Sermons

Freedom is a bedrock cultural value; we can define it in different ways. While our culture tells us that freedom is about autonomy, Peter puts forward a different understanding: freedom comes from learning to embrace the life God has for us. Paradoxically, this often involves submission to authorities, even unjust ones. But as we love…

Jesus is like a superhero: He is the extraordinary hidden in the ordinary. As God makes his people more like him, they become the same. They embody God's glory in hidden ways. God is turning them into his household, and into a temple, where the people serve as priests, offering sacrifices (prayer) and showing people…

God gives the Spirit to the church, giving unique gifts to each believer, so that we will learn to depend on each other. This builds the unity that is necessary for the church's mission, where, in the power of the Spirit, we proclaim the good news through our words, and reveal God through our deeds.

Salvation isn't just something that happens when someone prays a prayer, but about God setting things right. It is about God's promised future, secured by his past saving acts that allow us to live a different life in the present. When we begin to understand the bigger picture of salvation, it gives us purpose for…

Peter writes the persecuted Christians to help them understand how their suffering was a part of their salvation, not a sign of God's abandonment. In 1 Peter 1:3-12, he explains the hope they live with, helps them gain a new perspective on how God permits them to suffer, and explains how God faithfully keeps his…

Reflecting on Jesus’ warning about the narrow gate in Matthew 7, this sermon explores how even the most devout can mistakenly oppose God by following "broad roads" of self-certainty and distorted faith. By examining the four major Jewish parties of the first century—the Sadducees (worldliness), Pharisees (hubris), Zealots (violence), and Essenes (isolation)—the message illustrates how…

Jesus redefines family for Christians, telling us to treat others in the church as a new family. But Paul seems to spend a lot of time telling people that they have to make good on their family obligations. How do we understand these different approaches to family? Do they contradict, or do they give Christians…

So many people hate their jobs that it's easy to think that work is a curse God has placed on us for our sin. But work has always been a part of God's design for creation, even if it has been distorted by the effects of sin. When we understand that God is undoing the…

This sermon uses the image of dawn breaking through darkness to explain that Jesus’ resurrection is both a historical victory and a preview of the future God promises for believers: just as the disciples moved from despair at the crucifixion to hope at the empty tomb, the resurrection serves as a “prototype” and “firstfruits” of…

On Palm Sunday, the crowd that welcomes Jesus into Jerusalem celebrates a king who brings a revolution. However, they fail to see that Jesus introduces a different kind of revolution. He is not like Caesar or other emperors who ruled before. He offers the Revolution of an upside-down kingdom that operates through persuasion rather than…

When we live the way everyone else around us lives, we often feel a weariness that comes from lacking purpose. The Israelites in exile experienced this, but Ezekiel promised a restoration to their land and their purpose. The Spirit of God breathes new life into his people, promising them that death will not be the…

Clear vision is important to us, but clear spiritual vision, discernment, is even more important. Discernment isn't something we get by thinking hard, it is a gift from God. We see the importance of discernment in the case of Samuel, when he is sent by God to choose a successor to Saul, in the Ephesians,…