Lake Merced Church of Christ

Our most frustrating times may well be when it seems that God is being silent, not hearing our prayers. But Josh’s message on Sunday told us that we must never take God’s silence as inaction. In those moments, during those hard times when we’re learning some of the hardest lessons of our life, that’s when God is preparing us. God uses our trials to prepare us for what is to come. So, even when we are in the midst of suffering, He is always with us, and if we know Him, He will... catch us. There are four points we should always keep in mind: 1. God sees our misery. 2. God hears our cries. 3. God cares about our suffering. 4. God rescues. Above all, God loves us. Whatever we’re going through, He loves us, always, and if we have faith, if we know Him, we will receive the blessed relief and the joy that He has in store for us!

Have you ever cried out for God and heard nothing in return, but silence? Silence from God is something we all face from time to time, but have you stopped to consider why? What is the purpose of it? What does it suggest about God? How does God use it? This week Josh opens up the story of Moses in Exodus on the heels of 400 years of pain and suffering by God’s people that was met largely with silenceuntil it wasn’t. Join us as we discuss and discover what God was doing amid the cries and distress at the beginning of Exodus and learn how to trust God when we’re walking through it! Lake Merced streams live on Sunday mornings at 10:45am. Join us today!

Without a doubt, one of the most engaging, emotional, and powerful stories in all of Scripture is the story of Joseph at the end of the book of Genesis. Even Hollywood has enjoyed re-telling the Joseph story. This week is week three of our Read Scripture in 2021 sermon series and Josh will be looking at the saga of this most famous dreamer from Scripture. Joseph was heroic, but is there more to his story than meets the eye? Let’s talk about that!

Join us at 10:45am PST Live! Without a doubt, one of the most engaging, emotional, and powerful stories in all of Scripture is the story of Joseph at the end of the book of Genesis. Even Hollywood has enjoyed re-telling the Joseph story. This week is week three of our Read Scripture in 2021 sermon series and Josh will be looking at the saga of this most famous dreamer from Scripture. Joseph was heroic, but is there more to his story than meets the eye? Let’s talk about that!

Join us tomorrow in person (outdoors) or online. 10:45am 777 Brotherhood Way // SF

If you’re human, you sometimes feel stuck in your life; if you’re honest, you’ll admit that sometimes you feel stuck in your faith. Our busy lives can easily draw us away from a focused and diligent faith. If that happens too much, we become nothing more than seat-warmers. We may show up, but we’re not continuing to move forward in our faith. And if we don’t keep learning and growing, we’re wasting God’s goodness that He pours into us always. As it says in Hebrews 6:7-8, Lan...d that drinks in the rain and produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed, receives the blessing of God. It’s easy to grow thorns and thistles. Producing a useful crop is hard. Persevering is much harder than drifting and going through the motions, but if we’re diligent in growing our faith, our hopes will be realized. Faith is our anchor -- Hebrews 6:19-20 reads, We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. Stay focused and grounded, and know that God will always keep His promises.

This upcoming week is an important one to almost all of us, regardless of how or who you feel compelled to vote for. This Sunday, we are continuing in our current sermon series out of Hebrews, but the message this week has some core Truths that we all need to be reminded of, no matter our political leanings. We invite you to join us in person (outdoors) on Sunday at 10:45am OR visit our website to watch our Livestream. https://lakemercedchurch.com/stream-live

Join us this morning in person at 777 Brotherhood Way // SF OR Via livestream on YouTube: https://youtu.be/VzhciFjfrlQ... Lake Merced Church of Christ currently meets outdoors, fully masked, and socially distanced. Each attendee is screened as they arrive and anyone who is symptomatic is asked not to attend at this time.

I don't know if you've ever needed to lose weight or have tried, but it's hard! Have you ever stopped to consider why it's so tough? There are two things that make any weight loss efforts possible: 1. Patience 2. Perseverance... While all of us would love to lose 10 pounds a week, that's never possible or healthy, and so in order to see your goal through, you have to persevere when you lose focus, energy or even the desire. Have you ever realized how much that is true of our Spiritual Journey as well? This week, Josh will be teaching from the book of Hebrews as the writer confronts and encourages a group of Christians who are losing perseverance in their lives, living for Christ, largely because they've lost patience and hope in the promise that God gave them and us. It's easy to lose focus when we aren't confronted with the fragile nature of life on earth, nor the tangible presence of Christ in our daily lives. We just forget how much all of this Christian walk is a matter of life and death. And so Hebrews has a lot to say to those of us who forget, who lose patience, who lack perseverance, and who tend to get stuck and stay in exactly the same place. There's so much we miss and fail to understand because we get stagnant. What do we do and how do we break free? We'll talk about all of that and more this Sunday at 10:45am. 777 Brotherhood Way // SF

The Bible tells us that mere mortals could not come into God’s powerful presence; that was something only a high priest could do. The high priest was appointed to represent the people to God, but since he was a mortal himself, he had to offer sacrifices for his, and our, sins. Today, Jesus is our high priest. Jesus is the one who knows our sins and struggles like no other. Hebrews 4:15 reads, For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, bu...t we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet he did not sin. Jesus made the greatest sacrifice for us to give us the greatest gift of all. Because he knows us so well, Jesus will always advocate on our behalf. We may worry that we are not good enough, that our hearts are impure, but Jesus never forgets that God created us as holy and pure. Let’s put our trust in Jesus and receive his grace. Jesus, sitting at the right hand of the Father, has our backs. Always. And that’s why we pray, in Jesus’ name, amen!

All of our livestreaming can be found over on our YouTube Channel. Here's the link to worship with us today at 10:45am! If you could ask God anything, what would you ask Him? If you could tell God anything, what would you tell Him? Those are fun questions to consider sometimes, but are the the right questions? This week, Josh teaches from Hebrews 4-5 and looks back at how humanity has approached the presence of God from the days of Moses until today. Have things changed? Have they stayed the same? Join us this Sunday as we discover more about how we are encouraged to approach the Throne of God.

It's a beautiful morning to gather outdoors together to praise God! And if you still don't feel comfortable, that's okay, we've got you covered with a live stream of our service at https://lakemercedchurch.com/stream-live. Simply log on before 10:45am this morning and watch the service there! We hope to see you and worship together with you! 777 Brotherhood Way // SF... Lots of free parking! We will be socially distanced, outdoors, masked and following all of SF's Department of Public Health guidelines. For more information on what to expect, visit: https://lakemercedchurch.com/home

During these stressful times, some of us may feel like we’re wandering the desert, looking for rest. Josh’s lesson on Sunday recapped Moses’ story to remind us that God gave them all they needed on their difficult journey. We are also reminded that God doesn’t break his promises. We will have our rest. When we find ourselves struggling with our faith, it’s because our hearts have wandered and become hard. Then sin becomes rooted in those hard hearts. Sin will change who we ar...e and make us believe we are self-reliant. That’s when we’ve stopped listening to God’s word. Hebrews 4:12 reminds us beautifully, For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Jesus WILL lead us home! If Jesus is our destination, our souls will find rest.

Good morning! We will not be streaming our service live on Facebook this morning, but you can still access the live stream by heading to our YouTube Channel or going to our website and watching it there. If you can join us in person, great! If not, we hope you'll join us online! https://lakemercedchurch.com/stream-live

Lake Merced is excited to be able to gather together once again TOMORROW morning at 10:45am! We hope to see you there! While our time together may look a little different, we get to be together. Attendees will need to be masked at all times, be symptom free and dress warm. More details can be found at lakemercedchurch.com. 777 Brotherhood Way // SF... 10:45am Service Time (Outdoors only) LOTS of free parking. See more

This week, LMCC will kick off a new 8 wk. series called Greater Than. We’ll be taking a look at the book of Hebrews, which is a message to struggling Christians who’ve lost sight of what really matters in their faith. The message for this Sunday will focus on Hebrews 1-2 as we seek to learn more about the relationship we have, both with angels, and with Jesus. You might be surprised by what you learn!

Do you want to know what love is? For most of us, the answer to that question is an emphatic "yes!" In fact, over 35 years ago, someone wrote a popular song to that effect that's still in heavy rotation on classic radio stations today. Often we might think we know what love is, but do we really understand it from God's perspective? The Bible provides numerous divinely inspired definitions and examples of love. This week, we'll look at one of these definitions, found in 1 John 4:10, and consider its implications for our lives.