Mindful Leader

July 23, 2017, Luke 15, Part IV, Our Prodigal Father

Pastor Mario concludes our 4-week series on Luke 15 by examining the encounter between the older son and his Father. While we often attribute the word prodigal to the younger son in this parable, it is the Father who gives sacrifically of himself on a lavish and generous scale. He loves both sons equally, they are both confronted with his unconditional love. The younger son is now enjoying the celebration the Father throws after receiving back 'safe and sound.' What will the older son do when his Father entreats (pleads) him to come, celebrate and join the party? 

July 16, 2017, Luke 15 Part III, Jesus Sees Where You Are

Part III of Pastor Mario's series on Luke 15 gives us a closer look at the younger son and his Father. While the younger son thought he was better off without his Father, the Father patiently waits for him to come to his senses and return home. However, the return home is not without its cost as an unwelcoming ceremony awiaits the younger son. Instead of shame and suspicion, the Father receives his wayward son home by taking on the shame that belonged to his son and recieving him back, not as a hired hand, but as his son. The parable still speaks to us today and invites us all to come to our senses, return home and experience the love of Jesus, who sees us when we are still a long way off. 

July 9, 2017, Luke 15 Part II, The Parable of the Lost Coin

Pastor Mario continues his sermon series on Luke 15, focusing on verses 8-10. These three verses are often overlooked as it sits between two of the more well known stories in this parable of Jesus. However, these three short verses still speak volumes to us today. We can often understand getting lost in the wilderness, but when something is lost in our home, the frustration, the urgency and determination to find it is all the more amplified. (Think about how you turn your home upside down to find your wallet, keys or glasses).

In this parable, the lost coin is finally found, a party ensues, and the coin can now be used for the purposes intended. Being found by Jesus is a lot like that. We are free to become what God desires us to be as his people. Namely, people who will now gladly go and find others who are lost. What does this parable of woman who lost her coin have to tell us today? Give a listen and know that even when we are lost in house, the one who created us searches for us. Once we are found, the party begins!

July 2, 2017: Luke 15 Part I, The Parable of the Lost Sheep

Have you ever been lost? It's an important question we all must all wrestle with as we consider the three parables. Today's Scritpure reading was from Luke 15:1-7. Jesus tells these stories in response to the Pharisees and Scribes grumbling and complaining about Jesus' social habits. These three stories are meant to be taken as a single unit. In addition to the Pharisees and scribes, we also want to consider the the tax collectors, sinners, and Jesus himself in this famous chapter from Luke's Gospel.

This is the first sermon in a four-week series by Pastor Mario. The first of the three stories begins with a lost sheep in the wilderness and a shepherd who will gladly search until he finds it. This first story ends with a party that the community throws when the lost sheep is found. This story is a glimpse into repentance, reconciliation and restoration. Join us, as we journey together, into the heart of Luke's Gospel and into the heart of Jesus.

*For further reading, see Kenneth Bailey's, The Cross and the Prodigal: Luke 15 Through the Eyes of Middle Eastern Peasants. *

June 25, 2017: Where are We?

Today's Scripture was found in Genesis 3:1-9. Reflections on the first question ever asked in Scritpure as a way to reflect and consider where Hilltop is in 2017. We are called to be an Oasis in the wilderness, a place of refreshing and refuge to those around us. Like the great sculptor, Michaelangelo, who carved art from stone, we too are called to allow God to use to us to call life out for our friends and neighbors. 

July 11, 2017: Connected to Our Power Source

Scripture Reading: 1 John 4:1-6. On Trinity Sunday, Pastor Dennis encouraged our high school and college graduates to stay connected to Jesus, our true power source as we navigate the many choices we face in life. 

June 4, 2017: Pentecost Sunday

Our Scripture reading was found in the Book of Acts 2:1-13. The day in which we remember the outpouring of God's Spirit upon his people. We are reminded that as we remain faithful the narrative that we find in Scripture, the church is called and empowered to to be the face of God's love to the world.

 

 

June 18, 2017--The Great Banquet

 

The scripture is Luke 14: The Parable of the Great Banquet.  This sermon briefly explores Jesus' answer to the question: Who gets to participate in Jesus' banquet that marks arrival of God's Kingdom? What does it mean for us to compel others to come to this party? What excuses do we often offer and can we, like the servant in this story, capture the host's hospitality, and process our own anger and rejection into grace? This was Mario's first sermon at Hilltop. 

May 21st -- Bell Sunday

 

Joyful Ringers, Hallelujah Bells, Carillon Belles, and The Bells of Joyful Sound (special guests).  

This is a mixture of both the 9 and 10:30 services.  

May 28th -- A Call to Unity

This the ravings of a lunatic on behalf of God urging unity.  

The text is Galatians 3: 23-29 and the sermon primarily dwells on Paul's context with a strong focus on the baptismal formula he is using about Jews/Gentiles, Free/Slave and Man/Woman.  I could NOT pull up the word "crescent" when discussing the various symbols on graves for those being remembered on Memorial Day -- Cross (check), Star of David (check), and Crescent and Star (all I got out was Star, didn't get the Crescent).  Forgive me.  

I obviously have gotten to a place where I think we are too often, majoring in the minors.  I know there are many who find me deluded.  

It is my style to preach elements of the sermon in the statement of the theme, the scripture reading, the message itself, and then during the benediction.  

This is from the 10:30 service and the "Smith" party is a 95th Birthday Celebration with Pearl Smith.