Pastor Chris Thomas Sermons

We definitely don’t find mourning high on the “blessings” list but Jesus continues his kingdom declaration by talking about those who mourn. What does it mean for us to mourn as Christians and how is it a part of our calling to mourn the brokenness of the world as Jesus did?

Jesus speaks more about money than any other topic. Is wealth a bad thing in and of itself? Jesus warns about the pursuit of wealth as our end goal but wealth can be used for God. When Jesus talks about being “poor in spirit” it is more about a disposition before God the Father than […]

This week I start a new series on the Beatitudes at the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. For Matthew’s gospel, the Kingdom of Heaven is an important theme. In the first teaching of Jesus’ that Matthew records, Jesus sets the tone for what the Kingdom will be about. What do the Beatitudes have […]

The world has thrown us a curve ball when it comes to our ideas about fellowship. As we end our series on practices every Christian should do, we look at how the principle of fellowship can still be accomplished in these days of COVID-19.

God has been generous toward us in his mercy and love. We are called as Christians to be generous with the blessings God has given to us. What does it look like to live a life of generosity toward God and others? We take a look at the parable of the Good Samaritan to think […]

God has blessed us with so much in life let alone the grace and mercy we have received through Jesus. We see a regular practice throughout scripture of giving thanks to God for all God has done. Do we have thanksgiving on our lips first or grumbling? Listen in as I talk about how to […]

We are totally forgive by God in the grace offered to us in Jesus Christ. What keeps us hiding from God still? Confession is an important practice in the Christian life that helps us to come before our creator vulnerable, trusting, and ready to turn from our sinful ways. Listen in as we reflect on […]

Today I talk about the practice of prayer and how important it is in developing a relationship with God. Through prayer we bond with God and learn God’s heart so that we can be like God and follow God’s will for our lives.

We hear a lot about meditation these days as an important practice for mental and physical health. Christian meditation takes after the Jewish practice of meditation focusing your mind on God’s revealed word to learn God’s will for you. We look in this sermon how to develop this practice in your life. One practice we […]

God promises to always be with us but sometimes it can feel like God is far away. Why is that? In this sermon I look at how we can sharpen our awareness of God’s presence in our daily lives.

Fasting has been a hot topic the last couple of years with fad diets. Fasting has also been used for spiritual purposes in religions around the world for many millennia. What does Christian fasting look like and what is the point of it? Listen this week to find out and learn how you can practice […]

We are called into a relationship with God because the source of our life is found only in God. How can we know God’s will for us unless we listen? In this sermon I examine the ancient practice of listening to God and  challenged all of us to spend intentional time listening.

There are many long standing disciplines in the Christian faith worth re-capturing for today. God likes to speak to us as we still ourselves before him. In this sermon I look at how important silence and solitude is and challenge us to find time for it.

Today I take a look at the story of Pentecost as I wrap up my series on the appearances of Jesus after the resurrection. The coming of the Holy Spirit gives us Jesus’ presence in a whole new way promised by God for a long time. What does it mean for us to live in […]

Jesus appears one last time to his disciples before he ascends into heaven to be at the right hand of the Father. While in Jerusalem the disciples share one more meal with Jesus and he commands them to stay put in the city until the Spirit comes upon them. He reminds them one more time […]

This morning I take a look at one of Jesus’ last appearances to his disciples. In this appearance Jesus invites his disciples into the mission he began. What is this mission? How do we understand our part in that mission today? Come think with me on one of the most popular passages in Christianity.

What does it mean for us to pass down the faith given to us? Do we recognize those who faithfully poured into our lives, passing their faith on to us? On this Mother’s Day I examine the idea of what it means to pass on our faith and recognize the role our mothers and fathers […]

Jesus appears once again to his disciples but this time in Galilee as he had promised. The disciples went there to wait for him but soon got anxious and returned to what they knew best, fishing. After a night of no luck, Jesus shows up and reminds them of their calling to be fishers of […]

Jesus Appears to the those disciples he was closest to and gives them some words of affirmation and encouragement. What do we learn about Jesus’ resurrection and the hope we have from this encounter? Listen in and reflect with me.

Jesus walks a journey with two of his disciples and they don’t recognize he is. He opens the scriptures to them and they still don’t recognize him. How is Jesus walking with you today that you don’t recognize?

Who was the risen and victorious King on Easter? The same king who went to the cross. We look at Matthew’s account of the resurrection this Easter morning.

We start a new worship series today on Palm Sunday looking at the appearances of Jesus around the Easter story. Today we look at John’s account of the Palm Sunday events and how Jesus’ actions don’t always match up with our expectations.

Have you ever felt like life was unfair? Jonah definitely did as he ran from God’s call to preach a message to the Ninevites. This week we finish our series on Jonah by looking at God’s response to Jonah’s rebellion.

Today I continue a series started by my colleague Rev. Renee Roederer. We are taking a walk through the book of Jonah and this week I am exploring chapter three. We like life when we can maintain our illusion of control but sometimes God comes along and does something to destroy that illusions. How do […]

Guest preacher Rev. Renee Roederer continues our look at the book of Jonah for Lent. This week Jonah prays from the belly of a whale. In what ways do we choose to communicate with God during times our relationship gets off track?