Mendham Hills

DTR - Week 3 - Sacrifice by Sunday Podcast

On November 28, 2010, Buffalo Bills wide receiver Steve Johnson dropped five passes in a game against the powerhouse Pittsburgh Steelers. The final pass, one he dropped while wide open in the end zone during overtime, wound up costing his team the game. Afterward, Johnson tweeted, "I praise you 24/7!!! And this is how you do me!!! You expect me to learn from this??? How??? I'll never forget this!! Ever!!" For him, and often for us, this is a common experience and disappointment when we relate to God from a "Life Under God" posture. We play by the rules, we go to church, and He comes through for us. Simple, right? Felt the discouragement of God not coming through for you after all you have done? This Sunday, we find out why "Life Under God" never fulfills the promise, which is only experienced by "Life With God!"

Fall Kickoff 2015 by Sunday Podcast

There is nothing worse than being in a relationship with someone, maybe even for a long time, and then suddenly finding out that you define the relationship differently. Is it exclusive? Are you just friends? What if you've wasted the best years of your life on a relationship that turned out not to be what you thought? Heartbreaking if it involves a person. Life altering if it involves God! If you've grown weary of Christianity, maybe the problem lies not in your faith, but in your heart. Is it possible you got the whole relationship wrong? Join us as we kick off our new fall series, "Define the Relationship," where we will unmask the typical Christian cliches that often masquerade as genuine communion with Christ, and understand, perhaps for the first time, how we relate to God. Don't waste the best years of your life in the wrong relationship!

Conversations #11 - Riches, Rulers & Sycamore Trees by Sunday Podcast

Conversations #10 - So What Now? by Sunday Podcast

Conversations #8 - Pick Me! Pick Me! by Sunday Podcast

Conversations #7 - Can't Do That...It's Sunday by Sunday Podcast

Conversations #6 - Maybe Later by Sunday Podcast

Conversations #9 - Cheaters & Chuckers by Sunday Podcast

2015 Summer Sermon Series looking at different conversations Jesus had with those He encountered during His earthly ministry.

2015 Summer Sermon Series looking at different conversations Jesus had with those He encountered during His earthly ministry.

Conversations #2 - Faith From The Least Expected by Sunday Podcast

Conversations #1 - Sinners & Winners by Sunday Podcast

Conversations #3 - A Vacation Conversation by Sunday Podcast

In or Out. Us or Them. Haves or Have nots. You know the categories. They have existed for all of time. Winner or Loser. Cool or Uncool. Sometimes they're hidden, but most of the time, it's pretty obvious. From the caste system in India, to the table situation in your kid's high school - the world has, oftentimes painfully, been segregating people one from another. Historically though, perhaps nothing has done it better than religion. Yet, in a sea of segregation, one voice calls across time, beckoning that "all" would come. This Sunday at Mendham Hills, we look at the inclusiveness of the call to cross the line of faith and be baptized.

The claim to be "a little bit pregnant" has always stood as the height of absurdity. Well, the truth is, it's the same with being a follower of Jesus - either you are or you're not. The Bible is pretty clear; at some point, you need to make a decision about what to do with Jesus. This week, as we begin to look towards our end-of-the-year baptism party, we look at "fence sitters and line crossers:" stories of people who hung around the edges of Jesus but never committed, and those who crossed the line of faith and were baptized. Have you crossed the line or are you still sitting on the fence? This Sunday, it's time to make a decision!

You know our reputation, don't you? Not ours at Mendham Hills necessarily, but Christians in general. If I went to the Green in Morristown and asked folks to give me one word to describe Christians, what do you think it would be? Well, as the saying goes - as much as things change, they stay the same. The early church was powerful and beautiful. It was taking Jerusalem by storm and shaking the gates of hell. But then came its first real threat. It did not come from Roman rulers or Temple leaders; it came from within. To this day, there is no force more powerful than the church, yet there is one thing that always threatens its purpose: hypocrites! This Sunday at Mendham Hills - how to handle hypocrisy and actually be who we say we are!

The science seems to have coalesced at this point regarding the key to happiness: Lower your expectations! Sure, there is some truth there that many of us do carry around some unrealistic expectations. Yet, if all we ever do is lower our expectations, then greatness, wonder, healing, achievement, and beauty wind up sacrificed on the altar of "ordinary." You, we, the people of God were created for anything but. We were made extra-ordinary, and maybe, just maybe, it's time to dream big dreams again! This Sunday, we look at the question: If we set our sights too low, do we get only what we expect?

Are You Haunted By What is to Come? Well, it's the final Sunday before Christmas Eve and as we all begin to look forward to that most special of nights, it is also time to turn our attention to the fourth ghost of Christmas - The Ghost of Christmases Yet to Come. Scrooge asks that ghost a particularly poignant question: "Are these the shadows of the things that will be, or are they the shadows of things that may be, only? Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead. But if the courses be departed from, can the ends change?" And there you have it - the reason for Christmas, the point of the incarnation! All men are on a certain course. Our lives have a trajectory - can it be changed? Christmas reminds us that the answer is still YES!