Author: Wende Gonzales

DWM: Helping to deliver dreams to students

Posted on by Wende Gonzales

Disciples Women’s Ministry (DWM) of Sun City Christian Church created over 150 affirmation cards for the Assistance League of Phoenix. The League, located at 9224 N. Fifth St., organizes school kits for students and places a card in each kit for encouragement. They have several buses with the logo “Delivering Dreams Bus” which travels to schools with the kits and also with new clothes and shoes to outfit children in need.

DWM meets at the church every fourth Monday at 9 am to work on projects for the community.

Sermon 2/12/2023

Posted on by Wende Gonzales

Sunday’s conclusion to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7:1-14, 24-29) is jam-packed with verses that are so familiar to many of us, that we can finish many of these phrases on our own.

  • Do not judge…
  • Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye…
  • Do not give what is holy to dogs…
  • Ask, and it will be given you…
  • In everything do to others…
  • Enter through the narrow gate…

We will conclude our sermon time with a story that Matthew slips in on us that can be considered one of Jesus’ first parables in the gospel: the wise man who built his house on a rock. Jesus gives us abundant nuggets of wisdom to chew upon here, the question Matthew wants us to really ponder is, will we come to table and eat? Will we follow Jesus’ advice? Will we rise above our own human limitations and serve God in such a way that builds the Kingdom on earth? Will we listen and act accordingly, as God calls us?

Pastor’s Notes: 2/3/2023

Posted on by Wende Gonzales

The Gospel of Matthew will be our guide for the next several weeks in our sermons. Last Sunday we began the first of three lessons to come out of Jesus’ sermon on the mount which spans the chapters of 5-7. Last Sunday we covered the beatitudes and what it means to be salt and light. We skip ahead this week and pick up Jesus’ instructions on how to pray, Matthew 6:5-21.

I would encourage you to sit down and read what Matthew includes between what we are addressing in worship. Matthew 5:17-6:4 which includes Matthew’s various perceptions on the theme of righteousness as well as his understanding of Jesus’ view concerning a multitude of topics on what it means to love and be in covenant with our God.

In preparation for Sunday’s message, we notice that Matthew is being very intentional in pulling together the teachings of Jesus, by placing at the heart of this sermon a section concerning prayer. Prayer is the greatest connection humanity has with God on an ongoing basis. How to pray and where we direct our focus matters so this will be the focus for our time together Sunday. I look forward to worshipping with you!

Brett

Glenn Henricksen concert and dinner

Posted on by Wende Gonzales

All are welcome to attend the FREE piano concert and dinner at at Sun City Christian Church!

4 pm on Thursday, February 23, 2023
9745 W. Palmeras Drive, Sun City, AZ 85373

Enjoy this accomplished pianist/organist playing classics, show tunes, standards, patriotic tunes, and more.

Free to all! Donations are welcome.

Dinner to follow! Reservations needed ONLY for dinner. Sign up on the sheet in the narthex or call 623-972-6179.

Sermon 1/22/2023

Posted on by Wende Gonzales

What a beautiful Baptism experience Jesus had. A dove descended from heaven and landed upon him and God spoke words of favor and blessing… and then…

Jesus is barely dry before Matthew’s gospel places him in the wilderness, where for 40 days of fasting only to be tempted by the devil in his most vulnerable moment. The Spirit lead him them there, and almost as if on purpose. Matthew 4:1-11 is intense, as Jesus is hungry from fasting and the devil is relentless in pursuit of getting Jesus to cave to the temptation.

Jesus endures and all the while proclaims commitment to God with words of instruction for the reader to take to heart. He is tempted by bread for his hunger, safety from danger, and offered all the power he could ever want.

In her essay in Feasting of the Word, Maryetta Anschutz said of Jesus temptation, “Each time Jesus rejects temptation, he sets up for the reader a way to understand the cross to come. Certainly God can save God’s self from death on the cross, and certainly God in Jesus can refuse temptation to sin, but in our humanity we need to see God offer sacrifice and refuse temptation in order to learn the lesson ourselves.”

In this we wrestled deeper with the Church’s ability to learn this lesson of trusting God and ourselves to endure the temptations of the world we face.

Sermon 1/15/2023

Posted on by Wende Gonzales

Listen to Rev. Trish Winters’ sermon, “John the Baptist, Jesus Baptized.”

We walk into the waters of baptism with Jesus and John the Baptist from Matthew 3:1-17. We stand in dismay like John pondering our worthiness to proclaim the amazing presence of our God. We pick up that mantle once more and go forth into the great darkness bringing the light of love.

We are called to bear the light because this story of Jesus’ baptism ordains it. The dove marks him as holy. Everything John preached and proclaimed of the one who is to come that baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire has come into fruition in this story.

And so, for us, those who believe and who have walked through our own waters of baptism, we find our voice. This Sunday we will renewed once more our baptismal vow and claimed our role of sharing the good news of God among us.

Pastor’s Notes: 1/6/2023

Posted on by Wende Gonzales

I am so excited about our upcoming worship together this Sunday, January 8th. Rev. Dr. Jay R. Hartley will be with us to share the good news and officially install me as Minister! It will be a true day of celebration as we burst into 2023 together.

The focus scripture for the morning comes from Matthew 2:1-23, the story of the Magi. According to the authors of our Generation to Generation worship material: “the Magi were seekers. They sought wisdom, they sought the divine, they sought fortunes to tell the future. Their seeking leads them to Jesus, the newborn king of another culture and religion. And yet, their seeking is also what protects them from Herod’s deception and harm.

After the Magi go home by another way, Joseph is visited again by an angel in his dream. This time, the angel brings a warning, and like before, Joseph heeds the message. Fleeing from Herod’s massacre, Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus seek refuge in Egypt; they remain there, living as immigrants, until Herod dies.

Like the Magi, may we seek the divine and be willing to journey closer to God. Like the Holy Family, may we seek safety for all families who are under threat. This new year and every year to come, let us keep seeking— wisdom, justice, and a better world.”

I look forward to worshipping with you on Sunday!

Brett