This Sunday's Worship Materials can be found in the "Featured Sermon" below. We meet in person at Harper Park Middle School, and the service is also livestreamed on our YouTube channel.

Cross Word: Become (1 Corinthians 9:19-27)

January 14, 2018 Speaker: Dr. David Silvernail Series: Cross Words - A Series on 1 Corinthians

Topic: Sermons Passage: 1 Corinthians 9:19–27

Well, we’ve finally gotten through the holiday season (though I’m still listening to Christmas music, don’t judge).  The beginning of a new year brings all sorts of questions:  Will this be the year I get that promotion?  Or maybe it’s time for a new job?  Will I suffer from the same illness / addiction / broken relationships / loss and sorrow I suffered with last year?  Will this be the year that my son / daughter / wife / husband / parent finally gets it together?  Will I be able to pass English / Algebra / Chemistry / or that stupid History class this year?  Will this be the year that I finally love God and feel like He loves me back (even though I know that order should be reversed)?


Everyone enters a new year with new thoughts, new questions, new hopes, and new worries.  And I’m pretty sure that the Apostle Paul and the church in Corinth were no exception.  They had a lot going on — some of it very good, and a lot of it very bad.  And one of their major concerns was how can I tell other people about Jesus when my life is so messed up?  I mean, if those other people really knew me — and knew about my work issues, or my personal issues, or my family issues, or my academic issues, and especially my spiritual issues — there’s no way they would ever listen to me talking about Jesus, let alone come to my church!  So what do I do?


The Corinthians were wrestling with the exact same questions … and the Apostle Paul tells them that one of the keys to talking about spiritual things is to think of these other people more, and to think of myself less.  As Rev. Wang shared last Sunday, what rights am I willing to give up for the sake of the Gospel?  Well, this week, Paul is going to fill out that answer a little more.  And we’re going to see what he says about the Gospel, and the difference it makes in each of our lives, and in the lives of those around us.


We’ve had an emphasis for the last two months on generosity.  At our congregational meeting last Sunday, we were able to stop and give thanks for God’s blessing on our church, both financially and spiritually.  We finished the year within $2,000 of our budget (after being down $54,000 in mid-October).  As I said on Sunday, all the leaders were blown away by your generosity and by God’s provision.  More importantly,  we took some time to look at how Potomac Hills has made a difference in the lives of various people.  And we had some great folks share how God has used this church in their lives.  I found it so encouraging to hear how God is working in people’s lives.  Let’s be praying this year for God to expand that work into the lives of others, maybe some folks we haven’t even met yet.  That would be awesome!  Have a great week!  See you Sunday morning!  Dr. Dave

More in Cross Words - A Series on 1 Corinthians

April 15, 2018

Cross Word: Community (1 Corinthians 16:1-24)

April 8, 2018

Cross Word: Victory (1 Corinthians 15:35-58)

April 1, 2018

Cross Word: Resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:12-34)