Sermons
“A Harvest of Righteousness is Sown in Peace”
James 3:16-4:6
After contrasting the true wisdom from above with the false wisdom from below, James offers this remarkable line in 3:8: “A harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” Listen to how this connects to the early church and the meaning of the gospel.
“Praise and Hope”
Psalm 116
Psalm 116 sings from the memory of God’s deliverance and the assurance of God’s promise. This is the place of hope. And it enables the heart to live in obedience despite difficult circumstances. The psalmist is training us to entrust our hearts the known goodness of God.
“Praise is a Ballast of the Heart”
Psalm 146
How should we read the divinely inspired prayer-poetry of the Psalms? In what ways do we come to understand ourselves and our world in the presence of a living God? Psalm 146 helps us to understand how we can carry both pain and peace in the same heart.
“Put on the Full Armor of God”
Ephesians 6:10-20
In Ephesians 6, Paul offers two commands: be strong and put on the full armor of God. Paul’s language of walking with Jesus now shifts to standing, enduring in love. He writes, “we do not wrestle [battle] against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
“To whom shall we go?”
John 6:60-69
What does Peter mean when he responds to Jesus, “To whom shall we go?” How is his response crucially different from how the multitudes responded to Jesus? What is at the heart of this difference?
Faith as Sustenance
John 6:52-59
What does Jesus mean when he says, “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink”?
Faith as Obedience
Ephesians 4:17—5:2
In the writings of Paul, Faith is often presented as a willingness to live according to the character of Christ. Though deepening faith may only imperfectly reflect his beauty, it remains a witness to the living Christ. Faith is saying yes to the greater reality of God, allowing ourselves to be shaped by his love.
One Faith
Ephesians 4
Paul’s teachings on the Body of Christ is a rejection of individualism, that is self-sufficiency or self-importance. Neither Christ nor the body of Christ exists to serve our own ambition or pride. But it requires deep trust to live selflessly for the benefit of Christ and his body. It is a real value in the kingdom of God. “The last will be first, and the first last.” The “least shall be the greatest.” As John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”