Ember Monday

I really, really love my church. This is probably a good thing, since I'm the pastor. But I just can't emphasize enough how much I enjoy coming to Ember every week. The people are amazing. I encounter God in worship. The sermons are a bit long, but no church is perfect.

The message last night came from Jeremiah 39, which is the story of the fall of Jerusalem. One of the lessons we can learn from Jerusalem's fall is this: Those who embrace the culture of Jerusalem, with Jerusalem will perish. The culture of that city had become one of sin and idolatry. It became normal to worship other gods and oppress the poor, to corrupt justice and break God's sexual commands. Jerusalem's idolatry brought about God's punishment. Our way of life, as Christians, ought not to be defined by the culture in which we live. We have a new culture, a new way of life, that is defined by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You can listen to the sermon in the sermon player, or you can get it on our podcast, which I'm not sure is up on iTunes yet or not.

The music was, as always, awesome. It was so good to see our most faithful attender Travis Somers playing with the band last night. They had another great set of outstanding songs, including Jesus Paid It All, Jesus Is the Lord, and Our God. It was another night of intimate worship as the band drew us into the presence of God through song. And I've got to give props to Bryce on the soundboard and Erica on the computer; neither of them had ever done what they're doing now before Ember started 11 weeks ago, and they're total pros!

This coming weekend is our first big public event. We're having a Trunk or Treat in the church parking lot before the service. If you've never been to Ember, this is a great week to come because you can get free candy and worship Jesus! What's better than that?