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Sermons

Our transformation pastor, the Rev. Dr. Kevin Yoho, shares an energizing and interactive message from the Bible each week. Hear and share the Good News!

Feb 16
Love1

2020-02-16 Message for Kids- Church of Presidents and Girl Scout Cookies

By Intersections, Sermons

Are you ready for tomorrow?! Yes. Its probably your favorite holiday of the year. Presidents Day! What? Not your favorite holiday? Well, you should know that Cold Spring Church is the Church of Presidents! Wow. Called the Church of the Presidents by Dr. Paul Howe, author of the publication Mayflower Descendants in Cape May County, reported at least four Presidents of the United States worshipped at Cold Spring Presbyterian Church during their frequent vacation visits to Cape May, New Jersey.

Franklin Pierce (1853-1857)

President and Mrs. Benjamin Harrison worshipped here on August 24, 1890

William H. Taft (1909-1913)

Woodrow Wilson   (1913-1921)Presidents aren’t born president. No! They are born just like you and me. Then they grow. Learn. Develop their gifts and talents. Jesus was the same way. God’s son was born a baby. Baby Jesus didn’t stay a baby, though. Either did you. The Bible says that “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor of God and people.”

One thing Melissa and I enjoy on Presidents Day weekend is Girl Scout Cookies. Yummy. Girl Scouts aren’t born Girl Scouts, they don’t start as Ambassadors, senior high age. They start as Daisies. Then grow and learn.

Cold Spring Church is the place to grow and learn, learn to be more like Jesus, and to celebrate that we are the Church of Presidents! So enjoy your Presidents Day tomorrow… and enjoy these Girl Scout Cookies today!

Feb 09
Love0

2020-02-09 Message- Your Light Matters

By Intersections, Sermons

In his book “You Are What You Love, The Spiritual Power of Habit,” James K. Smith says that we are what we love, and that we all live and long for a social vision of what we think society should look like. Cold Spring Church believes that everyone deserves to experience God’s love firsthand, and when they do, the entire neighborhood can be transformed! What is your social and spiritual vision?

Jesus came to fulfill the law, not abolish it. We proclaim Christ crucified, and that means we preach grace, mercy, forgiveness and sacrificial love, humble service, reconciliation, and redemption. We will never get every aspect of God’s law right. We will fail miserably at following Jesus. We will neglec the social vision God desires and, with the Spirit’s help, the kingdom we crave, too.

This week, Pastor Kevin invites us to put Jesus’ love into action as we pass the salt and turn on the light, each a transformational gesture our neighborhoods desperately needs to truly live. Your Light Matters this week, at Cold Spring Church!

This week’s Actionable’s:

  1. What do you pay attention to day in and day out? What do you ignore? Are there people and issues, places and things, God may be calling you to notice, shine a light on in Christ’s name?
  2. What do you love? What kingdom vision are you working toward?
  3. If you were to describe to someone unfamiliar with the Gospel what it means to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth, what would you say?  
Feb 09
Love0

2020-02-09 Message for Kids- Your Light Matters

By Intersections, Sermons

When you move in a dark room or space, what do you need to see? Right! Light! Flashlights are way cool. But did you know that every day as you move through life, you have a powerful light that is better than any flashlight you could carry? Yes! It’s your inner light! A light that never dims and a light that God put there to show you the way. Jesus is the Light of the World… and we can sense his presence in our life, be open to God’s action in our life, and by listening to God’s word that lights our path, and your family and the family here at Cold Spring Church, you will always be heading in the right direction… toward the Light that is Jesus! So let your light shine! Your light matters.

Feb 02
Love0

2020-02-02 Message- Neighbor-Words Bless Neighborhoods

By Intersections, Sermons

“Words to live by”… Whenever we hear this phrase our ears perk up, hoping that what’s spoken next will benefit us, or bless us. This week during worship in the Red Brick Church, we will hear what many consider to be Jesus’ most famous “words to live by” from Matthew 5:1-12 and Micah 6:8. As we will discover in Pastor Kevin’s message, Neighbor-words Bless Our Neighborhoods, blessings are the results of corresponding actions, not words alone. It is not what Jesus said but what he did (words into action) that brought about the reconciliation of the world. Jesus didn’t just change the world, but saved the world. Each of us can turn words of blessing into actions that bless our neighborhoods.

‘The influence of good people makes a city great.

    But the wicked can destroy it with their words’ (Proverbs 11:11 ICB).

This Week’s Actionables:

  1. When have you felt blessed by God? Why? What did that look and feel like? What changes did that blessing bring?
  2. What does it mean to you to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God? (All tangible actions.)
  3. What influence will you exercise in your life that will comfort others? Provide mercy? Include the “outsider”? Help someone experience God’s love in their life?

This is a great week to invite a friend or neighbor to worship with you. Once we were strangers, now we are neighbors and friends!

Feb 02
Love0

2020-02-02 Message for Kids- Words Have Power

By Intersections, Sermons

What we say, our words, really matter. When someone says something kid or welcoming to us we feel accepted, respected, and really good inside. Of course, words that are mean, judging, or unkind have an effect, too. It brings people down. It causes pain. So we want to be people of good words, because good words lead to good deeds. We want our words and our actions to build people up! Words have power. Use your power this week for good!

Jan 26
Love0

2020-01-26 Message- Neighborhood Free For All

By Intersections, Sermons

How much does it cost? We ask that question a lot. Of all the prices to be considered, $10.99, 2 for $5, $30/week, even 1 million dollars, the price that is uniquely preferred to any other is FREE! Everybody likes free!

A lot of the online services you probably use are free. Gmail is free. Facebook is free. Yahoo News is free. Buy one and get one free. Food delivery can be free. But increasingly, companies are trying to figure out how to start charging, at least for some services, some of the time. But once free is the norm, its hard to accept when its not. Researcher Russ Roberts of George Mason University found out how upset WWII vets remain with the Red Cross when they stopped offering donuts for free! Get the rest of the story, find out what free really costs, and how we can bravely follow Jesus in Pastor Kevin’s message from Luke 17:11-19, Neighborhood Free for All. What’s free may be worth everything to you, and certainly to our neighbors!

Jan 12
Love0

2020-01-12 Message- Good News Expressions, Soggy or Fresh?

By Intersections, Sermons

How do you like your French fries? Hot and fresh, right? Sure! But you better eat them fast because it only takes a few minutes for those fresh fries to get soggy and absolutely inedible! This week at Cold Spring Church, we will discover that the only thing more challenging than delivering hot, fresh fries is delivering fresh expressions about Jesus (our mission). Pastor Kevin will introduce us to the challenges facing today’s on-demand services like Grubhub and Uber Eats in this week’s message titled: “Expressing the Good News…Soggy or Fresh?” from Acts 10:34-43. We’ll find out what Thomas Jefferson, drive-thru’s, and Grubhub have in common with our mission to deliver fresh expressions of the Gospel so that our neighbors get it’s spiritual nourishment hot and fresh!

In 1802, the first batch of French fries were made in America for Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States. He discovered the French way of deep frying cut, raw, potatoes when he was a diplomat to France years earlier. French fries remained an uncommon chef’s delicacy for a hundred years until drive-ins introduced the easy to handle French fries became a staple of the growing mobile lifestyle in the 1930’s. By the 1950’s perfectly hot, fresh French fries were enjoyed by families dining-in or in their car. Today’s drive-thru’s deliver fries fast enough to gobble down in minutes. Your Grubhub delivery guy may take upwards of 30 minutes to arrive at your house, and by that time, your French fries have morphed from super fresh to soggy! And there’s no more challenging food to deliver hot and fresh than humble French fries.