Roots Covenant Church is a new, young, urban, multiethnic faith community in Saint Paul, MN. The Roots Covenant Church Podcast is where you can listen to our weekly worship gathering messages where we explore the scriptures together.
Lament is a neglected aspect of Christian worship in the Western world and perhaps especially in the United States. In troubled times when it’s clear the world is not as it should be—God’s dream of shalom is disrupted—God’s people cry out to God on behalf of the vulnerable, the abused, the marginalized. Lament is an…
In the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness. There he confronts the devil and resists three temptations. These three temptations aren’t just instructive for us personally, they also describe perennial temptations the church faces in relationship to society. They are: 1. Empire Economics; 2. Idolatrous Nationalism; and 3.…
Lent is a season of the Christian calendar in which we are once again invited to be formed by the pattern of Jesus’s life. In this series we will not only explore the personal application of Lenten practice, but also the corporate application. A framing passage for this series is from Isaiah 58: Shout it…
In this message, Pastor T. C. shares the ways he has had to rethink “heaven” and “hell,” particularly where traditional views have not lined up with what the Bible actually teaches.
“Church” might be the subject that evokes the most emotions for those “deconstructing/reconstructing.” Church is where the proverbial rubber meets the road when it comes to our faith. It’s also where flawed human beings steward the sacred mysteries of the faith. Church is the space where God’s Spirit inhabits our relationships in an unique way,…
In this message, Pastor Osheta Moore guides us through aspects of the deconstruction journey she’s been on as it relates to her experience and beliefs about the Holy Spirit. In a similar way to how the prophet Elijah looked for God to show up in overt manifestations of power, but God showed up in a…
What is the Bible? How did we get it? How are we supposed to interpret it? How do we understand the Bible and its role in our spiritual formation? In this sermon, Pastor Der Lor explores how we can discover the Jesus Way in our understanding of Scripture after deconstruction.
As we continue in our current teaching series, Emily Morrison delivers this sermon on Faith. In John chapter 6, the crowds that followed Jesus had many questions for him. In fact, Jesus’s disciples often doubted. Ultimately, Jesus didn’t explain the faith, he asked people to believe in him, to trust him. Emily shows us that…
Jesus compared his Way to a wise person building their home on a rock. However, there are many Christian belief systems and structures that have been built on top of the Jesus Way which should be rightfully deconstructed—they are foundations of sinking sand. Belief systems and structures that are built on fear, cultural assimilation, and…
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value,…
During the season of Christmastide, we give each other gifts in celebration of the greatest gift ever given to the world: Jesus. The advent of Jesus into the world is the greatest demonstration of God’s grace. However, we often misunderstand God’s grace when we think of it as a ‘one-way, unilateral donation.’ As we see…
The theme of Advent week 3 in the Making Christmas Meaningful Again (Advent Conspiracy) series is Give More. This sermon is by Pastor Der Lor.
What does it look like to make Christmas meaningful again? How do we resist the powerful forces of consumerism and consumption? In week two of Advent, Emily Morrison explores the theme of “Spend Less” with a sermon from I Timothy 6.
This Advent, Roots is joining with hundreds of other congregations in conspiring against consumerism in our Christmas celebrations. The first theme of Advent Conspiracy is “Worship Fully.” In this sermon, Pastor T. C. explores the way we are formed by embodied practices. The apostle Paul teaches us to “offer our bodies as living sacrifices” to…
In this sermon, Pastor Der teaches on Paul’s argument to the so-called ‘Weak’ and ‘Strong’ factions in the house churches of Rome about how both Jewish and Gentile disciples are justified by “faith” in the same way that Abraham was.
In Romans 1.18–32, Paul employs language that echoes common Jewish stereotypes of Gentiles as particularly depraved and deserving of God’s wrath. Examples of this rhetoric can be found in Wisdom of Solomon. But Paul uses this rhetoric not to reinforce division between the Jewish and Gentile disciples in Rome. No! Paul uses it as a…
After having completed the 12-16 and 9-11 sections of Romans, we are leapfrogging over the 5-8 section to the 1-4 section, and returning to the foundation of the Christian faith: The Gospel. In Romans chapter 1, we discover that the Gospel Paul preached wasn’t the ‘Romans Road,’ but was instead about Jesus, not us; Good…
In this sermon, Emily Morrison breaks down one of the most confusing and misunderstood passages in all of the New Testament: Romans chapters 9-11. Paul is retelling the biblical narrative, reinterpreted in the light of who Jesus is and what he has done, for the sake of the unity of the church of Rome. The…
Romans chapter 9 has been misunderstood as a passage about individual election, predestination, and personal salvation. But Romans is not a book of abstract, systematic theology. Romans is a pastoral letter written to a church with factions along cultural and ethnic lines. Paul is writing to the so-called “Weak” and “Strong” to reframe the stories…
Romans 13 is a famous text that has been used as a proof-text to justify state-sponsored violence for millennia. By reading Romans “backwards” (in light of the conflict between the factions in the house churches of Rome), we can more clearly see Paul’s purpose for writing this passage. Rather than sanctioning state-sponsored violence, Paul was…
These three words, Christoformity, Glory, and Hope, represent the basic arch of Paul’s theological conviction for a unified multiethnic family of Jesus followers. Through what Scott McKnight calls “Christoformity” or the process of becoming like Christ in self-sacrificing ways, the Weak and the Strong – Jews and Gentiles–bring Glory to God when they give up…
In chapters 14 and 15, the apostle Paul/Saul directly addresses the conflict between factions in the house churches of Rome. Namely, he points out that there is division among them along cultural and ethnic lines after the Jewish disciples who were expelled from Rome begin returning only to find a gentile-dominated church that no longer…
In this message, Pastor Osheta continues our exploration of the house churches of Rome from Romans chapter 16 with a deeper dive into some important female leaders, three of whom are Phoebe, Priscilla, and Junia.
This is the first message in a new teaching series, exploring the letter to the church at Rome, written by the apostle Paul/Saul. In this message, Pastor T. C. introduces the series and explains why reading Romans “backwards” helps keep the theology of the letter in its social and ecclesial contexts, as well as making…
In this message Pastor T. C. connects the Sabbath to the themes of trusting God for Abundance and Resistance to the fear of Scarcity.
In this message Pastor Der continues in the theme of Divine Rest with a new look at the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10.
Jesus invites his followers into God’s rest through him. He is One who gives true rest. In this message, Pastor T. C. explores the connection between Sabbath and Jesus.
Roots is learning how to rest, allowing ourselves to be rejuvenated by God, and to enter into God’s rest. This message from pastors T. C. and Osheta is the kick-off of the Time to Be Human series.
Roots is learning how to rest, allowing ourselves to be rejuvenated by God, and to enter into God’s rest. This message from pastors T. C. and Osheta is the kick-off of the Time to Be Human series.
When we're going through seasons of despair or lament, it's naturally difficult to see beyond to the other side. In this standalone sermon, Pastor Der shares some of his own difficult seasons in life and ministry and how God's promises for future blessing can be the impetus that moves us forward.
When we’re going through seasons of despair or lament, it’s naturally difficult to see beyond to the other side. In this standalone sermon, Pastor Der shares some of his own difficult seasons in life and ministry and how God’s promises for future blessing can be the impetus that moves us forward.
What is “oneness in Christ” and what does it teach us about the relationship between men and women in the church? In this message, Pastor T. C. shares some of the story about how his view changed from “Complementarianism” to “Egalitarianism”.
What is “oneness in Christ” and what does it teach us about the relationship between men and women in the church? In this message, Pastor T. C. shares some of the story about how his view changed from “Complementarianism” to “Egalitarianism”.
“Friendship” is an often neglected aspect of God’s covenant with humans. What can we learn about friendship with one another from God’s friendship with us?
“Friendship” is an often neglected aspect of God’s covenant with humans. What can we learn about friendship with one another from God’s friendship with us?
The relationship between Paul and Timothy teaches us about Christian mentoring. Paul recognizes the contribution Timothy’s mother and grandmother have made to his faith. Paul encourages Timothy to “stir up” the gift from God that is already within him. This is an important truth for us to internalize when we are tempted to impose our…
The relationship between Paul and Timothy teaches us about Christian mentoring. Paul recognizes the contribution Timothy’s mother and grandmother have made to his faith. Paul encourages Timothy to “stir up” the gift from God that is already within him. This is an important truth for us to internalize when we are tempted to impose our…
Emily Morrison knows a thing or two about living in community. She has lived in shared spaces with other Christians in South Sudan, Louisiana, and now in Minnesota. In this message, she shares from the wisdom she’s gleaned from these experiences and from the example of the apostle Paul in I Thessalonians.
Emily Morrison knows a thing or two about living in community. She has lived in shared spaces with other Christians in South Sudan, Louisiana, and now in Minnesota. In this message, she shares from the wisdom she’s gleaned from these experiences and from the example of the apostle Paul in I Thessalonians.
In Genesis 33, we read about the reconciliation of two brothers who became enemies. Esau and Jacob were twins who were very different. After Esau spurned his birthright giving it to Jacob for a meal, and Jacob cheated Esau out of their father’s blessing, Esau vowed to kill Jacob. But in Genesis 32 and 33,…
To kick off this new teaching series, Pastor T. C. lays a foundation for our approach to all our relationships. Rather than approaching them individualistically, a better approach is applying wisdom from the ‘Wisdom Tradition’ of Scripture and from modern systems thinking. Drawing from Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job, as well as from Generation to Generation…
As we continue in our teaching series, “Love in Public,” guest preacher, Paul Hurckman, Executive Director of Venture delivers a sermon on “Global Justice.” Venture is a Christian ministry that seeks justice and makes disciples around the world.
This series on loving people in public brings up a controversial subject: Politics. In this message, Pastor T. C. teaches on the social vision of Jesus: the Kingdom of God, disabuses listeners of negative connotations associated with “politics,” and presents the politics of Jesus from the portrayal of his life in the Gospels.
Building upon Dr. Brenda Salter-McNeil’s classic work, The Heart of Racial Justice, Der Lor preaches a challenging message on Racial Justice in our continuing teaching series: Love in Public.
Pastor Osheta Moore continues our teaching series, “Love in Public,” with a message reminding us to that to carry out our justice ministry in the way of Jesus, we must have a posture of humility. Building upon an important section of her book, Shalom Sistas, Osheta’s message is entitled, “Serve Before You Speak.”
“Purposefully seeking the renewal of our city,” Roots’ third mission priority, requires us to have a unified vision of justice. Justice, as we have learned from Dr. Cornel West, is “what love looks like in public.” So, this week, we are looking at the big picture of justice in the biblical narrative. Like the picture…
The name of the Love in Public series comes from a quote by Dr. Cornel West: “Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.” In the first message of the series, Pastor T. C. teaches on the “transitive property” of love. When we passionately love God, we develop love for those whom…
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