The New Humanity | Easter People Week 8
On Pentecost, the Spirit forms the church as a people who confound the world’s categories of insider and outsider, near and far, clean and unclean. In Christ, those who were once far off are brought near, old hostilities are put to death, and strangers are made members of one household. This sermon invites us to see the church not merely as a place we attend, but as a Spirit-filled community of blessing, reconciliation, and belonging where God is building (and inviting us into) a new way of being human.
Why Are You Still Looking Up | Easter Week 7
The Ascension teaches us to stop looking somewhere else for the fullness of life with God and begin recognizing the reign of Christ already present here, even in what remains unresolved.
The Weapons of Resurrection | Easter Week 6
Resurrection is a weapon. It is a shot that reignites a fiery engagement between forces claiming lordship over creation. It is not only about a man. It’s about a war.” And since our battle is not against flesh and blood, we cannot use conventional weapons nor engage in the adversary in the same way. These are the weapons, and this is how we fight.
Church of the Resurrection | Easter Week 5
The power that raised Jesus from the dead is the power, not to overwhelm our adversaries but to endure them, to expose them, to convert them.
Lord Teach Us to Pray | Easter Week 3
Paul writes to the church in Ephesus connecting prayer with the power of the resurrection, leaving us to wonder: what does that mean for our prayers right now? What is the advantage of the resurrection (if any) for our everyday lives and experiences?
In this sermon, we’ll overhear Paul’s prayers, exploring how prayer joins us with God’s mission of bringing new life, and how Jesus’ resurrection changes what we can expect when we pray.
Fully Alive | Easter Week 2
If salvation is like passing from death to life (Jn 5:24; 1 Jn 3:14), then discipleship is the practice of resurrection with the hope of one day being fully alive.
One Called Resurrection | Easter Week 1
On Easter, the future has come. It is here. We are on it. It is under us. Life has broken into death. This changes everything.
A Table for All | The Table Week 6
God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.” God is not just calling us to include others at our table… He is calling all of us to another, larger, more global table.
A Table with Room for More | The Table Week 5
A key to God’s mission for the Church was the inclusion and commissioning of those who were overlooked and different.
A Table in the Community | The Table Week 4
Luke seems nearly obsessed with having us picture Christ’s life – and the church’s life – at the table. This sermon will explore how for the early church (and for us) the table can be a place that re-defines what it means to be family.
A Table at the Beach | The Table Week 3
Jesus invites the disciples – and Peter – back into relationship. The meal restores the relationship on the basis of love.
A Table in the Upper Room | The Table Week 2
In the course of their (the apostles’) eating, Christ commissions them to be witnesses of these things.
A Table Along the Road | The Table Week 1
In the first meal after the supper, the couple’s eyes are opened to the reality of a new creation
The Great Assembly | Easter Week 5
The great assembly at the end of time has begun in the rise of the church.
The Benefit of Doubt | Easter Week 2
Doubt has long been perceived as that which separates us from Christ. But in the Easter narrative, we see doubt as a regular, recurring, and formative part of the journey of faith. Ultimately, Jesus’ response to such uncertainty leads to the highest point of confession in John’s gospel and models for the church how we, as Easter people, should embrace seasons of uncertainty, ask the difficult questions, and welcome those who are still in search of the risen Christ.
Brand New Day | Easter Week 1
Easter is the rise of dawn on the Day of the Lord.
Misunderstood Gifts | Easter Week 7
Jesus promised his disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit following his departure from them. And while the gift was delivered, our understanding (or misunderstandings) of this gift of God may impact our reception of the gift and the Spirit’s impact in our lives.
Behold the King | Easter Week 6
The Ascension gets little attention in today’s Church but to the early Christians it was the climax of the gospel. In the Ascension, Jesus is not only savior but King. What does that mean for the way we work, and witness, and worship?
Raised with Christ | Easter Week 5
There is no place where the resurrection of Jesus is more gospel than in the death of someone we love, or in our own death. Yet there is confusion over what, exactly, the resurrection means for those who have died. Many even Christians are victims of the wrong story. So what is the right one? What are the implications of Jesus’ resurrection for our resurrection?
Risen Indeed | Easter Week 4
We talk often about the resurrection as a central event in Christian history, and it is. But what bearings does the resurrection have–not only on what we usually conceive of as our “spiritual life,” but our ordinary habits, dreams, relationships, and losses? If the resurrection isn’t Good News for that, we need another gospel… but if it is, our lives have real possibilities of reflecting Christ’s life. This sermon will talk about those new possibilities, and explore how new life in Christ is a real advantage for ordinary people living ordinary lives.