Lent 2018: Jesus’ Last Week Judas at the Table March 4, 2018 (Lent 4) Text: Matthew 26:14-21 Judas was at the last supper – and Jesus already knew Judas had betrayed him. Let that sink in for a moment. If you knew one of your close friends had already betrayed
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Lent 2018: Jesus’ Last Week The Great Sermon February 15, 2018 (Lent 2) Text: Matthew 21:23 – 25:46 The day after Jesus and his followers had seized the temple; the day after Jesus had welcomed the blind, the lame, the children within the temple’s holy walls, the day after those
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Lent 2018: Jesus’ Last Week Jesus in the Temple February 18, 2018 (Lent 1) Text: Matthew 21:12-17 Jesus leads his followers on a triumphal march into Jerusalem and seizes the temple. Now the temple wasn’t just a building – it was a complex, a campus, 40 walled acres, the most
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State of the Church 2018 February 11, 2018 Rev. Fritz Nelson – First Presbyterian, Columbiana Text: Hebrews 12:1-2 As First Presbyterian Church, Columbiana enters its 153rd year of ministry in the name of Jesus Christ we remain faithful to the gospel on which we were founded. We also find ourselves
Continue readingSome Thoughts on Prophets January 28, 2018 Rev. Fritz Nelson – First Presbyterian, Columbiana & First United Presbyterian, EP Text: Deuteronomy 18:15-20 After church last Sunday, sometime between celebrating the Patriot’s victory and mourning the Viking’s defeat, Eric asked me “What’s a prophet?” In church we’d been talking about Jonah
Continue readingCrossing Boundaries January 21, 2017 Rev. Fritz Nelson – First Presbyterian, Columbiana; First United Presbyterian EP Text: Jonah, Mark 1:14-20 The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time … A second time because the first time Jonah had run off. A second time because God has dragged
Continue readingBeing Known January 14, 2018 Rev. Fritz Nelson – First Presbyterian, Columbiana & First United Presbyterian, EP Text: Psalm 139, John 1:43-51 Meditation verses: Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; If I make my
Continue readingRise Up and Follow January 7, 2017 (Epiphany) Rev. Fritz Nelson – First Presbyterian, Columbiana; First United Presby, EP Text: Matthew 2:1-12 Why did the Wise Men leave home? What compels us to rise up, to leave our comfort zone, the security of routine, the sameness of the everyday, to
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Christmas Eve 2017 December 24, 2017 Rev. Fritz Nelson – First United Presbyterian, East Palestine Text: Isaiah 9:1-7 An old carol goes something like this: Bring a torch, Jeanette, Isabella Bring a torch, come swiftly and run Christ is born tell the folk of the village He is asleep, he’s
Continue readingMary and the Upside Down World December 17, 2017 (Advent 3) Rev. Fritz Nelson – First Presbyterian, Columbiana & First United Presbyterian EP Text: Luke 1:26-56 The angel Gabriel comes to visit. Mary says, “yes.” Yes to being the scandal, the talk of the town, that girl. (Why do you
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