday in Lent)

• 2/28/2021 - Mark 11:12-26

• 3/07/2021 - Mark 14:1-11

• 3/14/2021 - Mark 14:12-26

• 3/21/2021 - Mark 14:32-42

• 3/28/2021 - Mark 14-15

• 4/1/2021 - Mark 15:33-41 (Palm Sunday)

• 4/4/2021 - Mark 16:1-8 (Easter Sunday)

*Scripture passages subject to change!

Guiding Questions*

For Interpretation:

1. What do I learn about God in this passage?

2. What do I learn about people?

3. What do I learn about relating to God?

4. What do I learn about relating to others?

For Application:

1. What does God want me to understand/think in this passage?

2. What does God want me to believe?

3. What does God want me to desire?

4. What does God want me to do?

*From “8 Questions to Help You Understand and Apply the Bible”

Galatians: What's the Good News?

New Sermon Series

Starting June 30, Pastor Blake will be preaching through the New Testament book of Galatians. What we call “Galatians” is actually a letter written by the Apostle Paul to churches in the region of Galatia, which lies to the north of the Mediterranean Sea in modern-day Turkey.  Paul wanted to challenge the Christians there to consider what’s most important in life: not their own performance, but the good news of God’s grace through Jesus Christ. And so, empowered by the Holy Spirit, Paul wrote a letter that’s jam-packed with some of the richest and deepest theological wisdom in the entire Bible. Join us this summer as we read through Galatians and hear God’s Word anew!

Suggested Resources

First, read the letter!

Then take a look at this video.

Then pick up any of these great books and go deeper: