"Acts: Spirit, Blow in This Church" | Rev. Dr. Vicki Harrison | August 29, 2021
Sermon Only
“The Holy Spirit changed their attitude about life, and they experienced great joy in being together and they praised God for that. And as a result, the Lord added to their numbers those who were being saved. The growth of the early church was not the result of some great strategy and great human effort, but rather the movement of the wind of the Spirit among them. Wind moves things. ”
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Julie Hamilton opens Matthew 6:5-13 — the one subject the disciples asked Jesus to teach them — and walks through the pattern he gave them, starting with a childhood quilt and the prayer stitched onto it.
Other Sermons by Pastor Vicki Harrison
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Vicki Harrison opens Matthew 6:19-24 and makes the case that this passage is not really about money — it is about treasure, the thing we have the hardest time letting go of, and the direction our hearts travel once we have chosen one.