Obstacles to Faith
by Pastor Mike Mercurio
A few weeks ago, we asked this question during a church service, “What gets in the way or makes it hard to follow the Shepherd sometimes?” It came at the end of a series about Jesus, our Good Shepherd and it gave us the chance to reflect on the challenges of the Christian life.
The answers were numerous but overlapping. This means that we often struggle with the same things, so we have started a new series of messages called, “Obstacles to Faith.”
We began with a study on “Worry.” We looked at the passage from the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus said, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.” We followed with a look at his Parable about the Sower, where he compared worry to soil that is infested with weeds, thorns and thistles. As a final stop, we went to the passage where Jesus described himself as the Bread of Life, who came from heaven to provide everything that we need. Click here if you didn’t hear the sermon or want to listen to it again.
This Sunday, May 17, we will explore “Anger” and the ways that it can trip us up. We will talk about: 1) Anger that is not sin, 2) Anger that gets in the way of following the Shepherd … and 3) Anger that melts in the presence of God’s love. I hope you can join us as this everyday emotion can serve a good purpose or genuinely be an obstacle to our faith.
Series Schedule - “Obstacles to Faith”
. . . May 24 - Doubt
. . . June 14 - Busyness
. . . June 21 - Sickness
. . . June 28 - Addictions
Note: On May 31, we will have our next Family Style service and on June 7, we will have a Missions Sunday with international workers from India and the Middle East.