Christ Church Evangelical Covenant

Creation - The Prologue and the Plot (Pastor Cheryl Lavornia)

Today, we kick off our year-long walk through the entire story of scripture! Pastor Cheryl starts us at the very beginning of the Bible, where we find the familiar stories of Creation, Eden, Babel, Noah, and the generations in between. As Pastor Cheryl highlights vignettes from within the first eleven chapters of Genesis, she calls us to consider what they reveal to us about God's plans and purposes, and our understanding of the part we play within them.

Living Into Who We Are Becoming (Pastor Cheryl Lavornia)

God is always at work in us, helping us to become more like him, and helping us to more fully reflect his character through our lives. That sounds exciting! But, once we realize that "becoming more like him" requires us to forgive like he forgives, it can be challenging to find the ways to live up to the invitation. In the closing sermon from our Hook Line & Sinker series, Pastor Cheryl helps us understand the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation, and what God calls us to for each.

Revenge Mode (Pastor Cheryl Lavornia)

In week 5 of our Hook, Line, and Sinker sermon series, Pastor Cheryl invites us to consider our response when we fall for the bait of offense. When we are wronged, we all-too-easily understand the desire to take matters into our own hands. But, God has a different plan for us in Romans 12, that we might "conquer evil by doing good."

The Rock of Offense (Pastor Cheryl Lavornia)

Being "offensive" in basketball is a good thing, but "being offensive" to others in real life is a whole different story. It places the one who is offended in a diffult place as they figure out how to respond. However, as Pastor Cheryl shares, there are times where Jesus himself actually offended entire groups of people! The pharisees, his family, and his disciples all quickly come to mind. And, the more that we reflect on these examples, the easier it is to find ourselves upset about what Jesus says and does, because for us to listen to him will ofen require something from us that we might not want to change.

What Am I Doing Here? (Pastor Cheryl Lavornia)

In the third sermon of our Hook, Line, and Sinker series, Pastor Cheryl focuses on Elijah. God had sent him to Israel as a prophet, but he soon discovered that being faithful to God's call would cause people to be upset with him - and even threaten him. As he ran from one particular situation, Elijah was confronted with something hidden in his own heart that was keeping him from being able to do what God was calling Him to do. If we are to avoid finding ourselves in the same position - running from the places and work that God calls us to do - we must begin to identify the parts of our hearts that are in the same condition.

How Could This Happen to Me? (Pastor Cheryl Lavornia)

"How could this happen to me?!" Isn't that often our first response when something difficult happens in our lives? Whether by someone's intentional actions that hurt us, or because of our own internal voice that convinces us, we can all recognize the sense of injustice we feel that leads us to feel offended. And it is just that sense of offense that Satan often uses to separate us from God and from each other. So, when we find ourselves offended, where do we look? What do we need to remember about God? What do we need to remember about what He sees in us? Do we believe what He says?

Hook Line and Sinker (Pastor Cheryl Lavornia)

When was the last time you found yourself offended by what another person said or did to you? If it's not fresh in your mind, you can surely remember how upset you were. And when it comes to church, many of us carry past hurts from fellow churchgoers. Pastor Cheryl begins our summer series, "Hook Line and Sinker," unpacking why this can be such an effective tool to divide us and offers insight how we can begin to move past offense.

Rest (Pastor Cheryl Lavornia)

In this sermon from our Spiritual Disciplines series, Pastor Cheryl invites us to consider how we can practice rest in themidst of a world that never ceases to demand busy-ness. Jesus invites us in John 15 to abide in Him. When we choose this, we will discover the fruit of the kingdom of God growing in our own lives. Discussion Questions: - What makes you and/or your family feel too busy or tired because of all you do? - What brings you the most joy? - If you were to start the practice of Rest, how would you plan some play and rest for you and/or your family this week?

Missional Communities (Part 2) (Pastor Cheryl Lavornia)

Where do we find our identity? As we consider this, we realize it is a multi-faceted question. We have the family contexts that we grew up in, we have the cultures that have shaped us, and the places where we have lived. We have the schools we have attended, the friendships and hobbies we've enjoyed, and so much more. But as we consider the Christian faith in this question. we come to realize that we all find our identity somewhere along a four-part story arc: Creation, Fall, Redemption, and New Creation. And the more that we live into the identity of those who have been created anew in Christ. the more we understand our true purposes in life. Pastor Cheryl shares from 1 Thessalonians. Note: BibleProject is the author and owner of a video used during this sermon. To find more BibleProject resources, visit bibleproject.com.

Missional Communities (Part 1) (Pastor Cheryl Lavornia)

The gospel of Jesus Christ transformed the world in the first three centuries after the resurrection, spreading from town to town and nation to nation with great speed. The book of Acts documents the start of that amazing process. Reflecting on the effectiveness of the early church, Pastor Cheryl highlights both the urgency they felt and the grounding of their faith.