Sermon Archives

The word “power,” here, is not dunamis, but another Greek word, megaleios, which means something like the mighty or marvelous deeds of God. The Pentecost miracle that fulfills Christ’s promise of “power from on high” is very much an embodiment of that divine power. Promise made, promise fulfilled. We witness the continued fulfillment of that promise today […]

 How to Conquer the World. Christ, then, is the Son of God. He is our prophet, priest, and king. He was born in a manger, died on a cross, and rose to defeat sin and death. He came from nothing. He conquered everything. But remember this: most of our Lord’s victory is yet to be realized. […]

Because “God is love…those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them” (v. 16). To abide is to live or to dwell in something. To abide is to accept, observe and follow a particular path. For John, to prove that we love God means we love our brothers and sisters. To […]

The Good Shepherd brand is based on sacrifice, on a deep relationship with people and with God, on the power of community, on a desire to reach new people, and on complete self-giving. In a world of so many competing religions, we need to focus on speaking God’s truth to a bewildered world and to […]

The patience of God is a beckoning hand, an open door, a pathway home. The patience of God came to Jonah in the belly of a fish, calling him to get back on board with God’s plan to redeem the Ninevites. The patience of God came to Matthew at the tax booth with Jesus calling […]

Grace is a gift. You cannot be a follower of Jesus Christ if you do not set aside judgmental, rules-based thinking, and claim the joyful truth that you are never going to get what you deserve at the hand of God. Which is a good thing, because, if we got what we deserve, we would […]

Jesus’ detour on his way to the right hand of God served a purpose. Jesus is one of us. The disciples thought they were seeing a ghost. They were wrong. He was one of them. And if we are to have a ghost of a chance at experiencing the power of the resurrected life of […]

Peter went to his death boldly. He never gave up on the love we are to have for one another, the love that Jesus modeled in the humble act of washing feet. In response to that self-giving love of Jesus, Peter gave up his own life willingly. Peter served others by giving the example of […]

So, today, let us wave our palms and sing our hymns of victory. Let us cheer Jesus’ triumphal entry as our King. But let us also be aware that, between the hosannas of Palm Sunday and the alleluias of Easter there is an arrest, and a flogging, a trial, and a cross. A king’s ransom […]