Sermons

Ascend

Ascend: Further Up And Further In With the Songs of Ascent 

All summer we’ll move our way through the collection of biblical songs known as the Psalms of Ascent (Pss 120-134). These were songs which were sung by God’s people during the uphill journey to worship in Jerusalem, which resided on the highest point in Palestine. The ascent was literal but it was also metaphorical, directing the pilgrims to live upward towards God. These songs have provided lyrical content for the upward call of Jesus’ followers for centuries. And after our most disorienting year, we need to learn to live these songs afresh, reminded that Jesus has called us further up and further in. 

The first song teaches us that this world doesn’t satisfy us nor is it safe. We remember that the disciple must turn from the world and its ways and turn to Jesus as we follow him. The journey of discipleship begins with repentance, a no that is a yes. 

General Topic

We Must Love One Another, or Die - Lent 2021

Through the season of Lent, we are taking a patient walk through 1 Corinthians 13. "We must love one another or die" may be more relevant to our day than any we can remember. This series is out to hold our feet to the fire to its centrality and its nature.

Never has something so central to our identity been so threatened by our circumstances.

All Things New

New year (could we hope for something better than the previous year?), new opportunities, new practices--both as individuals and we as a community. What has God made new in Christ which, in saying so, is made to last, made to hold us even if all remains the same as it ever was? In whatever ways we pivot to new things--whether chosen or not--what are those things God has made new upon which all else rests?

Heaven Has Come

Of Kings and Kingdoms - Daniel

This fall we turn to the book of Daniel. Of Kings and Kingdoms is our theme: his faithfulness to God in service to multiple foreign kings of multiple kingdoms, with the Kingdom that will outlast them all looming in his mind and anticipation.

It's more than a fiery furnace and lions den.

Strange Faith

We are calling our summer series in 1 Peter "Strange Faith" (yes, you might recognize the background to the logo) because as Peter makes clear right from the beginning of his letter, to be a Christian, no matter where you are, is to be in some sense an outsider, one whose beliefs and hopes and actions are seen as strange. While our country and culture were founded upon this belief, times tell us this belief is now viewed as increasingly out of the mainstream. So how shall we think of this strangeness we can't, nor would want to, shake?

House Calls

Isaiah: The Story Beneath the Story

What can an ancient word of prophetic challenge speak to a modern world? More than we might imagine--more than we might prefer. But the same voice that issues a stern challenge also offers a stronger hope--and that hope is timeless.