Noblesville First Sermons

There's something wonderful about this time of year when imagination seems to be everywhere! But imagination isn't just for children or costumes. It's also an extraordinary gift God gives us to envision possibilities beyond what we can presently see. I like to call it holy imagination. Holy imagination invites us to look at the world as it is and dream about what it could become through God's love. It's what allows us to see more than a church building and imagine a place where everyone belongs. To see more than a parking lot and imagine a community gathering where families experience joy, connection, and welcome.
And here's where generosity comes in: When we give to the church, we're not simply investing in what we can see. We're investing in what we can imagine. Every gift helps create opportunities for ministry, moments of connection, and experiences of God's love that we may never fully anticipate. 

As we look toward 2027, what does it mean to be All In? It’s about more than making a pledge—it’s about investing our hearts, our gifts, and our resources in the work God is doing through Noblesville First. Together, we’ll explore how each of us can take part in building a church where faith grows, lives are transformed, and everyone is embraced with the love of Christ—with NO exceptions. When we each commit to being All In, we help create a future filled with hope, possibility, and meaningful ministry for our community.

"Only God can judge me."The irony is that we usually reach for those words when it feels like we'e being judged by everybody except God.Judged for a decision we made.Judged for something in our past.Judged for how we parent, how we live, what we believe, who we love, or who we are becoming.And if we’re honest, we haven't only been on the receiving end of judgment. We’ve given it too.We make assumptions. We form opinions. We decide we know someone’s motives without ever knowing their story. Sometimes we call it discernment. Sometimes we call it “just telling the truth.” But judgment can come so naturally that we rarely stop to ask whether we were ever given the authority to make it in the first place.The exact words “Only God can judge me” may not appear in the Bible, but Scripture has plenty to say about judgment—about God’s role, our role, and the difference between the two. In a world where everyone seems ready to render a verdict on somebody else, perhaps we need to remember who is actually qualified to hold the gavel—and what it means to follow Jesus in the way we see one another.

Throughout Scripture, we encounter a God who is constantly forming people—teaching, correcting, redirecting, encouraging, forgiving, and calling them forward. God’s grace welcomes us as we are, but that same grace keeps working on us so that we can become more loving, more faithful, more compassionate, and more like Christ.So, what does it look like to help someone grow in love? Not simply to control behavior. Not to produce perfect people. But to nurture lives in which faith, wisdom, compassion, courage, and responsibility can take root.And perhaps while we’re asking that question about the people we love; God might turn the question toward us: Where are You still trying to grow me?

“God helps those who help themselves” It sounds biblical, doesn’t it? Maybe because we’ve heard it so many times. We use it to encourage responsibility, perseverance, and action. And there’s certainly nothing wrong with doing what we can with what God has given us. There’s just one problem: The Bible never actually says it. In fact, the Bible repeatedly introduces us to people who reach moments when they cannot help themselves. They don’t have enough strength, enough wisdom, enough resources, or enough answers. And maybe you know something about those moments too. The diagnosis you cannot change. The grief you cannot hurry. The relationship you cannot repair by yourself. The door you cannot force open. The burden you have finally admitted is too heavy to carry alone.The psalmist asks, “Where does my help come from?” and answers, “My help comes from the Lord.” (Psalm 121:1–2)Notice what the psalmist doesn’t say: My help comes when I finally prove I can't handle this myself. Because sometimes faith looks like taking the next step. And sometimes faith looks like finally admitting, “God, I need help.”Maybe that is the invitation for us. Before we work harder, fix more, or try again, take a moment to name before God the place where we need help. We don’t have to solve it. Just bring it honestly to God.

One of the gifts of being the church is that we get to practice this kind of ministry for one another. We celebrate together. We grieve together. We eat together. We pray together. We check on each other. And sometimes we simply sit beside one another and remind each other that none of us are in this alone.We encourage you with a simple invitations this week: pay attention to the people around you. Who might appreciate a phone call, a quick text, an invitation to coffee, or simply the reminder that someone is thinking about them? You don’t have to have all the answers or know exactly what to say. Sometimes one of the simplest ways we share the love of Christ is simply by being present for one another.

Do you remember playing the game Telephone? Everyone sits in a circle. One person whispers a message into the ear of the person beside them, who whispers it to the next person, and around the circle it goes. By the time the message reaches the last person, everyone is waiting to hear what they say.
And almost every time, the final message sounds nothing like the original.
One word gets changed. Somebody mishears something. And before you know it, what was actually said and what everyone thinks was said are two completely different things. The same thing can happen with scripture. We hear something from a parent or grandparent. A pastor says something in a sermon. Somebody posts a quote online with a Bible verse underneath it. We hear it enough times, from enough people, that eventually we stop asking, “Is that actually what Scripture says?”  We just pass it along. So what does it mean when God says "Cleanliness is Next to Godliness." Let's see what God has to say!  

God has a way of placing people in our lives whose faith strengthens our own—people who pray when we don’t have the words, believe when our faith feels shaky, and remind us that we don’t have to navigate life’s twists and turns alone. This week, we’ll reflect on the people who have shaped our faith, strengthened us, and helped us keep going, while also considering who might need that same kind of connection from us. Because faith isn’t a solo journey; God often changes our lives through the people God connects us to. As we worship together, we’ll explore how we can be that source of encouragement, hope, and community for one another.

Sometimes, things fall apart. Life can feel like a game of Jenga—one unexpected twist, one difficult moment, and suddenly everything we thought was steady comes crashing down. But the good news is that God meets us in the rubble, and we don’t have to rebuild alone. Let's discover how with God and one another, what has fallen apart can be rebuilt—and that even in the mess, God is still with us.

Sometimes faith feels a little like a game of Clue. We’re always looking for the signs. Watching for the nudges. Trying to put the pieces together and figure out: Where is God in this? Where is God moving? What is God doing that I might be missing?
The clues are all around us. God is at work. And church, we get to be part of it.
Let’s keep showing up. Let’s keep loving our neighbors. And let’s keep following the clues of grace wherever God leads us next.