Sunday's sermon - "Next steps"

Last Sunday's sermon was from Luke 2:7, titled, "No Room." Let's consider what are the "next steps" God will have us take in response to the Word we heard.

 

1. Parker J. Palmer describes "functional atheism" as "the unconscious, unexamined conviction that if anything decent is going to happen here, we are the ones who must make it happen – a conviction held even by people who talk a good game about God."  What are some indications in your life that you might be a "functional atheist?" In other words, in what areas of your life are you acting as though you don't need God because you can handle things yourself?

2. What would you do if, as the poem says, "Jesus came to your house?" Is there room for him?

3. Luke 2:7 should make us ask, who or what has such priority in our lives that when Jesus comes there is no room for him to enter?

4. Luke 2:7 should make us ask, who or what has taken up so much room that there is no room to allow Jesus to enter?

5. Luke 2:7 should make us ask, if we know that Jesus will give us love, joy, peace, hope, etc., why would we turn him away?

6. What questions/thoughts/convictions were raised in your mind after hearing this sermon or reading this passage? How is God speaking to you now?

 

Pastor Kenneth Q. James
Psalm 119:33-34
"Let truth, the light of my heart, speak to me, and not my own darkness!"
Augustine, Confessions, Book XII, Chapter 11