Sermon Scripture: Deuteronomy 30:15-20 So often we need to remind ourselves of all that we have come to know and experience about loving God and loving others. Why do we so often digress? Likewise, we often need to gird ourselves up for taking these truths into the harsh reality of the world. Presumably where there
Sermon Scripture: Isaiah 9:1-4, Matthew 4:12-23 The Messiah came to enact love and restoration to the world that he loves; including creation and humanity. Learning to trust in the voice of God is not just an intellectual act, but a whole body experience for us because every human bears the image of God. Just as
Sermon Scripture: Isaiah 9:1-4, Matthew 4:12-23 The Messiah came to enact love and restoration to the world that he loves; including creation and humanity. Learning to trust in the voice of God is not just an intellectual act, but a whole body experience for us because every human bears the image of God. Just as
Sermon Scripture: Isaiah 49:1-7, John 1:29-42 As we continue the season of Epiphanytide which acts as a bridge between the events of Advent and Christmas and the leading up to God’s victory over sin and death on the cross and in the resurrection, we focus on the ways in which Jesus demonstrated the ways and
Sermon Scripture: Matthew 3:13-17, Isaiah 42:1-4 Why did Jesus, son of God, the Word that was from the beginning, Immanuel, God with us, need to be baptized? Because Jesus is God with us! Sinless, yet baptized in water. All powerful, yet anointed from on high with the Holy Spirit. Through taking up our mantle as
Sermon Scripture: John 1:1-14 John’s account of the incarnation takes a radical approach, saying nothing of mangers, animals, shepherds or angels, rather talks of time and space, light and dark, heirs and servants, word and flesh. When you read, or hear John’s incarnation account, it causes you to begin asking questions, and these questions are
Sermon Scripture: Luke 4:14-21, Isaiah 61:1–4 Love is our culminating Advent theme as Jesus, God with us, enacted the power of love to bring freedom, restoration, and healing to all who would receive it. As Jesus takes the mantle of love upon himself, he does so in a very specific way. Once again fulfilling the
Sermon Scripture: Isaiah 35:1-10, John 15:9-17 Happiness and joy are often considered interchangeably, but they are actually two completely different things. The key point being that God promises joy, but he never assures happiness. We might look on these promises about God’s power to heal with cynicism when we see them in light of life
Sermon Scripture: Matthew 1:18-24, Luke 1:11-20, Luke 1:26b–38 When Heaven speaks it can be quite an unsettling experience. There is a reason that every time an angel shows up in scripture the command is, “Peace be with you.” It’s because angels are not of this world, and very likely their proclamation is about to turn
Sermon Scripture: Jeremiah 33:14-18, Isaiah 2:2-5, Romans 8:18-26, Psalm 37:3-5 Celebrating the life of Christ through the Christian Calendar and intentionally celebrating the season of Advent with hope and expectation allows us to rearrange the sacred back to the center of our lives. What Advent does is it point the unresolved hopes that we have
