Posted on by Cheryl Norman

In Christ Alone

Pastor Sherry’s message for April 13, 2026

Scriptures: Acts 2:14a, 22-32; Ps 16; 1 Pet 1:3-9; John 20:19-31

We are a people who believe in Christ’s Resurrection. Do we live today—post Easter—as though we really do? If we aren’t sure, our God has shown us how. Our readings today give us 4 vital ways. Let’s unpack them using the verses of (another) contemporary Christian song; It was written in 2002 by Adrienne Liesching and Geoff Moore, ”In Christ Alone.”

Verse 1: In Christ alone my hope is found.

He is my light, my strength, my song.

This cornerstone, this solid ground

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease.

My comforter, my all in all.

Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In our Acts lesson, 2:14a, 22-32, it’s 9:00 am on the Day of Pentecost and the people think the apostles are drunk. Peter, who has recently stumbled in his faith, is powerfully energized! He’d been afraid that he too might be crucified. But now, he preaches the first sermon in what is known as “the Church Age”—leading to the conversion of 3,000 Jews. Obviously, both he and his fellow apostles are Fired Up! They know Jesus is Who He said He was! That He is their light, their strength, their song; that He is the Chief Cornerstone, their solid ground, the source of their (and our) salvation. They therefore trust that He will see them through every problem that threatens them.

If we are living into Easter, we too should be fired up! We, too, can trust that our God is Who He says He is. God did what is impossible for people; He raised Jesus Christ from the grave. So, we too can see Him as our strength and our salvation. Because of Him, we, too, have nothing to fear. Like them, we can affirm, Here in the love of Christ we stand!

Verse 2: In Christ alone who took on flesh-

Fullness of God in helpless babe—

This gift of love and righteousness

Scorned by the ones He came to save.

Til on that cross as Jesus died,

The wrath of God was satisfied,

For every sin on Him was laid.

Here in the death of Christ I live.

Our Gospel lesson is from John 20:19-31. St. John details two Post-Resurrection appearances to the frightened apostles: Everyone but Thomas is present for the first visit. The 10 see and believe that Jesus is alive! They realize anew that He must be Who He claimed to be: God. They see that He really did accomplish what He said He would: overcoming the power of sin and death over humankind. And they receive from Him (1) His deep shalom peace—not dependent on our circumstances but on our relationship with Jesus; (2) A mission or purpose: As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you (v.21). He was ordaining them for ministry; telling them they would need to pick up their cross, like Him and follow Him; and to be ready to lose their life so as to gain it. (3) Finally, He gave them the gift of the Holy Spirit-→God’s empowerment to do all that He was asking them to do, and God’s discernment for forgiving people their sins, in Jesus’ name.

If we are living into Easter, we too believe in Jesus’ death and resurrection. If we believe, we too are born to eternal life! As St. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NLT)–>God made Him who had no sin to become sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. If we believe, we too receive Christ’s peace; life purpose, mission, or ministry; and the powerful assistance of His Holy Spirit. We also realize that, Here in the death of Christ we live.

Verse 3: There in the ground His body lay,

Light of the World by darkness slain.

Then bursting forth in glorious day,

Up from the grave He rose again.

And as He stands in victory,

Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,

For I am His and He is mine…

Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

Thomas misses out and does not believe their reports. A week later Jesus returns so Thomas can see for himself. How gracious of the Lord to be patient with our unbelief! How sweet of Him to come back for the one (lost sheep) who still didn’t get it. Then look at the lengths to which Jesus goes to prove to practical Thomas what the others already accept. Finally convinced, Thomas confesses, “My Lord & My God!” You see, Jesus doesn’t expect us to park our intellect at the church door. He meets us where we are, and if our hearts are willing, and our eyes are open, He shows us He is alive, living, victorious!

If we are living into Easter, we too share in His victory over sin and death! We, too, can believe that He has defeated Satan’s power over us. We, too, can celebrate our freedom in and through Christ! As St. John tells us, (Jn 3:16, NIV)–>For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus Christ has ransomed us with His life. We, too, can rest assured that We are His and He is ours…bought with the precious blood of Christ.

Verse 4: No guilt in life, no fear in death—

This is the power of Christ in me;

From life’s first cry to final breath,

Jesus commands my destiny.

No power of hell, no scheme of man

Can ever pluck me from His hand.

Til He returns or calls me home,

Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.

Psalm 16 is a prophesy from King David, also known as “The Song of the resurrection.” In it, David foretells of (verses 8-9), Jesus’ life and death. In verse 10, he predicts Jesus’ resurrection (NLT)-→For You [meaning God the Father] will not leave My soul [meaning that of Jesus] among the dead or allow Your Holy One [Jesus] to rot in the grave. Jesus, and David, both put their whole trust in God, and so should we.

In 1 Peter 1:3-9, the never-again-wavering Peter both celebrates Christ’s resurrection and warns us of trials to come. In verses 3-5, He practically dances with joy because of what the resurrection means for us all (NLT)-→All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by His great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.

But he also warns us—and he should know—to anticipate that we will experience trials that will test our faith, (verses 6-7, NLT)-→So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold….We have all suffered tests of our faith, haven’t we? It’s so tempting to bail on God when things in our lives get rough. But here is Peter exhorting us not to abandon Jesus when we experience times of trial. And difficulties. Remembering this, realizing our hope is “in Christ,” Here in the power of Christ we’ll stand.

Because of Jesus’ death on the Cross and Resurrection from the dead, we believers can live into new Easter attitudes and new, improved Easter behaviors: We can live life fearlessly, trusting in the love and protection of our Lord. We can rely upon the fact that He has paid the price for our sins so we too will be resurrected and live with Him, eternally, in heaven. We can relax in His love, knowing He has redeemed us with His blood. And, we can rest assured that He has the power to help us overcome the worst Satan and the world can throw at us.

Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, Alleluia, Alleluia!

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Good Friday Meditation

Pastor Sherry’s message for 4/13/2026, 

Scriptures: Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22; John 18:1-40.

Some years ago, I provided some psychological (as a licensed psychologist) and spiritual (as an ordained pastor) training at a nearby Christian residential treatment center for those suffering from mental health issues or addictions. In response to something I said, one young man wanted to know what made me think Christianity is superior to any other of the great world religions. The treatment center is avowedly Christian, so I was surprised that he appeared to believe that Jesus is just like any other religious figure, one among equals. I also soon realized he was less interested in discovering an answer and more committed to being provocative. I have to credit the Holy Spirit, but as I thought for a minute, He led me to say, “It is the only world religion in which God chose to die for His people.” That answer seemed to have caused him to think. I hope it also opened a way for him to draw closer to our Lord.

On Good Friday, today, we commemorate the day our God died. We say, “Christ died for us,” and that is true. Over 2000 years ago, on a hill just outside the city of Jerusalem, Jesus Christ—God in the form of a man–died on a cross. As Revelation 13:8 (NLT) tells us, He was…the Lamb who was slaughtered before the world was made. In other words, this was not a “Plan B,” devised by the Trinity when it became evident that people could not, on their own, sustain an intimate relationship with a holy God. It had always been God’s plan that His Son would die as a substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of all of us. At the Cross of Christ, we see our God at His most loving and at His best. We also see human beings at our worst. 

Our Scripture passages appointed for today are all appropriately solemn. The Apostle John’s “Passion Narrative” (please read it now) takes us through Jesus’ arrest; His trials before the former high priest, Annas, the current high priest, Caiaphas, and the Roman overlord, Pontius Pilate; then finally to His actual crucifixion. What is stunning in John’s account is how calm Jesus appears to be. We know He had been so stressed earlier that, as He prayed, He sweated blood. Now that His time had come, however, as a huge detail of men arrives to capture Him, He seems to be firmly in control. Twice He tells them who He is—“I Am He” (meaning He is God) almost prompting them to proceed. Though the lynch mob was armed, Jesus would not allow them to become violent toward His disciples. He even chastised Peter for cutting off Malchus’ ear and heals the damage. One would think this might have alerted them that Jesus is who He says He is, but they are so bent on destroying Him that they ignore that evidence. Instead, they tie Him up and haul Him off to see Annas.

Now Annas had displeased the Romans, so, though legally out of power, he nevertheless still operated as the chief religious broker of Jerusalem. Biblical scholars say he was both brilliant and evil. Many credit him with the final plan to eliminate Jesus. He has his troops wait until the cover of night, when all those who loved Jesus would be home sleeping. Annas interrogates Him and an official of some sort strikes Jesus for what he interprets as insubordination. Jesus challenges them honestly (verse 23, NLT) If I said anything wrong, you must prove it. But if I’m speaking the truth, why are you beating Me? The most just and honest person in the crowd calmly but firmly reminds them that they—and this kangaroo court–are out of line. By Jewish law, no court trial could begin or be held at night. Additionally, no one could legally strike a person on trial without a verdict. Finally, Jewish Law prohibited sentencing a man on the day he was brought to trial. Annas then sends Jesus to Caiaphas, the Roman’s choice for “high priest” and Annas’ son-in-law (an early example of nepotism).

John reminds us in 11:50 that Caiaphas had previously said to the Sanhedrin—when they were plotting how to eradicate Jesus—You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish. The puppet high priest did not realize then that he had spoken prophetically. Nevertheless, Jesus knew that by this point, He had totally recommitted to laying His life down for the sins of Israel and for us. Caiaphas and Annas find Jesus guilty of blasphemy because He honestly admitted He is the Son of God. They would have liked to have stoned Him, but the Romans forbade any other nation to invoke capital punishment but them. So Jesus is next sent to Pilate.

Pilate tries every which way to free Jesus: He knows the Jewish religious establishment is just jealous of Him. He has Jesus scourged (39 lashings with a whip, one lashing short of killing Him), hoping this will satisfy their blood-lust. He offers to set Him free, but hands Him over to be crucified when the Jews threaten to report to Caesar that Pilate has let a man go who claimed to be the king of the Jews. And so, trading the sinless Son of God for a murderous insurrectionist, the Jewish leadership has their way and Jesus is crucified. Ironically, the sign on His cross identifies Him as King of the Jews in three languages: Hebrew, the language of religion; Greek, the language of culture and education; and Latin, the language of law and order. The Jews want it reworded, but for once Pilate would not give in. 

Notice that John does not tell us much about the crucifixion. The soldiers gamble over who will get His clothes, and John relates three statements Jesus makes as He is dying: (1) He asks John to care for His Mother, Mary; (2) He says He is thirsty; and (3) He asserts, It is finished (meaning the work of salvation He was set to do is complete). Lastly we learn that Jesus’ body was removed and buried just before the Sabbath began at sundown.

All four Gospel writers were all rather circumspect about Jesus’ six hours on the Cross. They each highlight His dignity, but they did not want us to focus on the grusome details of His agony. J. Vernon McGee (Through the Bible Commentary on John, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.106) says the Father deliberately made darkness come over the land from noon until 3:00pm so that curious observers could not witness Jesus’ intense suffering. McGee writes so eloquently, “It was during that time of darkness when men could no longer do anything, the Son of God was working on the Cross. It was during those 3 hours in blackness that the Cross became an altar and the Son of Man, the Lamb of God, paid for the sins of the world.” Jesus was of course suffering from extreme physical torment, but also because He had taken on all the past, present, and future sins of the world, spiritual torture—as well as experiencing for the first time–being totally separated from His Father, emotional and cognitive anguish.

To get a sense of what the crucifixion was like, we have to turn to the Isaiah (52:13-53:12) and Psalm (22) lessons. The Isaiah lesson appointed for today (please read it now) is the 4th Suffering Servant Song. It is a Messianic prophesy, written about 700 years before the events actually transpired, but fulfilled perfectly by Jesus. It is a prediction of how Messiah would be treated prior to and during His execution. Isaiah tells us that Jesus will be raised high, lifted up (on the Cross), but also highly exalted (when it is all over). No one who viewed Him carrying His Cross would think this could ever be so. He will, in fact, startle the whole world—render them speechless—because it will be through the loss of all things that He gains all things.

To begin with, He looked ordinary, not model or movie star handsome. Isaiah foretold that He would be (v.3, NLT) :…despised and rejected–a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief….He was beaten beyond recognition; pierced, crushed, oppressed, afflicted; executed in the worst possible way, like a common criminal, hanged between two true felons; and he died childless, cut off—a condition the Jews would have regarded as evidence of a tragic, futile existence. People will think He got what He deserved, but He didn’t: (vv.4-5, NLT) :Yet it was our weaknesses He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down. And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for His own sins! But He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. Verse 9 tells us He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But He was buried like a criminal; He was put in a rich man’s grave. The Father will richly reward Him (v.11, NIV) :After the suffering of His soul, He will see the light of life [resurrection], and be satisfied…Therefore I will give Him a portion among the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong.  In other words, God intends to reward Him as though He were a king sharing in the spoils of a great military victory. His rewards derive from having gone willingly to death and from having interceded with His body for our sins.

Psalm 22 (please read it now) reveals to us Christ’s thoughts from the Cross. He feels forsaken by His Father—even though the Father had been present with Him as He was arrested, subjected to His ludicrous trials, beaten, and nailed to the Cross. But the Father turned His back on Him when He became sin for us, from noon until 3:00pm. He admits to feeling like a worm. This was a specific type of worm, called a “Coccus,” which emitted a substance used to make red dye—symbolic of Jesus’ blood poured out for us. From the Cross, He feels surrounded by His enemies: The soldiers are the many bulls…the strong bulls of Bashon (a place where cattle were raised); His tormentors from the foot of the Cross (Scribes, Pharisees, the hostile Jewish mob) resemble (v.13) :roaring lions tearing their prey; and (v.16) :dogs have surrounded Me; a band of evil men has encircled Me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. Nevertheless, He trusts in the love of His Father.

Biblical scholars tell us Jesus fulfilled 28 prophesies of the Messiah from the Cross (McGee, p.159). We can recognize them from our Psalm and Isaiah readings. The sinless Son of God laid down His life for us, paying the penalty for our sins, clothing us in His righteousness, and reconciling us to God the Father. These sacred writings prove to us that Jesus—and only Jesus–was and is the Messiah, the Son of God. 

Psalm 30:5 says, Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. The only way to the joy of Easter is through the agony of Good Friday. In God’s economy, suffering often appears to precede satisfaction, trial comes before triumph, clouds before sunshine, rain before flowers. Today, let’s remember that salvation is free for humankind, but it cost God and Jesus everything! Let us remember our Lord today with gratitude and abiding love! Thanks be to God who gives us the victory—over sin and our death penalty–through our Lord, Jesus Christ! AMEN!  

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Amazing Love!

Pastor Sherry’s message for March 29, 2026

Scriptures: Isa 50:4-9a; Ps 31:9-16; Phil 2:5-11; Matt 26:14-27:66

Back in 2003, the Newsboys (a Christian boy band) released a song called “You are my King (Amazing Love).” I’ve always loved that song! Here is a link to the video: Amazing Love by Newsboys with lyrics I love this song because it expresses so well what Jesus did for us on the Cross.

Today, the Christian Church celebrates Palm Sunday—the anniversary of the day of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The people hailed Him as their Messiah—and they were right! But in a few short days later (by Good Friday), the palm waving ended in His procession to Golgatha. That’s why we ask Joy, who has such a lovely soprano voice, to sing the “Via Delorosa” today—Jesus did experience such a sad painful journey on the road to Calvary.

From today through Holy Week to Easter Sunday, we move from joy to grief to extraordinary, resurrection joy again. But what was the point? What did God intend for us to learn?

Well first, Jesus’ mission on earth fulfilled about 300 Old Testament prophesies (There are another 25-26 that He won’t fulfill until His 2nd Coming.)

Many prophets said the Messiah was coming. They described exactly what He would do when He arrived on the scene (His job description is foretold in Isaiah 61:1-3). They predicted how He would die (Psalm 22 and the portion we read today from Psalm 31, as well as the 4 “Suffering Servant Songs” from Isaiah—including Isaiah 50:4-9). And they also insisted He would overcome the power of death. One of the more subtle prophesies comes from way back in Genesis 3:14-15, which tells us that the Christ will crush Satan’s head. What’s fascinating about this is that Jesus died at Golgatha, which means the place of the skull.

This demonstrates that Jesus’ death fulfilled God’s plan and purpose. His death was not just a sad outcome of Judas’ lack of faith or of the Jewish religious leadership’s jealousy; nor was it just one of many, many oppressive Roman attempts to ensure peace in a turbulent country. No, it was God’s demonstration of His extreme love for us! Think of John 3:16-→For God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but have eternal life. God sent His sinless Son (see Philippians 2:5-11) to humbly and obediently take our guilt upon Himself and to ransom us from the death penalty we had incurred.

Jesus also went to the Cross for us so that we might, once again, regain the sweet fellowship with God that was lost to us by Adam and Eve when they sinned in the garden. Our God is holy. He will not abide in the presence of sin. When sin entered the world, through Adam and Eve’s disobedience, humankind realized there was nothing we could do on our own to get back into God’s good grace! Jesus’ saving act of dying on the Cross made this possible once again.  If we believe in Jesus, we are covered with His righteousness. (As St. Paul says, we are in Christ). Just as the Temple curtain was torn from top to bottom at Jesus’ death, this ensures that there is now no impediment, no barrier between us and God the Father.

Back in 2005, an American pastor surveyed 100 Christians from several churches in his town. He asked them, “Would it have made any difference in your life as you are now living it, if Jesus had not died on the Cross?”

1. 45% said they did not think so—almost half!

2. 25% (1/4th) said they thought so, but they could not specify how;

3. 20% said it made all the difference in the world to them.

4. And 10% said they had no idea.

(As cited by Jeff Strite in www.sermoncentral.com, 3/19/2005

5. What a sad commentary on the work of the Church! We are clearly failing at convincing folks they need a savior and at bringing folks into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ!

So what would you say? I hope that each one of you realizes that Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father. I pray each one of you can say His sacrifice of Himself on the Cross means the world to you! He saved your life and He saved mine! I also pray you live each day in that knowledge and that you allow His tender, self-sacrificial love to gently transform you into the image and likeness of Christ—becoming the best you the Lord meant you to be. Lastly, I pray you live each day of your life praising Jesus for saving you!

©️2026 Rev Dr Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Our God, the “Contrarian” 

Pastor Sherry’s message for March 15, 2026

1 Sam 16:1-13; Ps 23; Eph 5:8-14; Jn 9:1-41

What is a “contrarian”? Have you ever been accused of being one?According to a number of excellent dictionaries, it means essentially,

“1.One who takes a contrary view or action, especially an investor who makes decisions that contradict prevailing wisdom, as in buying securities that are unpopular at the time.

“2. A person who habitually takes a view opposite to that held by the majority.

“The contrarians in the stock market prefer to sell when most analysts advise us to buy.”

“3. A person who expresses a contradicting viewpoint, especially one who denounces the majority persuasion.”

  1. (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition, as shared on Google.com)

In other words, a Contrarian” is someone who has opinions that differ from those of the majority of folks on certain issues. We tend to think of a contrarian as someone who is rebellious. Perhaps it could be said to describe you at times. I’m sure my ex-husband, and several bosses for whom I once worked said it of me. But, you know, it puts us in good company because it can also be said of both Jesus and of God the Father. We don’t want to be intentionally disagreeable—that would be neither Christian nor reasonable. Nevertheless, as one of my favorite Bible commentators, Rev. John Fairless (of “Two Bubbas and a Bible” fame) puts it:

“We don’t like it when God gets contrary, do we? We like God to color between the lines, to follow the speed limit and to stay in the right lane. And the Bible shows us a God who likes to speed, who can sometimes barely keep it between the ditches, who not only does not color between the lines; it sometimes appears that God doesn’t even know that the lines are there.”

(John Fairless and Delmer Chilton, The Lectionary Lab Commentarty, Year A,, 2013, p.91)

Fairless has exaggerated for effect, but he is saying that we tend to expect God to behave according to what we think is the one right and only way (usually our own opinion). But God is God and so what He or Jesus does is the true, right, and best way—even if it might not initially look that way to us.

This is clearly illustrated in our Old Testament and Gospel readings today:

A. In 1 Samuel 16:1-13, the prophet Samuel is tasked by God with anointing the continuously disobedient King Saul’s replacement. We learn that Samuel is reluctant to do so. He really loves Saul, despite Saul’s rebelliousness toward God. And he worries that if Saul gets wind of what he is doing in Bethlehem, the King will have him assassinated.

Despite his fears, Samuel gathers Jesse and his sons, under the guise of an impromptu worship service, and looks the seven sons over. He’s impressed with the eldest, Eliab, but God says, “NO, he’s not My choice. You are responding to what you see of his outward appearance”—the problem the people had when they selected Saul, who was tall and good looking. So, God redirects him by saying (v.7, NLT)…Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

He then asks Jesse if he has additional sons. It’s as though the youngest is so insignificant to his father that he has forgotten David. Jesse had other shepherds who could have tended the flock. However, he says in verse 11-→There is still the youngest, but he’s out in the fields watching the sheep and goats. David’s father had not planned for him to attend the worship service or the banquet to follow. But David, at 16, the youngest of 8, is the one God wants. And when Samuel anoints him as the next King of Israel, the Holy Spirit falls upon him, marking him as God’s choice.

How surprised—and perhaps how envious—the older brothers must have been! Instead of choosing the eldest brother, God–as we saw Him do with Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph—chooses the youngest. This flies in the face of human expectations! We think that the baby son has the least experience and may be spoiled or entitled, having an underdeveloped character. But our “contrarian” God sees things in these younger sons that we might miss. God knows what trials they will face; and He also anticipates the character they will develop. Remember, despite his sins, King David proved himself to be (unlike King Saul) a man after God’s own heart!

B. Our Gospel lesson, John 9:1-41, relates the events surrounding Jesus’ healing of the man blind from birth.

First Jesus addresses the faulty but prevalent belief of the time that if you were somehow physically disabled, it was because you or your folks had seriously sinned. Being blind from birth was not his fate, or his karma–Christians do not believe in either. His condition was meant to provide the opportunity for God to prove that Jesus could heal a never-sighted person (v.3)-→This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.

Then He heals him. Here’s where the questions, the doubt, and the fun begin: The neighbors question whether or not this newly sighted guy is truly the blind guy they known for years. He insists he is and that his healing is real, but they don’t believe him. How frustrating for him that he cannot convince them.

My question is “Why is no one rejoicing with him?”  This has never happened before, it’s a miracle. Why are the people who are acquainted with him not rejoicing?!!

Instead, the neighbors take him to the Pharisees. The Pharisees can’t rejoice in his new eyesight either because they get tangled up in the fact that Jesus healed (or did work) on the Sabbath! The Pharisees then argue over whether or not Jesus is from God or is a blatant sinner. They ask the man and he insists that Jesus must be a man of God, a prophet. But, because the whole enterprise contradicts their belief system—their narrative—they discount the man’s testimony and search out his parents. He’s a grown man! Lord have mercy!

They locate his parents and demand to know if the man was truly born blind. The parents have heard the Pharisees are throwing Jesus’ followers out of the Synagogue—the center of Jewish community in that day–so they are cagey with their response. Interestingly, even they don’t celebrate his healing. This makes me wonder if they were already missing the money he made from begging. If you truly loved your child, would you not be thrilled that he was now able to see?!! They wisely, and probably cheekily, tell the Pharisees to ask him for themselves.

The Pharisees call the man back in, saying (v.24)-→God should get the glory for this, because we know this man Jesus is a sinner. The man honestly states (v.24)-→I don’t know whether He is a sinner…but I know this: I was blind but now I can see! Can’t you just hear his frustration?

No doubt he is thinking, “I’ve never been able to see, but now I can, due to this man you call Jesus. Can’t you just celebrate with me?” So he tells the Pharisees (v.27)-→Look!…I told you once. Didn’t you listen? Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become His disciples, too? The Pharisees are frustrated too. Their perspective is that Jesus is a sinner, no one with Godly authority. So they curse this man whose only misstep was to have been healed by our Lord! They place their faith in Moses because they don’t trust in Jesus’ origins or His power. The healed man, probably inspired by the Holy Spirit, then takes them to school (vv.30-33)–> Why, that is very strange! He healed my eyes, and yet you don’t know where He comes from? We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but He is ready to hear those who worship Him and do His will. Ever since the world began, no one has been able to open the eyes of someone born blind. If this man were not from God, He couldn’t have done it. (He reminds me, in his “moxie” of the Samaritan woman at the well.) The Pharisees, however, are outraged—their pride is offended—so they do expel him from the Synagogue.

Jesus comes to his rescue again. He reveals Himself to the man as the long-awaited Messiah. He says He came to give sight to the blind, which He has done for this fortunate fellow (as per Isaiah 63:1); and to try to convince those who are spiritually blind that they do not see. Overhearing, the Pharisees get involved again and ask (v.40)-→Are you saying we’re blind? Now who is the contrarian? Jesus says, If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty [you’d have an excuse]. But you remain guilty because you claim you can see. The short answer is “Yes.” They are able to see physically but not spiritually; whereas the blind man was physically blind, prior to Jesus, but now sees spiritually, and with much more accurate perception than the religious leaders and teachers of his day.

So what might we learn from this? We have learned that life is not fair, and sometimes our God may not seem fair, as judged from our perspective. We say or think that He doesn’t do the things we think He should do, or that He doesn’t do them the way or the time we think they should be done. YIKES! We want to think that through carefully. We are not God and we are not privy to all that He knows and plans for us. If we can trust in His nature, we know He is the Good Shepherd as Psalm 23 tells us: He provides for us, protects us, and blesses us. St. Paul exhorts us (Ephesians 5:8-14) to live as people of the Light. Christ’s light shines out only what is good and right and true. This kind of behavior differs from secular wisdom and contemporary woke expectations. If we don’t see the evidence of God’s blessings in our lives today, we need to trust in His nature and wait—with hope and faith—for what He does in our future.

We have learned that God’s purposes are right and good. The Pharisees misjudged Jesus because He did not present Himself in ways that fit their expectations, their system, their narrative. If we are offended because our God often appears to be a contrarian, we need to remember He is God and we are not.  As a result, we should each probably ask ourselves, “What truth about God or Christ have I missed because it did not fit my view of how things should turn out?”

Just as King David’s family, the prophet Samuel, and the Blind man’s parents and his neighbors, we need to be willing to put our human assumptions aside and look to see what “opposite world” thing our God is doing. Jesus came to save the lost. We are lost—and inaccurate– if we insist that all things should go our way. But we worship a Jesus who is never lost, and who—as the Son of Man, the Christ, the Messiah, the Living Water, the Light of the World—came to show us the unerring way to the Father’s heart.

Thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ. Alleluia! Alleluia!

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Passing God’s Tests

Pastor Sherry’s message for March 8, 2026

Scriptures: Ex 17:1-7; Ps 95; Ro 5:1-11; Jn 4:5-42

There is an anonymous story told of an Ohio State University student who was academically competent but tended to need time to complete assignments (he was smart but not speedy). He was troubled by a Calculus class he needed to pass—and wasn’t—taught by an annoying professor. The guy seemed to delight in frustrating his already discouraged students (You know the type. They seem to dislike students and should never be allowed to have authority over them.) During exams, he would walk around, watching them like a hawk, hoping to discover someone cheating; and he would frequently announce the amount of time left just to interrupt their trains of thought and to agitate everyone. In a class of 1,000 students, the slow-but-steady young man was the only one not to turn in his exam when time was called. The prof waited impatiently and then, an hour later, when the young man finally finished his test, the prof asked him what he thought he was doing. The young man answered, “Turning in my exam.” The prof replied, “Your exam is an hour late. Congratulations! You’ve failed it. So, I will see you next term when you repeat my class.” 

The student smiled and asked, “Do you know my name?” The professor replied gruffly, “What?” The student rephrased his question, “Do you know what my name is?” With irritation, the prof replied, “There are 1,000 students in this class. What makes you think I would know your name?” The student then smiled, and, lifting up a tall stack of test booklets, placed his completed test in the middle of the pile and casually exited the huge lecture hall.

Life sometimes presents us with tests–and authority figures– like that one. We may think our prospects are slim and we don’t have much of a chance at succeeding. The truth is that if we have a relationship with the Lord, we can make it through about any trial that might come. Let’s see what light our passages today have to shed on this issue: 

A. Our OT lesson comes from Exodus 17:1-7. The context is that God is leading His people from the Wilderness of Sin—and doesn’t sin truly place us in a wilderness?–to a placed called Rephidim. The Children of Israel have already experienced God’s miraculous deliverance of them from Pharaoh’s Chariots at the parting of the Red Sea. Three days into the desert, they come across a pond of bad water which the lord empowers Moses to turn good. He then leads them to an oasis with 12 delicious fresh water springs, so they can load up their water skins. By the 15th day out of Egypt, they have run out of food (except for their herds), but God supernaturally supplies them with manna. Now they find themselves at Rephidim where there is no water.

Having apparently learned little about trusting in the Lord for His provision, they fail to pray and ask for His assistance. Instead, they turn on Moses. It’s a test which they flunk. God has provided for them already, at least 3-4 times! Psychology tells us the best single predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Jehovah Jirah truly is our provider. By now, they should have trusted in the Lord and sought Him out in prayer. Moses, afraid for his life, pleads with God to intervene. And God uses him to lead them to the Rock at Horeb, at the base of Mt. Sinai (where they will soon receive the Ten Commandments).

There God makes water rush out from the rock, enough to satisfy 2 million people and only Heaven knows how many animals. Moses names the place Massah—which means testing—and Meribah—which means quarreling. It becomes a monument to their lack of faith in God.

It is also a testimony to their rebellion, their hard hearts, their ingratitude, and their self-pity. Many centuries later, Paul will write 1 Corinthians10:1-4-→I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. All of them ate the same spiritual food, and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. And he followed up in verses 9-10-→Do not…put Christ to the test, as some of them did and… don’t grumble as some of them did….Because Massah and Meribah is also a reminder of God’s gracious and abundant provision—in spite of His peoples’ attitudes and behavior! Unlike the calculus professor at Ohio State, God is for us, not against us. Our Lord tests us to help deepen our faith and trust in Him.

B. Psalm 95 picks up the same theme! This is one of the psalms that memorializes the Israelites’ rebellious lack of faith. Verses 8-10 state (NLT)-→The Lord says, “Don’t harden your hearts as Israel did at Meribah, as they did at Massah in the wilderness. For there your ancestors tested and tried My patience, even though they saw everything I did. For forty years I was angry with them, and I said, “They are a people whose hearts turn away from Me. They refuse to do what I tell them.” Other psalms say essentially the same thing: Psalm 81:7-→You cried to Me in trouble, and I saved you; I answered out of the thundercloud and tested your faith when there was no water at Meribah. Psalm 105:40-41(NIV)-→They asked and He brought them quail and satisfied them with the bread of Heaven. He opened the rock and water gushed out; like a river it flowed in the desert. Psalm 106:13 (NLT)-→Yet how quickly they forgot what He had done! They wouldn’t wait for His counsel!  In the desert their desires ran wild, testing God’s patience in that wasteland.

You see, our God tests our faith in Him. As we develop in our spiritual walk, He tests us to discover whether we love Him for what He does for us or because of Who He is. As Paul reminds us in Romans 5:3-5-→We can rejoice too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know they they help us develop endurance [patience, persistence]. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.

Returning to Psalm 95, God provided for that generation, but—because they repeatedly failed His tests, (v.11)—So in My anger I took an oath: They will never enter my place of rest [the Promised Land]. He did not detest them, but He was angry and grieved with and disappointed in them. They wandered in the wilderness because they did not trust God. He waited for the last of that adult generation to die before leading the people into the Promised Land. 

C. Our Gospel lesson (John 4:5-42) relates Jesus’ encounter with a Samaritan woman around her need for living water. First, we note that He had to go through Samaria. Jews normally avoided traveling through Samaria.

The Samaritans had intermarried with non-Jewish northern people after 721BC, and were considered mongrels by their Jewish kin in Judea. Nevertheless, Jesus stopped there to fulfill a divine appointment with this woman. (Never believe that women are second class citizens in God’s eyes! Jesus, the King of Glory, went into Samaria precisely because the Father told Him to meet with this woman.)

She comes looking for water at noon, a time when other women would have been elsewhere. No doubt she hoped to avoid them, and their “snarky” comments. Additionally, she was probably lonely, discouraged, and feeling empty and weary.

She encounters Jesus, the Word Made Flesh, the Living Water. He engages her first, thus overcoming barriers of gender, race, religion, religious practice, and morality. He meets her where she is, with compassion and love. He steps into her reality, promising her water that…becomes a spring gushing up to eternal life. She is curious and asks Him to give her this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water. But one thing stands in her way: her sinful lifestyle. Unlike the student from Ohio State, she is known to Christ. He knows her sinful history of 5 husbands and a 6th paramour. When He calls her out on her sins, she believes He is a prophet. But He reveals Himself to her as the promised Messiah. Thrilled, she abandons her water jugs and brings her whole village to Him. She and they all partake of the true Living Water, the Word of God, Jesus Christ. She and they—considered by the Jews to be no better than feral dogs—are transformed and saved!

We need to be aware that God will test our faith. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we should expect the testing to begin and not be surprised. Further, we don’t want to be stubborn and stiff-necked like the ancient Israelites, repeatedly failing God’s tests. No, we want to be like this Samaritan woman, realizing we are lost, unfulfilled, and desperate without Jesus. We want to learn from the tests to deepen our faith. We want the Holy Spirit to develop in us endurance and patience; to mold and shape our characters to look more and more like that of Jesus; to transform our attitudes and behaviors; to increase our hope; and to discover if we can continue to love Him even when He doesn’t give us what we want.

So the question really is, Will we pass God’s tests? When we experience deprivation, loss, a heart-breaking health diagnosis, or some trauma, will we doubt God’s presence and His provision, like the ancient Israelites? Or will we like Moses, go to Him in prayer for help, trusting in Him to rescue us? Or will we, like the Samaritan Woman, open ourselves to His loving correction and transforming power?

Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams  

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Eye-Black as Salt and Light

Pastor Sherry’s message for February 8, 2026

Scriptures: Isa 58:1-9a; Ps 112; 1Cor 1:1-12; Matt 5:13-20

Some years back, I read Tim Tebow’s autobiographical book, Shaken (WaterBrook, 2016) which I would recommend. In it, he shares some facts that are rather astonishing: You may remember he became known for citing a Bible verse address in his eye-black. On January 8th, 2009, for the National Championship football game against Oklahoma, he put John 3:16 on his cheeks, in his eye-black. Not only did the Gators win that game, but then Coach Urban Meyer told him afterward that 94 million people watching had Googled John 3:16-→For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Tim writes (p.155), “Talk about humbling. God is so big that He used something so small, a tiny biblical reference painted under my eyes, to impact people to search His Word.” Interesting that soon afterward, the NCAA made a new rule banning players from placing messages in their eye-black. Now some 10-15 years later, players are once again placing Biblical references in their eye-black.

Nevertheless, exactly 3 years to the day later, Tim was playing for the Denver Broncos in an NFL playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now the NFL also didn’t allow players to put messages in eye-black. You may remember that Denver beat the heavily favored Steelers 29-23, in overtime in that game, with a touchdown thrown by Tebow to Demaryius Thomas. Following that astonishing win, a Bronco’s PR man told Tim (p.156), “Do you know that it was exactly 3 years since you wore John 3:16? And during this game, you threw for 316 yards. Your yards/completion were 31.6. The time of possession for Denver was 31:06. The ratings for the night were 31.6 million. And during the game ninety million people Googled John 3:16,” (based on statements by the TV commentators).

I find this astonishing! Tim says, “I was reminded that God…is always at work—with or without me. Just goes to show you that we never know what God can do with the small choices we make, with the stands we take, or with something positive we do even unintentionally.” Tim had done something small—changed the citation in his eye-black for a big game—and God kept using it for His glory 3 years later. Clearly no one can say our God isn’t concerned about details.

Most of us don’t receive the kind of attention a Tim Tebow does, but even so—as our Scriptures today demonstrate—we can make a difference in this world for our God, if we behave like salt and let our light shine:

A. In Isaiah 58:1-9, God is explaining to the Judeans that their religious words and actions are all about going through the motions. If they really want to show God they love Him, they will quit performing empty rituals and spouting off meaningless prayers. I know we have at least two parishioners who are really into movies. But do any of you remember “Clueless” from 1995? In it, Alicia Silverstone immortalized the sarcastic statement of skeptical disbelief, “As Iff….” Isaiah is making an “As iff” statement to the Israelites. “Yeah, right, you say you love God, but….” God is saying through him, “Yada, yada, yada…same ole, same ole; precise but meaningless worship. I am not impressed!”

Instead, He wants them to demonstrate their faith in Him through their actions—the way they live their lives: Free the wrongly imprisoned; Lighten the burdens of your workers; Stand up for the oppressed; Share food with the hungry; Clothe the naked; and Provide shelter for the homeless. If they (and we) do these things, God says, Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help and He will say: Here I am (vv.8-9).

The Israelites then, and we followers of Jesus Christ now, are to be light in the world. If we are making God first in our lives, and loving others as we love ourselves, our examples will both preserve and demonstrate God’s love and shine brightly in this dark world, helping others not to stumble and to see their way.  

B. Psalm 112:1-10 is the masculine equivalent of the Proverbs 31 woman, listing the characteristics of a man who “fears”/respects the Lord` Timothy Keller, in his book Forgive (Penguin Books, 2023, p60), asserts that the fear of the Lord is not the terror kind of fear, but rather a sense of being deeply affected or in awe of who God is and what He’s done. God is saying through the psalmist that He blesses those who are in right relationship with Him. The righteous man is blessed in that his children reflect well on him; he is economically and spiritually secure; he is generous and just, and cares for the poor; and he is well thought of by others. And even though the wicked are jealous of him, they cannot prevail against him. Light shines from this person, doesn’t it? Such a man (or woman) is exceptional, like a Tim Tebow. Their life and witness help others to come to Christ and to be salt and light. 

C. Our Gospel lesson is Matthew 5:13-20. It is part of the Sermon on the Mount, and occurs just after the passage containing the Beatitudes. In it, Jesus calls Israel (and us) to be salt and light. He also challenges us to live that out in our world.

Salt in the Ancient Near East was a preservative then as they lacked refrigeration. It stopped fermentation and decay of meats and other foods. 

You could say it was an early “green” or conservation method. Jesus is saying we are to live our lives in such a way as to preserve others. What we model in the way we live our lives should encourage others want to know the Jesus we know;

Because of the way we love God and others, they will come to want to function that way too.

Additionally, light banishes the darkness. It helps us to see clearly and to avoid obstacles. If I forget whether or not I have locked my front door at night, I may use a flashlight to light my way from my bedroom to the door. I see what is illuminated in that small circle of light and keep from stubbing my toes on furniture.

As Paul reminds us, in 1 Corinthians 2:1-12, we have the mind of Christ because of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us and reminding us of all that Jesus taught. We are clothed in His righteousness, we seek His will, and we reflect the light of His Holy Spirit from our eyes and from our spirits. So, as we go about our lives, walking in His light, reflecting His light in a dark world, people are drawn to us and to what we have in us.

In this Gospel passage, Jesus says He did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. He is the only human being who has ever lived out the Law completely. This is how He fulfilled it—by being salt and light. This is also how He is able, this side of the Cross, to apply His righteousness to us.

When we are salt and light, God uses even the little things we do to bring glory to Himself. I read a story this week of a woman’s reaction to her mother’s cancer diagnosis: Her name was Emily Potter and she was disturbed ot receive a call from her sister affirming, “It’s cancer,” describing the diagnosis their mother had just gotten. “Not my mom,” thought Emily. “Please not my mom.” Cancer had already devastated their family once before, and they had lost friends to it as well.

“The only way that Emily knew how to express herself was to create something. So, she made a sweatshirt with the word “salty” sown across the front. She showed up to her mother’s first round of chemotherapy wearing the sweatshirt. And why did she choose that particular word? Emily says that being salty “means that I am extremely bitter, angry and resentful towards her cancer.” But it also sends the message that her mom is “tough and a fighter.”

“According to Emily, people with cancer are some of the toughest and most courageous people on earth. She wears her “salty” sweatshirt as a kind of armor, one that strengthens and preserves her bond with her mother. When she puts it on, she is saying, “I love you. I’m here for you. Let’s be salty. Together.””

(As shared in http://www.proclaimsermons.com; 2-4-26)

I want to invite you to look around this week and ask God to show you to whom you are to be salt and light; and then do what He prompts you to do: Pay a visit. Make a phone call. Send a card or an email. Provide a meal. Contribute to a worthy cause. We don’t have to do everything, just do what God places before you. Remember Tebow’s eye black…such a little act, with such a huge response. Paul quotes for us in 1 Corinthians 2:9–>No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him….Be willing to do something little, out of your love for God, and watch the Lord do big things with it. AMEN!

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Where is Jesus in the Car of Your life?

Pastor Sherry’s message for February 1, 2026

Scriptures: Micah 6:1-8; Ps 15; 1 Cor 1:15-31; Matt 5:1-12

Years ago, when I was in seminary, my home church in Tallahassee flew me to Camp Weed (in Live Oak, Florida) to attend a women’s retreat. The speaker was a woman named Norma Dearing. She worked at the Christian Healing Ministry in Jacksonville, Florida, alongside Fr. Francis MacNutt and his wife, Judith. Norma, like the MacNutts, was able to pray for a person while hearing from the Holy Spirit exactly what they needed healing for. I remember we were all seated in rows and she came behind us, placed her hands on our shoulders, and proceeded to lift to God—without having spoken to us beforehand—exactly the issue most on each of our hearts. At first, I could hardly believe it! She had absolutely zeroed in on my needs. Then she accurately summarized those of my friends seated near me. I was so amazed—yet still skeptical—that I got up and took a seat near other friends so check to see how dead-on she would be for each of them. Wow! She blew me away! I had never heard of such a thing before. It was as though she knew us all intimately and yet she’d only just met us! I figured out that the Holy Spirit was downloading our needs into her mind as she prayed for each one of us. What a gift! 

She was also just as effective and memorable in the talks she presented. I’ll never forget that she asked us to consider where Jesus was in the “car of your life?” Is He a hood ornament? Or a bumper sticker? A decoration for show, but with no real impact on our driving. Is He in the trunk?

Perhaps we’ve taken Him in but it’s as though He’s bound and gagged–He’s along for the ride, but we don’t listen to or attend Him. Maybe He’s in the backseat, trying to direct us, but we don’t tune in or pay attention. Or is He in the passenger seat? We think of Him as our friend, but again, He has no real influence on the direction we take, the speed with which we drive, or how skillfully or carefully we manage our life. Well, the point is that Jesus should be in the driver’s seat of our lives. Occasionally you may still see a bumper sticker that says, “God is my copilot.”  But the truth is, He should be the pilot.

This is where the Beatitudes, today’s Gospel lesson (Matthew 5:1-12), clearly place Him. The first four put Him clearly behind the wheel.

We accompany Jesus where He wants to go. Our hearts are surrendered to His direction. As a result, our attitudes and behaviors are more Christ-like. The last 5 help us demonstrate Christ-like behaviors to others. Together the 9 beatitudes of Matthew constitute a road-map which directs us to a transformed and a blessed Christian life.

All nine begin with blessed-→makarioi in the Greek. It means supreme blessedness; ultimate well-being; genuinely fortunate! It can also mean jump for joy! Or Celebrate! These are Scriptural promises of both ultimate and present day blessings for persons who demonstrate these behaviors in their lives.

Let’s examine them together according to the New Living Translation (NLT):

1. God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for Him, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Because we know that all good things come from God, we surrender our need to control our progress. Instead, we put Jesus in the driver’s seat of our lives. We say, in our hearts, “Lord, I can’t go anywhere without YOU!” And Jesus replies, “When you let Me drive, you will journey alongside Me and toward heaven.” The reward is that God reigns in our hearts, and we experience/live out the fruit of the Spirit.

2. God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Mourners care deeply. They have lost someone (or a pet, a relationship, or a job that was very dear to them. They may also be mourning their sinfulness. Sin separates us from God (leaving Jesus in the trunk or left out on the roadside.)

An ancient prayer of confession says, “…we acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness which we from time to time have grievously committed.” Mourners may also grieve the evil and sin that abounds in our world today-→abuse, betrayal, desertion, abandonment, massive fraud, acts of revenge, violence, etc. Suffering teaches us compassion and strengthens our faith. Some has said, All sunshine makes a desert, and it’s true isn’t it. We need some rain in our lives to learn to consider the needs of others. Eugene Peterson has written, “Suffering hallows out a place in us for God and His comfort which is infinite joy.”

Jesus in His grace says such mourners will be comforted. The reward for grieving is God’s comfort. In other words, we will be snuggled up with Jesus in the front seat.

3. God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.  Meek does not mean weak-→Jesus says (Matt 11:29)-→for I am meek and lowly in heart. It means He has a gentle spirit, He is unassuming, unpretentious, not proud. Our Micah lesson (Micah 6:8) says,…Oh People, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what He requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.  This means we are to be self-disciplined and self-controlled. This position of obedient trust and submission to God’s will puts Jesus in the drivers’ seat. Jesus in His grace says that such persons… will inherit the earth! The reward for being humble or meek is inheriting the blessings of God! These blessings include God’s peace, provision, and power.

4. God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied. While we may seek after food, love, money, influence, etc., this is instead a longing to be right with God and to want to see God’s righteousness prevail. St. Augustine and later, Henri Nouwen, referred to…a God-shaped vacuum that only God can fill-→This is a spiritual hunger. Matthew 6:33 says, Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need. Our reward is to to be filled to overflowing.

5. God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Our love of self is replaced by our love of God and for others. We are kind, compassionate, forgiving. We live out the behavior of the Good Samaritan—helping a wounded enemy–and that of Jesus on the Cross—forgiving His murderers. In His grace, then, Jesus rewards us with extending grace to us.

6. God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. The Hebrews believed the heart was the location of cognitions, decisions, motives, and the will. So a pure heart would be one that is sincere and truthful, whose motives are good. If we are pure in heart, we live our lives with integrity. In His grace, Jesus then rewards us with being able to discern Him in other people, and to enter into His presence through prayer and worship. Our Psalm (15) today was written by King David. In it, he maintains that only those with pure hearts or godly character can dwell in God’s presence.

7. God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God. Like Jesus, we have been given a ministry of reconciliation. God’s peace, His shalom means perfect welfare, serenity, prosperity, complete good. We are to wage peace with everyone-→Romans 13:18-→If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. This includes being at peace with God, with others, and even with yourself. We are not to harbor self-hate, but to cultivate a healthy self-love. In His grace, Jesus declares that such behavior labels us as sons (and daughters) of God. In other words, being a peacemaker renders us God-like!

8 & 9. God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are My followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember: the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way. If we are living out Christian lives, we will e persecuted. Right living convicts those not living right. Right living riles Satan. Peterson says, “To be persecuted is to be take seriously as a Christian.” Our gracious reward is that we are in great company! Romans 8:17 says, If we suffer with Christ, we shall be glorified with Him. And Paul goes on to state in 2 Timothy 2:12-→If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him.

So, are you aware of where Jesus is in the car of your life? We tend to puyt ourselves in control, and may bring Jesus along somewhere. But the Beatitudes teach us to put Him formly in the driver’s seat. These Beatitudes are a road map for Christian transformation, which place us on the route to true happiness. May we each, with the help of the Holy Spirit, learn to live them out. 

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Pedaling in Tandem

Pastor Sherry’s message for January 25, 2026 

Scriptures: Amos 3:1-11; Ps 139:1-18; 1 Cor 1:10-18; Matt 4:12-23

Think about the following stories and see if you can discern the point of each:

(1) The story is told of two men riding a tandem bicycle up a steep hill. After much effort, they finally made it to the top of the hill. The front rider said, “That was a tough ride.” To which the second rider replied, “Sure was, and if I hadn’t kept the brake on we might have slipped backwards.””

Don’t you just know that the front rider was ready to scream at the guy in the back?

(2) “Intending to raise cattle, a family from New York bought a ranch out West. When their friends visited and inquired about the ranch’s name, the would be rancher replied: ‘I wanted to name it the Bar-J. My wife favored Suzy-Q, one of our sons wanted the Flying-W, and the other liked the Lazy-Y. So we’re calling it the Bar-J-Suzy-Q-Flying-W-Lazy-Y.’ ‘But where are all your cattle?’ the friends asked. ‘None survived the branding.’”

(Story sources are unknown, Ministry 127.com, 1/20/2026) 

What’s the point of both stories? It’s important to come into agreement.The ranch family needed to agree on a brief name so their cattle weren’t killed. And the tandem two needed to agree to pedal without the brake on so their friendship wasn’t destroyed.

This is where the LORD, through our readings today, is directing us as a church. We are to be a united body focused on our Lord Jesus Christ:

A. This is what Paul is saying to the Corinthian Church (1 Corinthians 1:10-18), isn’t it? They are feuding over which of their leaders/teachers is the best. They have split into factions based on who they favor most. It would be the same if you compared me to the pastors who came before me, or to pastors who have a TV ministry. I am so grateful that you don’t appear to do that. I’m different from all of them—just as they differ from me–and we each have our own special giftings from the Lord. Incidentally, please pray for my continued growth and spiritual maturation.

Our LORD wants each of us to grow and mature spiritually by (1) learning to put Jesus first in all we do—a tall order; (2) learning to love others at least as well as we do ourselves—also a tall order; and (3) by following or obeying Jesus, just like James, John, Andrew, and Simon Peter. We’re not here to compete with one another—like reading faster than anyone else, singing louder, or cooking more dishes to bring to church meals. We’re here to learn a kind of self-giving cooperation not seen enough in our world today. We are to celebrate the centrality, the incomparable importance, of Jesus Christ.

B. Psalm 139:1-18 conveys such a message of reassurance, doesn’t it? It makes the point that our God is omniscient (knows everything), omnipresent (is present everywhere) and omnipotent (is all-powerful). As a result, He knows us intimately our behaviors and our thoughts—even before we speak or write them. We don’t know how He does this, but we know that He does (v.6, NLT)->Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand! (Isaiah 55:8-9, in the New Living Translation, says it this way: “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.”) It also means there is no place we can take ourselves that is beyond God’s awareness—i.e., there is no hiding from God! Wherever we go, God’s (v.10)->hand will guide me, and [His] strength will support me. He can even see us in the dark (vv.11-12).

Next, the psalm informs us that God created our bodies. It was He who decided our gender, our nationality, even the era during which we would live. If we have always hated the size of our hips, or the color of our hair, etc., we might do better to just accept that this is how the Lord meant us to be. The psalmist, King David, writes (v.14)-.Thank You for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous. He created us and watched us develop in the womb. 

Better yet, (v.16)-→Every day of my life was recorded in Your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. This is indeed blessed assurance! None of us need ever think we were an accident or that we should never have been born! God called each one of us into being. And our lives have meaning because He had a plan and purpose for us.

C. God’s plan and purpose for James, John, Andrew and Simon Peter was that they would follow Jesus and become fishers of men. In our Gospel lesson today, Matthew 4:12-23, we note that Jesus moved his base of operations from His hometown of Nazareth to Capernaum. This move was precipitated by the fact, as Luke records it, that His hometown friends and relatives rejected His claim (from His reading of Isaiah 61:1) to be the Messiah.

However, God the Father seems to have orchestrated events so that Jesus would locate in this fishing town on the Sea of Galilee. Capernaum was home to a large number of Roman citizens and folks from other countries—Gentiles all. And, since it was located on two major trade routes—one running East to West, and the other going North-South, connecting Arabia and Egypt to points north of Israel—it was large enough for Jesus to remain relatively anonymous as He interacted with many, and it fulfilled prophecies from Isaiah 9:1-2 and 42:6-7 that Jesus would be… a light to guide the [Gentile] nations.

It was here in Capernaum that He called His first 4 disciples. As He assembled and trained the 12, He cultivated deep relationships with them and sent them out to carry the light of His truth to Jews; and to rescue Gentiles from the darkness of paganism and unbelief.

D. Our Old Testament lesson from Amos 31-11 spells out two important concepts for us:

(1.) First, God is trustworthy and true. The prophet supplies 7 examples of cause and effect, including the following: Unlike the tandem bicyclers, two people who intend to walk together must be traveling in the same direction–not one braking while the other pedals as hard as he or she can. The hunting lion only roars after she has found her prey—if she roared before, the prey would be warned and run off. To trap a bird, the snare must hold some bait. The people of a city in those times realized there was danger approaching when the watchman blew the ram’s horn. The prophet is making the point that God is not capricious!If He punishes His Chosen People, He does so because they deserve it. Not only had they become idolaters, but (v.10)-→”My people have forgotten how to do right,” says the Lord. “Their fortresses are filled with wealth taken by theft and violence.” What do you think the Lord would say today about the $9 billion Somali immigrants who have defrauded American taxpayers? Or the $23 million by the California guy who was to have used the funds to feed and house 600 homeless? Instead, one man spent $23 million on his own lavish lifestyle.

(2.) Our God is a good and righteous Father. He definitely knows who the bad actors are. He provides a just punishment for their sins, and He furnishes consequences for their selfishness. Notice, like an effective parent, He also warns them of the punishments to come if they don’t alter their behavior.

I believe the messages the LORD has for us in our Bible passages today are as follows:

We are to focus on Christ Jesus—that’s part of God’s plan for our lives—and this fact should reduce conflict between us.

We can be comforted by the knowledge that each one of us was created by God to fulfill a plan and purpose He set out for us.

It is He Who has called us to be “a light to the nations,” a witness to unbelievers.

And, though He warns us beforehand, He also disciplines those He loves who stray away from His ways.

In his book, The Pursuit of God, Christian thinker and author A.W. Tozer (a Christian Missionary Alliance pastor from the 1920’2 to the 1960’s) wrote the following:

“Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers [meeting] together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become ‘unity’ conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.”

This is a powerful image—100 pianos all tuned to the same tuning fork, all in tune and all sounding the same. This is what we become when we worship in unity, focusing our hearts on our Lord Jesus Christ. This is how we are transformed when we pedal in tandem with Him.

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Who Led You to Jesus?

Pastor Sherry’s message for January 18, 2026

Scriptures: Ex 12:21-30; Ps 40:1-11; 1 Cor 1:1-9; Jn 1:29-42

Who is/are the person/persons who led you to Christ? At a congregational funeral here a week ago, one eulogist testified that the deceased had spoken into his life when he was in middle school, around age 12. He was from the wrong side of town and was making poor decisions for himself, when the then middle school math teacher took him aside. Due to this teacher’s concern for this boy, the young man “cleaned up his act,” was led to accept Jesus as his savior, and went on to become a pastor and an evangelist. What was particularly amazing was the fact that he then traveled all over the world, bringing others to Christ. Our dear friend influenced this man who then went on to influence many, many others.

I credit my faith to my grandmothers. My father’s mother, a Presbyterian and a high school Biology teacher, made sure I was baptized at age 3 and attended Sunday School. She convinced me that Jesus is real and that He loved me. My mother’s mother, who attended a storefront Pentecostal Holiness Church in West Seattle, made a living cleaning other peoples’ homes. She often took me with her to clean and to attend church. Her service to her church was to clean it on Saturdays. I have memories of helping her, as a 5-6 year old, dust mop under folding chairs. The minister there was a tall (to me), thin woman who wore a crown of braids on her head. I don’t remember anything about her preaching but I knew she liked me and I now wonder if she had something to do with my later call to the ministry.

Much later on, after I had been married for 18 years and divorced, I encountered a woman-friend named Cheryl. She had a Jewish mother and a Baptist father, and a deep Christian faith firmly steeped in Hebrew tradition. We worked together, in the mid-1990’s, on a mobile mental heath team that ministered to four under-served nursing homes. Traveling together by car each day, I noted she saw God’s hand in everything. If an egret flew over the road as we drove to work, she would thank God for the blessing of that simple, but beautiful sight. She would go into raptures, praising God for a field of wild-flowers we passed. When someone was kind to us or gave us a compliment at work, she would also praise God for having prompted them, and thank Him that they had been obedient to pass on that message to us. She taught me by example to look for the goodness and loving kindness of God, rather than focusing on what is wrong in the world. Like King David in today’s psalm (40:1-11), or like Paul in our 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 lesson, she praised God that He hears and answers our prayers, rescues and restores us, and is faithful, true, and trustworthy. She also taught me to pray out loud and without feeling self-conscious. My faith came alive under her tutelage and her example. Attending Cursillo (in 1990) took me from a head to a heart knowledge of Jesus, but hanging out with Cheryl helped me to recognize the hand of God in my life. When I told her one day that I felt called to ordained ministry, she replied, “I know. I have known it for some time.”

In our Gospel lesson today (John 1:29-42), we find three folks who lead others to Christ. First, we see John the Baptist. We know from our Scriptures of last week, that John the Baptists’ job was to prepare people to realize the Messiah, Jesus, was coming. They were to prepare themselves by undergoing a baptism of repentance. In doing so, he had the honor of baptizing Jesus. John tells us the very next day, John the Baptist sees Jesus walking along and says to his disciples (v.29)->…look, the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world. He points or leads them to Jesus. 

Now why did he call Jesus the Lamb of God? 

(1)In Genesis 22:7-8, Abraham is obedient even to the extent of offering his long-awaited son, Isaac, to God. Isaac asks him-→”Father…the fire and wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering”? Abraham answered, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” The burnt offering was an atonement for sin. A lamb, bull, goat, or pigeon was killed then burnt whole as an aroma pleasing to the LORD. It was a costly and an extravagant offering—the sinner lost economic potential, and no human was allowed to eat any of it. The life of the animal was dedicated to God in place of the life of the sinful person. 

(2) Later, in our Exodus 12:21-30 passage, the Israelite slaves were to take a 1 year old male lamb or goat, without defect. They were to kill it, drain its blood, and sprinkle that blood over their doorways, so when the angel of death swept through Egypt, claiming each first born son, those Israelites who had been obedient were spared. They had been saved by the blood of the Lamb. The Passover Festival then reminded them of when the angel of death had passed over them.

(3) The prophet Isaiah wrote, in Isaiah 53:7-→He [the Suffering servant, the Messiah, Jesus] was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. Using the prophetic tense, which treats future events as though they have already happened, he predicts how Messiah will die. The prophet refers to Messiah as a lamb.

(4) Similarly, the prophet Jeremiah speaks for Jesus in the first person, in Jeremiah 11:19->I had been like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter; I did not realize that they had plotted against Me saying, “Let us destroy the tree and its fruit; Let us cut Him off from the land of the living, that His name be remembered no more.” In its “nearer fulfillment,” the prophesy was about Jeremiah. His enemies plotted to take his life. But this side of the Cross, we know it also refers to Jesus. Again, there is the image of a lamb being led to slaughter.

You may wonder how John the Baptist knew so much about Jesus. They grew up at some distance from each other, but John’s father was a priest so he would have been steeped in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). He would have known these passages. Further, both Holy Spirit and the voice of the Father from heaven had identified Jesus to him at the time of His baptism. So John the Baptist simple reiterates what he knows: This is the One we have waited for, the One Who was to come.

Next we encounter two of John the Baptist’s disciples who chose to follow after Jesus. They were sincere seekers. We are not told the identity of the second guy—though tradition tells us it was John, the author of this Gospel account—but the first was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. They ask Jesus, very respectfully, Rabbi, where are you staying? To me this is such a strange question. I’d have asked about His knowledge and His credentials: Are you indeed the Christ? May I ask you some questions? May I follow you? Instead, it’s as though they want to know His accommodations. Are you staying here in Bethsaida? In Caesarea? At the Holiday Inn, or the Marriott Courtyard? Jesus graciously replies (v.39)–>Come and you will see->an echo of Psalm 34:8-→Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. He very simply invites them. He encourages them to come and see for themselves. And they do spend the rest of the day with Him. 

At some point, or maybe that day or the next, Andrew leads Peter to Jesus. Andrew prefaces his guidance with his belief that he and John, thanks to John the Baptist, have met the one believed to be Messiah. Andrew introduces his brother to Jesus. Jesus, knowing all things and without having previously met Simon, says his name. He quotes his lineage-→You are the son of John; Simon bar Jonah. Then He proceeds to change Simon’s name to Cephas in Aramaic (a form of Rock/Stone), or Peter in Greek (also meaning Rock). Peter at that point was anything but a rock. However, Jesus is renaming him not for what he is but for what he is to become.  Isn’t that a beautiful thing? Jesus sees us not for what we are at this point in time; but rather for who He means for us to become. 

In addition, isn’t that just how it goes? One person comes to Christ and they tell what they know to another, and that person comes to Christ, and so on. Each one teaches one. The Faith spreads from person to person. This, I think, is the point of today’s Gospel. Someone, or several several someones, led you to Jesus. You respected them, you believed what they had to say, and you observed how they lived. You noted they lived differently from other people, kinder, more grace-filled, more forgiving, gentler, etc., than others in the culture. You saw that they had a personal relationship with Jesus. Because of their story (testimony) and their example, you too drew closer to Jesus. Let’s take time today to thank God for them, and to thank God for their willingness to speak into our lives. And, at this time of embarking on New Year’s Resolutions, let us resolve to be open to obeying the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit, leading us to lead someone we encounter to Jesus. Amen!

©️2026 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

 Baby Jesus: The Divine Threat

Pastor Sherry’s message for December 28, 2025

Scriptures: Isaiah 63:7-9; Ps 148; Heb 2:10-18; Matt 2:13-23

We have spent the past week focused on the sweet baby Jesus.

And He no doubt was a sweet and precious infant. What we tend to forget in this assessment, though, is that He was—and still is–a serious threat to the status quo.

Consider this story told by Anglican Bishop NT Wright, a noted New Testament scholar: After he had preached at a large Christmas service in England, he was approached at the door by a famous British atheist. The man told him, “I’ve finally worked out why people like Christmas.” Wanting to know what the man had gleaned from his sermon, Bp. Wright said to him, “Really? Do tell me.” The man replied, “A baby threatens no one, so the whole thing is a happy event which threatens no one.” Recalling the man’s remarks, the Bishop later wrote:

I was dumbfounded. At the heart of the Christmas story in Matthew’s Gospel is a baby who poses such a threat to the most powerful man around [King Herod, and also Satan] that he rids a whole village full of other babies in order to try to get rid of Him. At the heart of the Christmas story in Luke, too, is a baby who, if only the Roman emperor knew it, will be Lord of the whole world. Within a generation His followers will be persecuted by the empire as “a danger to good order.” Whatever else you say about Jesus, from His birth onward, people certainly found him a threat. He upset the power-games, and suffered the usual fate of people who do that.

In fact, the shadow of the Cross falls over the story from this moment on. Jesus is born with a price on His head…in a land and at a time of trouble, tension, violence, and fear…No point in arriving in comfort, when the world is in misery; no point having an easy life, when the world suffers violence and injustice! If He is to be Emmanuel, God-with-us, He must be with us where the pain is. 

(NT Wright, Matthew for Everyone, Part One, John Knox Press, 2004, pp.13-15.)

It’s true, isn’t it? Jesus was born as a tiny, helpless baby, but He also represented a divine threat.

A. The corrupt and wicked King Herod clearly perceived Baby Jesus as a threat to his reign (Matthew 2:13-23). Historians tell us that Herod, a non-Jewish political appointee of Rome, was by the time of Jesus’ birth, thoroughly paranoid. While he did maintain peace and prosperity in Judea, and engaged in ambitious building projects, he also killed anyone he thought might usurp his throne, including his 1st and 2nd wives, 3 of his sons, and his mother-in-law. He gave orders that when he died, the leading male citizens of Jericho should all be slaughtered so that people would be weeping on the day of his funeral. So it is no surprise that he would also command the deaths of any boy babies, aged 2 and under, from Bethlehem to Ramah, a radius of about 10-12 miles.

(J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary, Matthew Chapters 1-13, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.44.)

Matthew goes on in his narrative, drawing a parallel between Moses and Jesus for his Jewish audience. Just as Moses was rescued from annihilation by Pharaoh’s daughter, Jesus is similarly rescued via a dream sent to his step-father, Joseph. Joseph is told to get up immediately, and take Jesus and Mary to Egypt.

He obediently does so, and probably proceeded to practice carpentry there, as a means to make a living for the family. Jesus is thought to have been about 2 or 3YO when they returned to Israel, instructed to do so by an angel in another dream. To demonstrate again that Jesus fulfills the Jewish prophesies of the Messiah, Matthew then quotes Hosea 11:1-→>When Israel was a child, I loved Him and out of Egypt I called My Son. Matthew wants us to understand that Jesus is the new Moses, both a law-giver and a deliverer.

He will obey His Father’s directives, as Moses did; and He will lead us out of our bondage to sin and death, as Moses led the Children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt.

Jesus’ mission was huge and represented a divine threat to the status quo. Satan was eager to take Him out! King Herod was Satan’s willing tool in this heinous enterprise. But both were thwarted, praise God!

B. Our Old Testament passage, Isaiah 63:7-9, predicts that our good, loving, kind, and merciful God will send a Messiah (1) to be our Savior; (2) to suffer for our sake; and (3) to personally redeem us. No wonder the powers that be would always see Jesus as a divine threat.

C. Our Psalm (148) is a demand for the entire created order to praise the Lord! It begins in the 1st three verses with a call to all the heavenly angels and all celestial bodies—sun, moon, and stars—to praise God. Then it commands all animals and people to do the same. Verse 5 says–>Let every created thing give praise to the Lord for He issues His command and they came into being. Implicit in the psalm is the thought that we praise God both for His creation and for His redemption. John 1:1-4 tells us that Jesus spoke creation into existence. This kind of tremendous power was and is certainly a divine threat to any worldly order.

D. Finally, we have the New Testament lesson from Hebrews 2:10-18. The writer to the Hebrews wants us to realize that Jesus’s status in Heaven was higher than that of angels, but when He took on the likeness of humankind and came to earth, His status fell to lower than that of angels. Nevertheless, God sent Him to us to (v.10)–>…bring many children into glory, and to fashion Him, through His suffering, into…a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation. 

Jesus became a divine threat by becoming a human (verses 14-15)–>Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could He die [God cannot and does not die], and only by dying could He break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could He set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.

In other words, Jesus presented a divine threat to the devil and to the evil powers and authorities of this world. He had to take on flesh so He could die in our place. As our great High Priest, He offered a once-and-for-all-perfect sacrifice, Himself, to (v.17)-→>…take away the sins of the people. And because He suffered in our place (v.18)->He is able to help us when we are being tested. The divine threat set us free from the clutches of the evil one.

The divine threat, through the power of the Holy Spirit, lives to encourage and strengthen us from His seat of intercession at the right hand of the Father in heaven.

Thank God for Jesus! Thank God that He came to earth as a divine threat…intending to pay for our sins; effecting our rescue from the grasp of the evil one; and setting us free from the strangle-hold of our own sin nature.

As we look to Thursday, the 1st day of 2026, let’s be sure to thank God for sending a divine threat to earth in the disguise of a new born baby. 

Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ. Alleluia, alleluia!

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams