The graphics packages below have been created for our A/V teams and will be made available monthly to further promote our sermon themes. Each month will have a zip file with a slide that corresponds to the monthly banner on www.nac-usa.org, as well as several background slides for Bible verses and song lyrics. The divine service guide summaries are provided each month to help with song selection.
Psalm 100 serves as a fitting threshold to our Season of Thanksgiving. It inspires jubilant singing, worship, prayer, and gathering. Verse 2 unfolds with more meaning when we explore the original Hebrew. The root word, עבד) avad), translated in the NKJV as “serve” has many definitions.
“In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:6). This month we are called to acknowledge the dimensions of our relationship with God. Beautifully, we begin with the intimacy and awe that are bound up in the words, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.”
As summer days stretch on in the month of August, perhaps it is appropriate to turn our minds again to our Chief Apostle’s year beginning theme - It’s time to do good! As we look back on the first half of the year and plan our lives approaching autumn, Thanksgiving, and Advent, it might behoove us to consider what good we have done and what we still can do.
According to the Synoptic Gospels, proclamation of The Kingdom of God, in word and deed, was central to Jesus’ teaching. As evident in the Gospels, the kingdom originates with God, it draws its character from God, and it precedes any human response to it, even though its presence invites (or demands) a response.
We believe in a triune God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. While the Trinity is beyond our human perception and knowledge, we understand from Scripture, tradition, and doctrine that each Person of the Trinity has some unique characteristics, even though, at the same time They are indivisible and completely unified.
The early Christians not only remembered Christ, but continued to experience Him following Ascension Day. His life was not just a beautiful story to be remembered with gratitude - He was living, redemptive, and present then and there in their lives. They went out with the joyful cry, “Christ lives!” And He still lives!
Over the next few weeks, we will celebrate the highest holy days of the year in the events leading up to the Passion and resurrection of Christ, and what immediately followed. Because we commemorate these events in the life of Christ every year, the words of stories may blur together or become mundane.
This month each sermon will focus on a specific attribute of our God. On the first Sunday, through an expository view of Psalm 107, we see God, our Rescuer. By interpreting this text in light of the gospel, we’ll understand how Jesus Christ rescues us when we are in distress and call out to Him.
As the near year begins, if often brings with it a natural opportunity for realignment, reorientation, and a fresh sense of purpose. We reflect on the past, identifying areas where we desire growth, change, or improvement, while also looking forward with hope and anticipation for the future.
In December, we anticipated the coming of Jesus Christ. Now, in January, we can proclaim that He is here! Each sermon this month will dwell on aspects of the presence of Christ in our lives. Our New Year will begin with the Chief Apostle’s 2025 theme for the year: It’s time to do good!
