Sermons
How do we understand the church in a post-pandemic world? The Bible offers a series of metaphors to describe the church’s role in the world. This morning we explore Peter’s reminder that we are strangers and aliens in this world.
To be a stranger—an exile—is profoundly disorienting. Why would God call us to be spiritually homeless, so to speak? And could it be that we can be more effective when we are less comfortable?
When God calls Moses to be his emissary to Egypt, Moses knows how completely unqualified he is for the job. God responds and asks Moses, “What is that in your hand?”
God doesn’t call us to serve him after we’ve got everything perfectly in place; he calls us and gives us the tools we need, which are usually right in front of us. The secret lies in receiving God’s call with open hands instead of with clenched fists.
How do we know whether a building will last or not? Most of it has to do with the building’s foundation. A home’s foundation won’t draw “oohs” and “aahs" on HGTV, but when a foundation crumbles, the building will crumble.
How can we ensure that our church is built to last? This morning Rev. Ryan Tankersley shows that only one foundation will truly support the church.
How do we understand the church in a post-pandemic world? The Bible offers a series of metaphors to describe the church’s role in the world. This morning we explore Paul’s claim that the church is the body of Christ.
When a body is missing a part, it is deformed and loses function. God has a place and a purpose for each of us. Join us as Doran Morford helps us to examine the rich metaphor of the church as Christ’s body.
How do we understand the church in a post-pandemic world? The Bible offers a series of metaphors to describe the church’s role in the world. This morning we explore Paul’s claim that, “you are God’s temple, and God’s spirit lives in you.”
If we are God’s temple, how does that affect who God calls us to be and where God calls us to go?
How do we understand the church in a post-pandemic world? The Bible offers a series of metaphors to describe the church’s role in the world. This morning we examine Jesus’ description of a shepherd and his flock. “I am the good shepherd,” Jesus claims. “The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.” How does the description of a shepherd and his sheep color our role and calling in our world?
When you examine how Jesus begins to build his kingdom after he is raised from the dead, you quickly notice that he does not follow the expected paths or best practices. In fact, he seems to stack the deck against himself. Why would he assign himself such a competitive disadvantage? As we celebrate the resurrection, we see just how unexpectedly perfect God’s plans are.
This morning we continue to reflect on Psalm 23, this time exploring the image of God, the host of a great dinner party, who invites us, his prized friends, to a feast. How does it change your life to know that God not only provides for you and protects you, but he prizes you?
The most famous Psalm begins, The Lord is my shepherd. This morning we reflect on the image of a shepherd and his sheep. When the days are dark and we find ourselves in the valley of the shadow of death, lasting hope can only be found with a good shepherd.
Each of us looks to various desires to prove our significance in life. We may find our worth in providing for family, finding a spouse to fulfill us, achievement at work or school, establishing a good reputation, or even in physical beauty.
The Psalms teach us that those things will inevitably fall short, and that the Christian response is not renounce those desires, but to find a better desire—one that can actually deliver on its promises. Hear this morning how Jesus is our better desire.
When we talk about hope, we often mean something too anemic. Hope is not man-made, wishful thinking. Hope is not a sense of denial or passivity. Christian hope is something deeper—stronger—far more durable that we understand. This morning Doran Morford helps us explore a more resilient hope.
The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?
It feels like we have had lots to fear over the past year. How can we find freedom from those fears and anxieties? This morning our region minister, Dale Edwards, shows us how our fears make poor counselors.
What keeps you up at night? In David’s case, it was his own son trying to kill him, and possibly widespread crop failures, and his opponents ridiculing his reputation. Yet he writes, “I will lie down and sleep in peace.” (Psalm 4:8)
Where does such confidence come from? How can we likewise sleep well when we face worry, stress, and anxiety?
It’s one of the most chilling stories in the Bible: God tests Abraham and asks him to sacrifice his own son. How does Abraham respond, and what does it demonstrate about Abraham’s relationship with God?
In Luke 5 Jesus causes Simon, a fisherman, to haul in the catch of a lifetime. So many fish that his boat begins to sink. Then Simon leaves the catch of fish on the shore to follow Jesus.
If you had just landed the catch of a lifetime, what would motivate you to leave it behind?
Related
There is one commandment, God tells us, that is the most important: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. “How can I do that?” you may ask.
In Deuteronomy 6 God gives us not only the most important, overarching command, but also some very ordinary, everyday guidance to teach us how we can grow in our love for him.
Resources (Prayer Guides)
Every Moment Holy (Douglas Kaine McKelvey) – Mentioned specifically in this sermon, this book of prayers helps us see God in the ordinary events of daily life—liturgies such as “A Liturgy for Feasting with Friends” or “A Liturgy for Laundering” or “A Liturgy for the First Hearthfire of the Season.” These are ways of reminding us that our lives are shot through with sacred purpose even when, especially when, we are too busy or too caught up in our busyness to notice.
Rabbit Room Press
Although not mentioned during this sermon, the following two books also include patterns for regular family worship:
Celtic Daily Prayer (The Northumbria Community) – A modern prayer book with celtic influences that can guide you through morning, midday, and evening prayer practices along with guided readings and meditations.
Amazon; ChristianBook.com
The Book of Common Prayer – The most recent revision of a classic prayer book, first published in 1549. The early sections on Family Prayer are especially helpful.
Anglican House Publishers
A car without fuel won’t go anywhere. Neither will a car full of gas, but without pressing the gas pedal. You need both fuel and an accelerator to get anywhere.
Knowing God is similar. We need a fuel—a hunger for him. And we need an accelerator—a way to put that fuel to good use. This morning we consider the accelerator of the Scriptures. How can a consistent, day-in-and-day-out engagement with God’s word draw you closer to God and make you more Christlike?
There are two ways we can live: we can live from a mindset of scarcity, believing that everything is a zero-sum game, and we must get as much as we can, lest we don’t have enough; or we can live from a mindset of abundance, believing that God has limitless resources and wants to bless us abundantly. An abundance mindset leads to a radically generous lifestyle. Hear more:
There is a powerful antidote to anxiety, Paul teaches us: prayer. Not the short prayer we shoot up before a stressful meeting or in a tenuous time, but a lifestyle and habit of regular, constant prayer. Listen as we explore how prayer makes us aware of the presence of God and fills us with the peace of Christ.
Resources (Prayer Guides)
Celtic Daily Prayer (The Northumbria Community) – A modern prayer book with celtic influences that can guide you through morning, midday, and evening prayer practices along with guided readings and meditations.
Amazon; ChristianBook.com
The Book of Common Prayer – The most recent revision of a classic prayer book, first published in 1549. The early sections on Family Prayer are especially helpful.
Anglican House Publishers
Every Moment Holy (Douglas Kaine McKelvey) – A book of liturgies for the ordinary events of daily life—liturgies such as “A Liturgy for Feasting with Friends” or “A Liturgy for Laundering” or “A Liturgy for the First Hearthfire of the Season.” These are ways of reminding us that our lives are shot through with sacred purpose even when, especially when, we are too busy or too caught up in our busyness to notice.
Rabbit Room Press
The story of the magi (wise men) is often told as part of the Christmas story, although it probably occurs at least a year after Jesus was born. Far from being distant and irrelevant, we see in their story our own story—of people far from God, who almost unintentionally find God and can’t help but worship.
