When I was in high school, I found a key to the school elevator on the floor one afternoon. I should have returned it, but I didn’t. However, I was careful about when I used it and for what purpose lest someone stop me and ask who it was that gave me permission. Just before the parable of the wicked tenants, some scribes and chief priests approach Jesus with a similar question.
View SermonLent
For the Love of the Father
If you have fallen in love with Jesus then you should be changed. You should not be the same person you were when you found the Lord. As time moves by in our lives we are supposed to be seeking out ways of drawing closer to God, sitting quietly with Him waiting to hear what He wants to do with our lives. Lent is this precious time in the year when we are given many weeks to hear the Lord in our lives. Maybe it is your anger the Lord wants to address, maybe your obsessive checking of your phone, or maybe your cross, judgmental attitudes towards others is what the Lord wants to address
View SermonExamples
If everything in the Bible was rendered into a movie in a literal way, it would not be rated PG! Remember that the stories written in the Bible are both examples of WHAT to do as well as examples of WHAT NOT to do. The stories in the Bible weren’t written down for the people who experienced them. They were written for you…for us…for our instruction.
View SermonThe Approaching Disaster
Joel 2:1 is, as one commentator says, “the ancient equivalent of the modern air raid siren.” In the verses that follow we see the coming army of “a great and powerful people” (v. 2). And we see the people of Israel fleeing for safety (v. 3). As we read these verse today, I can’t help but think of what is going on in Ukraine.
View SermonWe Wish to See Jesus
If someone came to you and said that they wanted to see Jesus what would you do? This is exactly what happened to Philip in the gospel passage today. Jesus’ disciples had gotten pretty used to people wanting to see Jesus, but these men were Greeks! Gentiles! Philip didn’t know what to do. While Jesus doesn’t seem to address these Greek men directly, the interaction seems to signal something significant to him.
View SermonLet Us Go to the House of the Lord
In the years before the exile to Babylon, The Lord gave warning after warning to the people of Israel, but they wouldn’t listen. They continued to worship false gods and participate in abominable practices. Lest we look down on the Israelites in judgment, however, let us point a finger at ourselves. Just like the sins of Israel caused them to be cut off from the land that was promised to them and the temple where God had promised to dwell among them, so also our sins have caused us to be cut off from God. But the Lord also promised hope through the prophet Jeremiah.
View SermonPerfect Law, Broken Heart
Psalm 19:7 says that “The Law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.” What more needs to be said? Just, obey the Ten Commandments and life will be better! And yet, even the author of Psalm 19 admits to not keeping these commandments (v. 12). Knowing the right thing to do is not the same thing as doing it! The commandments are an opportunity to examine yourself.
View SermonListening to the Lord
This past year or so has felt much like a long season of Lent. For many of us we have given up so many experiences, times with family and friends, activities we used to enjoy, or even just feeling like things are normal. It can be very tempting to focus on everything that is different and yet Fr. Chris and I truly feel like it is an invitation for all of us to draw closer to the living God who wants to speak to each of you and to provide a way for you. Abraham was faithful to God and God provided a way out of His situation. God provided a sacrificial ram that would take the place of Isaac.
View SermonInto the Wilderness of Lent
The first Sunday of Lent is always devoted to remembering Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness being tempted by Satan. The length of the 40 days of Lent is modeled on these 40 days of Jesus, and reading an account of this time in Jesus’ life helps us to frame these 40 days of fasting leading up to our celebration of Easter.
View SermonRose-Colored Glasses
Sometimes we see our lives through rose-colored glasses. We see all of the ways that we consider ourselves to be “good Christian people” when the reality is that we could all use a little (or a lot!) of work. Today is a day to admit our wrong-doings and the impurities of our hearts.
View Sermon