Sermons

Life is full of hurt. We feel pain, struggle, fear, and failure. Despite it all, most of us hope. We hope for a better tomorrow. We hope for future success. We hope to be forgiven. We hope our lives will matter. And, we hope that death will not come too soon. But, false hope is no hope at all. The Bible declares that our greatest hopes hang on if Jesus rose.

The Palm Sunday story is well known: Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey as thousands of people lay their coats and palm branches at his feet while shouting, “Hosanna. Hosanna.” What is sometimes forgotten is the miracle that proceeded this event, a miracles that contributed greatly to the size of the crowd – Jesus raised a man named Lazarus from the dead. The miracle of resurrection has alluring power and the source of resurrection ought not be ignored.

The complexity of our world often leaves us struggling to figure out what is right and what is wrong. Making matters worse is that sometimes when we do that which culture declares right, we are left feeling as though we did wrong. This series of sermons on James presents Christian ethics according to the book and calls all who hear it to a different, better way of life.

Biographies are compelling, in part, because they offer us a glimpse into the life of people beyond their public work. They help us understand who the people are/were, not just what they accomplished. This series is something of a biography of Jesus. A lot of people know about what Jesus said and did, but what was Jesus like? These sermons share three stories from the life of Jesus before his public work and teaching began. In looking at Jesus as a baby, kid, and young man, listeners will, perhaps for the first time, meet Jesus.

English psychiatrist and philosopher Eric Fromm said, “Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction.” Most people feel a constant desire for more; most people never feel like they have enough. Despite this, almost nobody recognizes themselves themselves as greedy. These sermons on greed aim to help people understand what greed is, why it is spiritually significant, and how they can overcome it.

It seems, in our current culture, one of the worst things someone can be called is “judgmental.” Sadly, this label often given to anyone who declares a belief in a moral standard; Christians are constantly called judgmental. People are reacting to this in one of two ways: They get louder and angrier – seemingly more judgmental – or they stop talking about right and wrong altogether. The average person intuitively understands that these common, yet extreme approaches are both flawed. People shouldn’t yell at everyone who does something they don’t like; people shouldn’t accept everything that everyone does as good. The Bible offers a complex solution to this tension. This series of sermons aims to teach what the Bible says about judging others.

In a world that offers plenty to worry about, worry plagues almost everyone. This is troubling, especially because worry brings with it a wide variety of physical, emotional, and spiritual dangers. While the average person won’t consider it’s dangerous side affects, most would love to remove worry from their lives, but because of it’s universality, most see no hope in ridding themselves of this negative emotional. This series of sermons teaches listeners Jesus’ tips on living a worry-free life.

The message of Christianity is one of God’s love for humanity. Sometimes though, the Christian faith gets painted as if it is for certain types of people who haven’t done certain types of things. The story of Jonah emphatically declares that no matter who you are or what you’ve done, God cares about you. Through a disobedient follower, a group of idolatrous fisherman, and a pagan city, this series of sermons proclaims that everyone can be engulfed by grace.

The term “God” is often used and rarely considered. Most people discuss the being we call God without ever pondering what makes him that in the first place. This series of sermons describes the three key attributes that are generally ascribed to God – omniscience (all knowing), omnipotence (all powerful), and omnibenevolence (all loving) – and clarifies how all three can be simultaneously true of one divine being. Through this clarification, hearers will begin to understand that who God is, matters to who they are and how they live.

Almost everyone has an opinion about what church is and how it should be done. The goal of this series is to help people understand Jesus’ thoughts and feelings about church by examining his admonishment, as recorded in Revelation 2-3, to seven 1st century churches.