Words of Welcome

Matthew 25:31-40 Jesus’ disciples were having an argument about who was the greatest among them. When Jesus heard what they were arguing about he told them that whoever wants to be first, must be a servant. And with that statement, he pulled a child to himself, and said: “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” Who is the greatest – it is the one who serves the child. Now, this statement would have made little sense to Jesus’ disciples. While our culture places a lot of value on children, they didn’t. Children were at the bottom of society – at least until they became productive. Children, back then, were among the “least of these.” (Mark 9:33-37). Last week we began a six-week exploration of our Congregational Core Values. These six values help define what it means for us to be a missional church, and the first value we explored was compassion. Now, we move on to a second core value, one that emerges out of compassion. That is the call to be a serva

This sermon is the first of six that will lift up the six core values discerned to guide Central Woodward Christian Church. **************** John 11:28-35 When we gathered in February for a retreat, we discerned six core values that define our mission and vision as a congregation. We discerned these values in a context of prayer, worship, and study. We talked about our community and what it means to be a Disciple in the context of this community, beginning with our 5-mile radius, and expanding outward in concentric to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). As we discerned these values, we assumed that we are called to be a missional congregation, and that these values will help guide our practice of mission. It’s been a few months since we met, and with a new season of ministry in front of us, over the next two months we will explore these six core values in a series of sermons. As we think about these six core values – compassion, service, acceptance, worship, witness, and spi

Acts 18:1-4 Tomorrow we celebrate Labor Day, a day set aside to honor all those who labor with a day of rest or play, whichever they should choose. It’s also, quite unofficially, the final weekend of summer. So even as we rest, we will also play. Of course, college students are already digging into their books, the teachers have been meeting and preparing their rooms, and by Tuesday the kids will all be back to school. Soon the leaves will fall and the temperatures will cool. Baseball will give way to football. But, for a moment, we can still bask in the glories of summer, as we enjoy our picnics and barbecues. Labor Day isn’t a religious holiday, but then neither is Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, nor Memorial Day. Still, as with those other days, it’s appropriate to stop and consider the meaning of the day. In this case, we want to consider our labor and our work from a theological and spiritual perspective. Indeed, this is a good opportunity to remember our missional calling to bear wit