Unity Presbyterian - Denver, NC

Our summer series of questions continue with one I bet you have asked at one time or another – why did Jesus have to die on the cross? We’ll dig into the atonement, what it has meant over the past 2000 years, and what it means to us today. 

How many times do we try to dodge the subject of our sins? We don't want to face them ourselves, much less admit them to God. The Samaritan woman at the well faces Jesus in the same way, but his kindness back to her shows her, and us, a new way to forgive, with kindness and the understanding that none of us are perfect.

It's so easy to get caught up worrying about just about every aspect of our lives. Our jobs, our kids, our health, our future... but time and time again the Bible tells us not to worry. How are we supposed to do that? It seems like every time we stop, something comes along to make us start right up again. Pastor Dana takes a look at this topic as we continue our Summer of Questions this week.

Our summer of questions continues as we look at life after death and the second coming of Jesus. You guys asked some tough questions! Pastor David digs into 1 Thessalonians 4 to hear some encouragement from Paul on the subject, and we might come away with more questions than answers!

This week, our questions from the congregation focus on the political polarization of the church, and how we can keep our focus on God amidst the noise around us. Pastor David will use Paul’s words from Ephesians 4 as we navigate some of the same issues that they were facing in the early church, looking for unity as they were facing a world that marginalizes people and weaponizes religion.

Why did God appear to so many people in the Old Testament but not to anyone in the last 2,000 years? Think about all who lived before biblical times, all those who have never heard the word. Why is life after death just for those lucky enough to have been exposed to Christian teachings? Pastor David explores these questions and digs into how God reveals himself to us and to the world at large.

Why do we do mission work? And if we’re not helping starving children in Africa, or doing medical missions in Vietnam, is it really missions? Pastor Dana takes a look at the different types of mission work and the purposes of each as she brings us a recap of the recent trip to the UK in worship this week.

Several months ago, Pastor David encouraged the congregation to send him questions on faith. We got over 50 questions asking all kinds of things that we will try to answer throughout the summer! The first one seems to be a hard one – “How can I hear God’s voice?” Wouldn’t it be great if it was like a phone call? This week, Pastor David looks at the different ways we might feel the urgings of God as individuals and as the body of Christ.

This week is Pentecost – the celebration of the gift of the Holy Spirit! What a great reminder that we are not alone – that we have this gift of a personal advocate who can even speak for us when we do not have the words to say on our own – that we are never alone in our sorrow or grief or despair but are always in the presence of a loving and caring God.

How many times do we say we want peace, then we yell at our neighbor, or at the car in front of us, or at our spouse or child? How do we get this peace we want when it is so hard to find it within ourselves? How can we pursue peace in a world where chaos is everywhere? We might be able to find some inspiration from a story from Paul’s life in our sermon this week where our Opposite is Peace or Conflict. We also celebrate our Mothers, who we are sure would enjoy a little peace in their day, too!