The Sunday Sermon

What has your attention has your heart, which is why there may be no better way to make a difference in your life than to recalibrate your attention. Join us ... Read more

What has your attention has your heart, which is why there may be no better way to make a difference in your life than to recalibrate your attention. Join us ... Read more

This week we focus on prayer. The phrase  “thoughts and prayers” has become a running joke in some circles and an object of scorn in others. And while there's no ... Read more

Service makes a big difference; but for us to serve well we need to be served well.

We love because God first loved us; but we also see the needs of others because God first saw our need — and did something about it.

If all Christians had was advice, it would be arrogant to say everyone should follow it. But Christians have news not advice. And that’s a huge difference. From the beginning ... Read more

This week we see that Jesus brings a kingdom not a movement. From the beginning there has been a natural conflict between the priorities of God and the priorities of ... Read more

From the beginning there have been powerful forces of evil that seek to disrupt God's eternal plan and promise. Much about the nature of those powers is hidden from us, but we know enough to be on our guard. Yet, we do not need to fear or flee. The power of God in Christ is greater than any other and his power is among us. We hold our ground against evil as testimony to what God has done.

From the beginning God's plan has been to deliver the forgiveness of sins. So it comes as no surprise that when Jesus arrived to fulfill God's promises that a certain kind of person gravitated to him. Only those who sense their need for forgiveness follow him. Others scoff and turn away. To this day the same dynamic is at play. Only by the grace of God do we find ourselves among those who count Jesus as our deliverer.

From the beginning the defining problem facing mankind has been death. Each generation is marked by its inevitable end at the grave. Human history, for all its greatness, is one long procession of death. But it was not meant to be this way. God designed mankind to live forever. Which is why when God's promised Redeemer came to walk the earth death had to yield to life.

From the beginning God has been a mystery to mankind. But a mystery is different than a secret. A mystery remains a mystery even after it has been disclosed. While humanity continues to grapple with questions about God, the same God has made himself known. He remains a mystery, but who he is and what he has done is now known.

From the beginning God has used the simple power of words to deliver the promise of redemption. Yet mankind has often sought to repurpose God's good gifts for their own designs. Only by God's intervention can the fundamental conflict between our ways and God's ways be reconciled. God still intervenes with a powerful word and keeps our human chaos under control.

This week we perceive power. There are many circumstances in which we wish we had more power to accomplish what we want. But power in our hands is not as safe as we might think. Why? Because we are unable to use power properly. Only the resurrected Jesus is worthy of the title “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”

This week we discover joy. Even after Easter Jesus bore the marks of his crucifixion. His resurrection does not erase his suffering. Why? Because resurrection enables us to see suffering in a new light and find joy in what would otherwise be a source of sorrow.

This week we offer praise. God has always been worthy of praise. His gift of creation alone testifies to his goodness, his greatness, and his glory. But after the resurrection there was a new song to sing. Why? Because now God had done even more: he had defeated death and delivered redemption.

Even after the resurrection of Jesus there were plenty of forces that could leave his followers fearful, but Jesus leaves the kind of peace that can actually endure. Why? Because it's backed by the resurrection.

The resurrection of Jesus is at the center of every Christian conviction. It even upends some of our most common spiritual assumptions. Why? Because the salvation Christ came to bring is not rescue from a world gone bad but resurrection for a world that will once again be very good.

This week there are no strings attached. The human heart lives on the instinct that if someone is to receive grace they must be worthy of it. But when we accept that there are no strings attached we can finally taste what real forgiveness is like.