Preparations in the Wilderness

Sermon for December 9, 2018 

Read Philippians 1:3-11 and Luke 3:1-6

Have you noticed that we meet up with John the Baptist  every year in Advent? I’ve never seen him featured in an Advent calendar or a Christmas display, but all four Gospels place him front and center in Jesus’s origin story. He’s kind of a strange character to find there, not someone who cleans up well for a Christmas card. And yet, all of them begin the opening acts of Jesus with a scene featuring the sack-cloth wearing, locust eating crazy man.

Hope For The Future

Sermon for December 2, 2018 

Read Jeremiah 33:14-16  and Luke 21:25-36

Well, the season of advent is upon us again. The season of waiting. The time that turns us towards the watching and waiting and preparing for the birth of Christ. We count down the next few Sundays to the anniversary of Jesus' birth.

What Kind of King?

Sermon for November 25, 2018 

Read Colossians 1:11-20 and Luke 23:33-43

 It might seem odd for us to turn and visit the cross right before advent. After all the holidays are coming up. We’re supposed to be talking about the nativity and the birth of Jesus. This is a time of anticipation and celebration. And as we finish celebrating thanksgiving, we see our savior on the cross, suffering and dying and forgiving us despite ourselves. It does tend to put a damper on the festivities, doesn't it?

Worries

Sermon for November 18, 2018 

Read Psalm 126 and Matthew 6:25-34          

In our passage for Thanksgiving today, Christ tells us not to worry.

But have you seen the news lately. How can we not worry? There are fires raging in California, and it seems like a different shooting every week. We hear about natural disasters and divisions between people getting worse and worse. We worry about the conflicts throughout the world. We worry about the conflicts at home. We worry about how we can afford Christmas with belts tightening everywhere. We worry about whether everything will go smoothly with the holiday this week, whether relatives will get along or the turkey will come out okay. There seems to be a lot to worry about.

Giving

Sermon for November 11,  2018 

Read 1 Kings 17:8-16 and Mark 12:38-44 
  
"’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

First Commandment

Sermon for November 4, 2018 

Read Deuteronomy 6:1-9 and Mark 12:28-34   

"’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

Calling for Help

Sermon for October 28, 2018 
Read Psalm 34:1-8 and Mark 10:46-52  

At first glance, this is one of the typical miracle stories in the gospels: Bartimaeus is suffering, and so calls out to Jesus for help. This is pretty common in the scriptures, someone is suffering and calls out to Jesus to help them and Jesus does. But Bartimaeus doesn't just ask Jesus for help. No, Bartimaeus shouts from the other side of the town square "Hey Jesus! Jesus! Save me!"

Camels Through Needles and Other Impossible Things

Sermon for October 14, 2018 

Read Hebrews 4:12-16  and Mark 10:17-27     

When reading this passage about the rich young man, it’s easy to think it’s not about us. After all, rich people are people like Bill Gates, or Warren Buffet. At the very least, rich describes chairmen of fortune 500 companies, and definitely not people like me.  There are some people who actually like this passage, using it to prove the evils of the rich and greedy. Even if we sympathize with the plight of the rich young man, it doesn’t have anything to do with us, right?