Blog Posts - Sumas A.C. Church

An Alternate Model of Prayer ~ George Teshera ~ 8-29-1992

10/2/2018

This is a service from 1992 (back when everything was recorded onto cassette) led by George and Beverly Teshera. Recently digitized, we are now making this available to anyone who is interested. On this particular Sunday, Geroge and Bev led the entire service, not just the sermon. Because of this, you get to hear George lead the announcement and prayer times and Bev lead singing (with, one assumes, Billie Van Diest on the organ). There are places where the audio was very quiet because the person speaking wasn't using a mic, so those were amplified so that the listener can hear them better. However, the process used amplifies the background static as well. The tape is broken up into five parts to make the files small enough to upload to the website. As a bonus, at the end of Part 5, there is an impromptu Q&A session that was not done using the mic but still picked up where George talks about the current political climate surrounding the then upcoming elections.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

God’s Imperfect Family: Isaac ~ Gen. 21:1-7 ~ Carl Crouse

10/2/2018

Nobody is perfect, except one, his name is Jesus…

But the family of Jesus is imperfect! In Matt. 1 is listed a genealogy of family members beginning with Abraham and ending with the birth of Jesus Christ. This is the imperfect family of Jesus Christ. Good thing because we sinners who have embraced Christ Jesus as the only way to find wholeness are also members of God’s family.

This Fall the messages are select character studies from members of God’s imperfect family. If God can bless and use these crazy folks, then there is hope for us!

Today: Isaac. Isaac is the joke of the Bible. Gen. 17 details the background to Isaac’s birth. His father Abraham had been promised by God his heirs would become a nation and all nations would be blessed. The problem is Abraham and Sarah were getting older and still no children. When an angel appeared to Abraham and Sarah and told them she was going to give birth to a son, this is the response: READ Gen. 18:11-15. She thought it was all a bad joke! Isaac means laughter.

God's imperfect Family: Introduction ~ Matthew 1:1-17 ~ Carl Crouse

10/2/2018

I like family history. What I really like, though, are stories. A name with no story doesn’t mean a lot to me… recently my mother decided to hand out her photo albums. Here’s one of the stories… put together by my grandmother, my father’s mother.   Hazel’s father was Cecil Grant. (Pictures). He died in 1907 at the age of 25. Imagine that… this great grandparent of mine died 111 years ago. Here’s a bit of His Story…
            Family stories are important… roots… where you came from…

Chad and I have decided to preach a series of messages this Fall on the stories of Jesus family… the past generations, taken from the genealogy of Jesus in the book of Matthew. God’s imperfect Family. Many of the names are not just names, they are real people with stories, the stories lead to the birth of Jesus. In this photo book from my grandmother I can go back to the civil war… Jesus family history goes directly back to Abraham, in Matthew’s version, in Luke the family names go back to Adam... The series of messages between now and the end of the year are character studies/stories, real people. We know a ton about many of the characters in Jesus’ imperfect family, someday I imagine we’ll do a whole series on Abraham/David, for example, others are just a name only found lists.

Isaiah 57:15 ~ Where is God Not? (Omnipresence) ~ Carl Crouse

9/10/2018

“A heathen philosopher once asked, ‘Where is God?’ The Christian answered: ‘Let me first ask you, where is He not?’” (John Arrowsmith).
Today’s message explores the third and final of the “omni” attributes of God. Omni means ALL. Comprehensive. Complete.

Omniscience means God knows everything there is to know about everything.
Omnipotence means he has all power to do all things.
Omnipresence, theme of today’s message, means he is everywhere at all times.

“Where is God” asks the skeptic? “Where is he not” answers the one who believes. Thomas Watson said it this way: “God’s center is everywhere, His circumference nowhere.”

Isaiah 57:15 describes God’s Omnipresence in a simple way as well as any scripture. READ. God is high and lifted up ~ the God of the heavens, whose footstool is the earth, God is far and above us in everyway, yet he is personal, he is here among us, he is in my life, he is near. You can see both… we can sing songs of the Majesty of Christ, as high as the heavens beside songs such as, What a Friend we have in Jesus. He is both because the Lord is Almighty residing in the heavens, but he is near he is here!

Omnipotence of God ~ Jeremiah 32 selections ~ Carl Crouse

9/1/2018

God is all POWERFUL…Is. 40:28: Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary.

The unlimited, infinite power of God is most often translated, “ALMIGHTY”. Over 345 times. The big word ~ OMNIPOTENT. Only one time in scripture, in one translation, the old KJV, is the word omnipotent used. a central theme in Handel’s Messiah, Rev. 19:6: The Apostle John heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and loud peals of thunder shouting out: “For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.”

I will forever have in my mind the late 70’s climbing the southern route of Mt. Baker. In those days the steam vents in the crater of Mt. Baker were active with fears of the Mt. preparing to erupt. The crater is located 400 yards down on the south side…the Southern Climbing Route puts you on the rim of the crater. I will forever remember the active steam vents, the powerful smell of the sulfur, and being mesmerized by one powerful steam vent pounding out of the crater floor. The sound of a 1000 locomotives…

How much more the almighty power of God, “…like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.” Psalm 89:8

The Trinity ~ Pastor Chad Hammond

8/26/2018

Apologies for the sideways recording. Mistakes happen!

God Knows Everything (Omniscience) ~ Psalm 139 ~ Carl Crouse

8/21/2018

GOD KNOWS EVERYTHING! //// A simple statement you accept as true or reject as not true: God knows everything! The theological word for this teaching is Omniscience ~ “omni” means ALL and “science” means KNOWLEDGE. God is OMNISCIENT (as we get started, a word puzzle on back of the order of service… for those that can multi-task, how many names can you find?…it will come towards the end….)

Chad & I are spending a few weeks on attributes of God. Last week Chad spoke on how God is so beyond our understanding scripture has seemingly contradictory truths. Ps. 139:6 accentuates God’s unfathomable character: READ Ps. 139:6…. We cannot fully understand. Today I want to scratch the surface of God’s omnipotence.

God Incomprehensible ~ Chad Hammond

8/21/2018

Luke 19:45-48 ~ What is Your Priority? (A House of Prayer) ~ Carl Crouse

8/7/2018

When Franklin Roosevelt was President he had some connections with the larger churches, he preferred to attend the much smaller St. John’s Church. It bothered Roosevelt that tourists would attend a certain church simply because they believed they’d get a chance to see the President. There’s a legendary story about a phone call made to the pastor at St. John’s Church: “Will the President be in attendance at worship this Sunday?” asked the caller. The Pastor replied, “I don’t know, but I can assure you that Jesus will be here, and that should be good enough.”

We expect Jesus to come to church, don’t we? We want Him in our midst. We invite Him to make himself known among us every Sunday. It’s kind of fun/scary to think about what he will find when he shows up. In our scripture today he goes to church [the temple] and did not like what he found! What mess does he need to clean up here? Where are we going wrong? It’s easy to scold ourselves, but I think it is also good and right to ask what we are doing right…

Luke 19:39-44 ~ A Bridge of Tears ~ Carl Crouse

7/31/2018

(NOTE: I slightly rewrote these notes from what was preached. After discussing the message with one person who felt like there were too many exceptions to my generalization about what the generations are like, I find myself agreeing with her, so I rewrote the message to reflect the idea that there are "black and white" people and there are "Shades of Gray". The video is the sermon as it was preached)

When I was in Grants Pass in June with Esther, I took my new friend, Tyler, to lunch. 27 years old. Esther & Wesley’s pastor. We were comparing notes about ministry with today’s challenges and remaining true to the gospel. Tyler said something intriguing: “Your generation sees things in black and white… my generation has far more shades of gray.” I find truth in that statement, but It may be too simple to make sweeping generalizations about entire generations. However, without question, there are people who are black and white and other who live in a shades of gray world, never challenging people's choices.

In today’s message I am amazed how Jesus is true to the values of both black and white people and shades of gray people. The one side is so good at pressing for a decision and the other is awesome at love and accepting people for who they are… Jesus shows us a wonderful bridge that brings the values of the two sides together… we’ll get to that a bit later in this message….

Luke 19:28-38 ~ Who Needs a Parade? ~ Carl Crouse

7/26/2018

When Sally and I moved to Pasadena to go to school, as we explored our new home, we were puzzled by a pink line down the center of the main street in the city. I thought I knew traffic laws pretty well but that pink line was baffling. A few months later we figured it out… (guesses?) [The guide line for the Rose Parade floats.]

The Rose Parade, just a couple blocks from our house. The first Rose Parade we made a minor mistake: we staked out a spot on the wrong side of the street! Turns out that many of the floats are built for the cameras, there is a definite back side.

Our last Rose Parade was the most memorable…we took a job with the school to help set up 500 VIP chairs and guard them all night…. There were probably 20 of us… a night I will never forget… the parade before the parade, the trucks up and down the street, the drunks stumbling through….

Today’s scripture -- a parade…. Much of these verses are about preparation for the parade… Jesus is entering Jerusalem….

Luke 19:11-27 ~ Disappointment with God ~ Carl Crouse

7/18/2018

Rule #1: The boss is always right. Rule #2: When the boss is wrong, refer to rule #1.
The boss is always right! That’s the best comparison I can come up with to explain how to understand today’s scripture. Bianca, my daughter, writes for an online website that provides resources for small businesses. The website lis hard to navigate, confusing. Bee says, in her opinion, they could do much more with social media. The boss/owner doesn’t seem to see any of it. Bee has no choice but to keep going his way… The boss is always right. Turns out he must know what he is doing.. A few years ago when she started, after a few months, they gave her a $500 Christmas bonus. That year the company netted $700K. The workers may think they have better ways of doing things… but the Boss is always right!

The same thing happens when we commit ourselves to follow Jesus Christ. We are not always going to understand. Disappointments. Often we can’t figure out what God is up to… Many reject God because if they were God they would do things differently: no wars, no pain, no death, no sin…. How can a loving God allow ________.

Luke 19:1-10 ~ The Tree of Curiosity ~ Carl Crouse

7/10/2018

The story of Zacchaeus is the story of how one man came to the Lord Jesus Christ: He was curious. He was found. He responded. He was changed.

The pattern of Zacchaeus is insightful for how many people will come to the Lord. He was curious. He was found. He responded. He was changed. Have you noticed Sumas is growing? That means there are more neighbors, more people among us that need God. The houses being built…the people moving in… the growing school district… (We just got a new middle school, already they are projecting five years out or so and there won’t be enough space) Some of the people moving in are believers, but many are not committed Christians. Pray for our community, pray that our church will be a witness of the gospel and be bold in pointing the way to Jesus Christ.

Jonah ~ Jonah Chapter 5 ~ Chad Hammond

7/1/2018

Luke 18:35-43 ~ The Kingdom of Misfits ~ Carl Crouse

6/4/2018

I don’t know what it would be like to see for the first time… however, here’s a glimpse of what it is like to hear for the first time… Lisa has given permission to show her favorite video…she never tires of it. A 4 year old clip from ABC News starring David…

A blind man is a central character in today’s message. The blind man, a misfit of society, is my hero. This blind man should be seen as one of the greatest civil rights leaders in history! He seeks to undo a thousand years of discrimination! The blind man is the Rosa Parks of Jesus’ day. Just as she refused to give up her seat, so the blind man refused to be silent when Jesus was passing by. Let me explain….

In Luke 18 people are coming to Jesus with faith (or lack of). Luke 18 is filled with surprises: those that seem far away from God are near and those that seem like they should be near are far away. God’s Kingdom is a Kingdom of misfits! I love a quote by Hubert Humphrey. The quote is about the moral test of government but I am changing the quote from “government” to “Christianity”: “…the moral test of [Christianity] is how [people of faith treat] those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.”