Caring - the Way Christ Goes
March 1 - April 12, 2009

Sermons@Skyline

We will journey toward Easter by paying close attention to the pathway of healing and reconciliation walked by Jesus and all who follow him. We are the Body of Christ, bringing light and healing to dark and broken places and people. Lent (from a Middle English word that means "spring") is typically a season of individual spiritual preparation for the celebration of resurrection and eterrnal lie in Christ that is Easter. The 40 day period from Ash Wednesday to Easter (not counting Sundays) is considered a time of fasting, prayer and preparation by many past and present followers of Jesus Christ. If you are familiar with the church, perhaps you have heard someone ask, "what are you going to give up for Lent?"

Which is all well and good. Yet ours is a communal faith - a lived faith among a community of people who follow Jesus Christ and among the human community beond the walls of any church. All of the spititual preparation in the world means nothing unless we translate our spirituality into the fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23 and 1 Corinthians 13).

So this Lent at Skyline, we are focusing on spiritual preparation for caring more intentionally in a way that honors Christ's call to love others as he loves us (John 13:34 and 15:12). Our worship series will examine several questions about our identity and purpose as Christians, using the insights of a Stephen ministry training resource, Christian Caregiving: A Way of Life, by Ken Haugk.

It is our prayer that during this Lenten season at Skyline, you will be able to draw nearer to Jesus christ and to the people God loves, especially those who need God's love the most. When God's love flows through you as a distinctly Christian care giver, you may discover the most powerful way to experience God's love and grace in your life. As we celebrate in the Prayer of St. Francis, "it is in giving that we receive."

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	March 1, 2009 John 4:1-14, 28-30 (Key: 4:14) Where Am I? Jesus, whose love for us all is an eternal fountain, reveals a world of thirsty souls and hands us a dipper.		March 8, 2009 1 Thessalonians 5:4-17 (Key: 5:16-17) Who Am I? Christ has transformed us into children of light. We constantly bask in and reflect God’s love for the world. (See also Isaiah 6:1-8)
	March 15, 2009 John 13:1-20 (Key: 13:14) Who Are We? Jesus initiates us into a new kind of family-the Body of Christ, reaching out in love to welcome all people into God’s family.		March 22, 2009 John 21:1-19 (Key: 21:16) Where Are We Going/Growing? Discipleship is a process. Trusting Jesus Christ, we place ourselves in situations where God gives us growth.
	March 29, 2009 Matthew 25:31-40 (Key: 25:35-36) What Are We To Do? Jesus calls us to a practical ministry of caring for others-meeting their specific needs on a practical level.		April 5, 2009 - Palm Sunday Mark 10:46-52 (Key: 10:52) Who Can Join Us? By caring for others in Jesus’ name, we experience God’s embrace and we embrace others with an experience of the impossibly good news of Jesus.
	April 9, 2009 - Holy Thursday John 14:1-7 (Key: 14:4) Holy Thursday Celebration		April 12, 2009 - Easter Sunday 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, 20-26 (Key: 15:22) We Join With God God in Christ makes all things new - we witness and participate in this new life in Christ, multiplying the effect of his resurrection as he lives in us.
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