Sermons Pine Lake Covenant Church

Luke 2:25-35 “Remnant” — we think of the word as something left over from a project maybe. Or a small part of something that used to be much bigger. In the Bible, remnant means a small group of people within the nation of Israel who are truly faithful to God’s revelation and promises. These are the characters we are meeting in the Christmas story, including a man named Simeon. These people show us how to wait for long periods in […] The post Chronic Waiting appeared first on Pine Lake Covenant Church.

Luke 1:26-38 We all face unique circumstances in our lives at various moments, but what do you when God asks for something that seems totally impossible and unimaginable to bear? What is your response when the Almighty asks for your willingness to take part in something extraordinary that will ultimately have a cost to yourself? Let’s lean into Scripture and learn from Mary, one person who was faced with that kind of request and actually had the audacity and courage […] The post Mary, Mother of God appeared first on Pine Lake Covenant Church.

Luke 1:5-25 We spend perhaps most of our lives waiting for something: for a new opportunity, for the right person, to become a parent, for the right job, for healing, for the right home, for a child to come back, for God to do something. Waiting plays a huge part in the Bible also, and no place more than in the Christmas story. Join us as we connect our waiting to the Christmas story this Advent season! The post Waiting Faithfully appeared first on Pine Lake Covenant Church.

John 7:1-13 OK, we have been dancing around the worn-out phrase “peer pressure.” Let’s take it on, with the full force of Jesus, to see what it is and how much it affects our lives, regardless of age. But let’s be extra-aware of how it affects teens. Mark M. and Mark N. will team up on this one, looking at how the real secret of Jesus is a clear sense of identity – and how this secret is available to […] The post Resisting Pressure From Others appeared first on Pine Lake Covenant Church.

John 6:60-69 This last Sunday, we saw how some of Jesus’ disciples could not digest his words or his claims about himself — yet the twelve disciples did. This week we hear a wonderful story from Amber, who has recently moved from choking on Jesus to feeding on him. The post From Choking to Feeding on Christ appeared first on Pine Lake Covenant Church.

John 6:60-71 The New Testament never says it is easy to follow Jesus. In fact, just the opposite. Then and now people come to Jesus with their expectations of him and he says basically, “It doesn’t work that way.” He is impervious to this pressure people put on him, even to the point of death. How does he do it? How can we get that kind of core strength built into our lives? The post The Pressure to Perform appeared first on Pine Lake Covenant Church.

John 2:12-25 All of us have faced situations where people expect us to behave in certain ways because of the image they have of us. Often times, that image is merely a limited part, not the whole of who we are. There is something inside of us that doesn’t want others to only see us in a limited way. Their expectations of us are that we conform to their image of us, and we feel that pressure. Jesus knows what […] The post The Pressure to Conform appeared first on Pine Lake Covenant Church.

John 2:1-11 Having high expectations for our children can be a good thing; after all we want the best for them! But what is too much pressure? One study revealed that 92% of parents felt it was important for their children to excel at school, while 39% of the students felt there was too much pressure on them. Jesus knew what it felt like to have a parent want him to perform well. We will look at how he both […] The post The Pressure of Parents appeared first on Pine Lake Covenant Church.

Romans 8:31(b)-37 Adi Dreana, our long-time mission partner in Romania, will be sharing how God has broken down walls and is bringing his powerful love to the people of Romania, as he is doing all over the world. We are blessed to have Adi and his wife Lavi with us this week! The post More Than Conquerors appeared first on Pine Lake Covenant Church.

Mark 1:27-28, 33-39 One of the “big deals” about God becoming human is that he knows what it feels like to be us. He knows what it feels like when someone pressures you with their expectations, letting you know what they think you should do. If we allow ourselves to be shaped by other people’s expectations of us, we can literally lose ourselves. Let’s learn from Jesus. The post The Power of Expectations appeared first on Pine Lake Covenant Church.

Luke 15:1-7 Every “age” has a big issue that is pushing in on the church, causing the church to look long and hard at its beliefs and practices. We are in such a season in regard to the LGBTQ+ community. Our study of the Greek word philoxenia (hospitality) can give us a way forward, as we see again how God is hospitable to all. The post Hospitality to the LGBTQ+ Community appeared first on Pine Lake Covenant Church.

1 Peter 4:7-11 At the end of the day, hospitality is all about other people being more important than ourselves. It is a way of saying, “I am here for you,” whoever that “you” is. Genuine hospitality has a risk to it, a cost to it. It is part of being truly human. The post Be More Human appeared first on Pine Lake Covenant Church.

Romans 12:9-16 Hospitality is part of the large love vocabulary of the New Testament. It is a commandment given numerous times to all Christians as a way to show the love of Christ. A fraudulent substitute is found in our word “entertainment,” which in many ways is the exact opposite of Biblical hospitality. Let’s be sure to get it right. The post It’s Not About Entertainment appeared first on Pine Lake Covenant Church.

Hebrews 13:1-3 One of the most overlooked commandments in the Bible is “be hospitable.” Jesus lived out hospitality and the New Testament writers continually bring it up. There is something about it that connects with the heart of God, something that every human being longs for – and for us who live in a Seattle Freeze culture – it is life-giving! The post Be Hospitable appeared first on Pine Lake Covenant Church.

Psalm 27:1-14 Have you thought deeply about the beauty of God? Just how beautiful (glorious) is He? If we gaze upon Him, is it possible that we will become more beautiful? As someone has said, “you become what you look at.” Is it possible that if we focus on His beauty that our problems, insecurities, and anxieties can fade away into the background? It’s all about God, the psalmist cries – His beauty surpasses everything else. The post Beauty appeared first on Pine Lake Covenant Church.

Psalm 146 The Psalmist says to “Praise the Lord, my soul.” How can we do that when it often seems that our world is falling apart? It’s so easy to read or watch the news and be overwhelmed by the enormity of problems in the world, let alone our own lives. What wisdom does the Psalmist have that helps to unlock our praise and hope for justice in the midst of a broken world? Come and hear as we explore […] The post Justice appeared first on Pine Lake Covenant Church.

Psalm 95 No one did the God-centered life better than Jesus. As sensitive as he was to people, he was even more sensitive to God. He worshiped his heavenly Father, meaning he ascribed ultimate value or worth to him. Psalm 95, which Jesus would have been very familiar with, tells us why worship is so central to being truly human and shows us how to do it. The post Worship appeared first on Pine Lake Covenant Church.

Psalm 42 Come as we hear from Chaplain Ann Snowberger on prayer as an expression of our being, a path for our healing, and a hope for our living. The post Prayer: Deep Calls to Deep appeared first on Pine Lake Covenant Church.