Healthy Relationships, Healthy Congregations Part 5 of 5
Responding with Forgiveness
Matt 18:21-35, Col 3:12-15
Posts by cbakelaar (Page 9)
Healthy Relationships, Healthy Congregations Part 4/5
Scripture Reading: Matt 7:1-5, Phil 2:1-8
Message: “Responding with Humility and Love”
Healthy Relationships, Healthy Congregations Part 3/5
Scripture Reading: Acts 6: 1-7
Message: “The Benefits of Disagreement”
“Healthy Relationships, Healthy Congregations” Part 2 of 5
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:12-26
Message: Unity in Diversity
“Healthy Congregations, Healthy Relationships” Part 1 of 5
Scripture Reading: Genesis 1:24-31
Message: Made in the Image of God
Scripture Readings: Deuteronomy 18:15-22, Luke 2:21-40
Message: A Feast of Epiphanies
Scripture Reading: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
A Significant Sorrow, A Great Blessing, A Hope for the New Year
Today, we’ll share with you an old, old story. It is a story of love, of sacrifice, of mystery. It’s a story about bravery and death, and about conquering evil. It’s about joy, a baby, and even some angels.
This story, God’s story, reminds us that Christ brings us the hope that there is more to life than this world. It reminds us that Christ will give us a peace that defies all human reason, that God’s love is unconditional and eternal, and that the joy God offers is indescribable!
Christ the King
This banner symbolizes the fulfillment of the previous week’s promises, it also points directly to the week to come. The king’s crown has sharp edges to represent the nails and the sword piercing Christ on the cross. The viewer’s position is on the hill of Golgotha, but looking up, toward heaven.
Christ’s earthly crown was not made of gold and jewels, but of thorns—brutal, sharp, and causing real harm and pain. Woven into the thorns is the ichthys, representing Christians. This is not a bumper-sticker ichthys; choosing to follow Christ isn’t a bumper-sticker promise. It’s a hard life with sharp edges. There is joy and salvation, but no promise of an easy road to follow. This banner juxtaposes the richness of God’s kingdom with the wealth of the cross and the sheer enormity of salvation’s cost.
Jesus, Prince of Peace
A prince points to a king. A prince speaks of hope for more. Our Prince of Peace talks about a world restored and new. Thus, this banner has symbols of new life: Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches (John 15:5). The banner also includes a coronet, a symbol of royalty. The work of renewal comes through the Trinity, the work of God, Christ, and the Spirit. The Trinity is symbolized by the trefoil: the three and the one. The green symbolizes growth. The light-colored tree symbolizes newness.