Heartstrings Sermon Series

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God, you are our strength and our shield; our hearts trust in you, in you we have found our courage; our wild hearts dance for joy, and in our songs, we will praise you. Amen

For this series, we dug deep into the verse that will define us for years (and hopefully generation!) to come. We are examined Psalm 28:7, as a statement of faith, call to courage, and promise of joy. We are using this Psalm for our opening liturgy in the form of an invocation, and for our closing liturgy in the form of a sending benediction. This 6-week sermon series preached in January and February of 2021, walked us through these words that will be our foundational “vision” for who we are and why we come together to worship. This series was intentional about defining the  Heartstrings worshipping community. We welcome you back, again and again, to discover new treasures, new hope, new reasons to dance for joy.

Go with God as your strength and shield; May your hearts trust in the one who created you, go with courage; may your wild hearts continue to dance for joy, and in the song of your life, praise your God. Now and Forever, Amen.

Each section below contains the sermon, as preached, podcast with commentary, and a link to more information for each sermon.

January 10, 2021 - Week 1

Whether we know it or not, whether we see it or not… when it is so hard to remember… God, is our strength and our shield. When the world feels like it is crushing in around us… God is our strength and our shield. When it feels like pandemic, and division, and hate, and anger will never end… God is our strength and our shield. No matter how dark life becomes… God is our strength and our shield. In the times of life when we forget about God and look to ourselves, or any idol to be our strength and shield… it is the simple words that we’ve repeated together, time and time again that we turn to for the reminder, that God is our strength and our shield. Liturgy is a reminder of the belief that God is our strength and our shield. Because we need that reminder. We need it this week, we will need it next week, and the week after God is our strength and our shield.

For more, including the text version of this sermon, a place for conversation and comments visit this sermons blog page here. 

January 17, 2021 - Week 2

After the invitation to worship… before the commitment to courageous discipleship… from the first note of the offertory where we take a moment to open our hands so we can see all that we have is God’s, and give back in gratitude, through prayer and song and scripture and sermon… to that moment when we are all one in the eating of bread and drinking of juice… that is the heart of worship. The liminal space when set aside life that we might be present here… The center. The core. The heart of worship…. “our hearts trust in you”.

For more, including the text version of this sermon, a place for conversation and comments visit this sermons blog page here. 

January 24, 2021 - Week 3

Naming courage. Defining courage. Looking to the life of Christ for moments of courage. Finding our courage in God’s love and grace. Practicing courage. Courage will define us as a community. That courage will look different at different times. Right now it looks like showing up in a parking lot, to be in community with people showing up online, and finding any way we can to connect with one another. And our call to courage will be doing our part to bring healing to our world. 

 

For more, including the text version of this sermon, a place for conversation and comments visit this sermons blog page here. 

January 31, 2021 - Week 4

I grew to expect those wild hearts. I could feel them coming close. I could feel them gather by my side. I could feel their fear and their courage. I could feel their freedom and their commitment. I could feel their depth and their lighthearted joy. I could feel their scars and I could feel their light.

 

For more, including the text version of this sermon, a place for conversation and comments visit this sermons blog page here. 

February 7, 2021 - Week 5

I can close my eye and put myself in that middle school gym, I can feel the presence of God dancing in total freedom, inviting me to join. “Come, join me…” God beckons, calls, invites… Invites us into this limitless, boundless love… I have a choice. You have a choice. In little moments, big moments, you can sit it out. Or you can dance…

 

For more, including the text version of this sermon, a place for conversation and comments visit this sermons blog page here. 

February 14, 2021 - Week 6

This extravagant, beautiful love, this is our strength and our shield as we take this journey through living… it is this wild, extravagant, grace that we put our trust in, that gives us courage… that invites us to the dance floor to discover a joy beyond understanding. It is this extravagantly boundless love that invites us to become wild hearts ourselves, it is this vision of God’s wild heart that we, as a community, will strive to live into.

 

For more, including the text version of this sermon, a place for conversation and comments visit this sermons blog page here.