Verona United Methodist Church

This Sunday we begin a new sermon series "That's The Power of Love!" Our first topic, "Love Without Fear," examines the truth revealed in the fourth chapter of 1st John that "perfect love casts out all fear." What does it mean to be so secure in our love for God, for each other, for self that we cease to live out of our fears and insecurities - and to live into the perfect love of God revealed in Jesus Christ?

PDF of sermon slides: "No Fear of Poverty"

PDF File of Sermon Slides:  Fear of Failure

This Sunday we began a four-week examination of four universal fears that dominate the lives of human beings: the fears of failure, of judgment, of poverty, and of death. Over a hundred times in the Bible we are told to "fear not." Unreasonable fear can dominate our hearts and minds to the point that we are unable to act with faith in God's providential care. Our January sermon series will explain how these fears battle with God's Spirit for dominion over our hearts and - when allowed to grow unchecked - can lead to a paralyzing impotency that robs us of the joy and power of our life in Christ.

       If you or someone you know struggle with one or all of these fears, I hope you'll join us over the next four Sundays. By God's grace you may hear a word of encouragement that will make an eternal difference in your life.

Do you hear what I hear?

I wonder what I would have heard had I been there that night in Bethlehem. Would I have heard the choirs of angels singing or simply the sounds of sheep in the fields? Would I have seen the glory of the Lord all around or just a bunch of shepherds staring up at a cold night sky? Wou1d I have discerned the divine presence, or simply the chill of a cold east wind? Would I have perceived the presence of God in a little baby boy, or would the cosmic implications of that evening have passed me by? I am convinced that had two people been there that night in Bethlehem, standing in the same place, seeing the same scenes, hearing the same sounds,  it is quite possible that they could have walked away with very different conclusions as to what had occurred. I believe this because my life experience tells me it is not only possible but likely. God never presents himself in revelation in a manner in which we are forced to believe in his presence or power. We are always left with options in our interpretations of events, for God has gifted us not only with free will but with free imaginations. Thus, one person can say "It’s a miracle, while another says "It's a coincidence." One person sees only a shooting star, another calls it a sign from heaven. One sees the birth of a child as the routine result of biological forces; another calls the child a miracle and a gift from God. Certainly very few people in Palestine saw and heard and understood what took place that night as the most momentous moment in human history. The choirs of angels singing were drowned out by the haggling and trading going on in the Jerusalem bazaar. On that night or on a night soon after there was a bright star in the sky moving toward Bethlehem, but the only ones apparently to pay any attention to it were pagan astrologers from the East. If anyone did see Mary and Joseph and their newborn child on that most fateful night, they were too preoccupied with their own problems to offer any assistance. You see, what we see and what we hear in life depends not upon the events themselves, but rather on who we are as people. It's not what is out there but what is inside of us that determines our interpretation of life.