Sermon Notes
Find a recap and sermon audio from previous worship services.
/Rel/ational - Beginning and Ending
Does God care about human suffering? And what difference does a personal relationship with God make in the midst of tragedy? The Christian theology of sin and evil distinguishes between sentimentalism and true relationship, assuring us that God is with us in our suffering, sin does not have the final word, and God works to redeem the evil we experience because he has put an ultimate end to sin.
/Rel/ational - Dead and Alive
What is the purpose of life? And where does it come from? Scripture does not instruct us on which jobs to have, where to live, or who to spend time with. Instead, God’s purpose for us is revealed through simple acts. We were created on purpose, for a purpose. And as we pursue that purpose, we experience more than a purposeful life - we come to know the new life God gives us in Christ.
/Rel/ational - An Argument
Is the Christian faith primarily about a mission? A mission to save souls, a mission to heal the world, or a mission to be right? Or is our faith primarily about a relationship? Humanity seeks answers, but God responds with a person, not an answer. We seek certainty, but God meets us vulnerability. Christianity can only be understood through relationship - first with God, and then with our neighbor.
Rest and Restoration
The most widely ignored commandment in the church today is to honor the Sabbath and keep it holy. We have been told that a choice must be made between excellence and rest, between productivity and healing. Jesus tells us that Sabbath rest is a foretaste of the Kingdom of God. When we deny ourselves this blessing, we miss out on far more than a nap. We do dishonor to our identity as children of God.
What Christians Do: Mission
Guest preacher, Stephen DiTrolio, shares his reading of The Great Commission as he draws from his experience as the child of missionaries. The call to the church is to bring the love of Jesus into every corner of creation. This requires the whole church - not just clergy and leaders. God’s call on every believer’s life is the same: love God and your neighbor with your actions.
What Christians Do: Serve
Redemption is the means by which God is restoring the world. This belief informs so much of what we do as a church community. The problem is: many of us never do anything with it. It remains an idea in our hear, and never moves down into our hands or hearts. Jesus tells us that service is the church's tool to make redemption real - service is how we are being restored, even as we work toward the restoration of the world.
What Christians Do: Change
Are we allowed to change our mind about God? Better Yet - does God ever change his mind about us? If you live long enough, you will find that change is seldom the result of a choice you made. Its source is mysterious and it ushers in the unknown, reminding us of how little control we actually have. So how can we learn to accept the changes God brings into our lives?
What Christians Do: Give
Is God really after our money? Is it possible that Christian generosity isn't measured in dollars, but instead measured in time? The witness of scripture challenges us to reconsider what we believe about the relationship between God, money, and ourselves. Far more is written about what God wants to give us, than what he wants us to give him. It turns out that all of our money could never satisfy God, because he wants us.
What Christians Do: Hope
As Christians, we aren't given the choice to be hopeless people. The hope God gives us is a demanding one. It demands practice and discipline - faith that God abides even in the silence. Christian hope demands that we offer our neighbor a tangible sign of God's kingdom here and now, even when it costs us something.
What Christians Do: Discern
Sometimes we are faced with questions that only God can answer. We are confronted with the ways in which our will is at odds with God's will. How should we respond to uncertainty? Scripture teaches that Christians are called to practice discernment - to ask what God's will is and to seek His answer. We find that God's response to us is an unique as our relationship with him.
What Christians Do: Gather
Where can we reliably experience a tangible expression of God's love? We see glimpses of it throughout our lives, but none that can replace the gathered church. Scripture affirms that God has chosen the church to be the sign, instrument, and foretaste of his Kingdom. By virtue of this choice, we are called to be an embodiment of the salvation Jesus offers.
What Christians Do: Discipline
The church is called to bring the Kingdom of God to earth. That work takes on many forms, but none of it is possible without discipline. Discipleship, Justice, and Witness are only possible where Christians decide to act with intention and honesty. Discipline is the means by which God shapes us into ourselves.
What Christians Do: Forgive
When the world looks upon the church, does it see something unique? Is there any feature of the community of believers that stands out - that makes Christians appear different from their unbelieving neighbors? Scripture tells us that a central mark of our new identity is: forgiveness. We are a forgiven and forgiving people. When we walk the way of Jesus, this means making forgiveness a regular part of our life together - no matter how uncomfortable or vulnerable it makes us.
What Christians Do: Love
What unites Christians all over the world and throughout history? Most would say that we are united by a common faith - we are united by what we believe. But is this true? This summer we will explore the idea that evangelism - being a Christian in public - is primarily shaped by what Christians do, not what we believe. Fundamentally, Christians are called to love. This is the first thing we do, and from this act comes every other.
The Gospel of John: Twin Trials
Before his journey to the Cross, Jesus is tried before the religious authorities and the civil authorities to the same effect. In both cases, he is found guilty without evidence. According to John, this is all the evidence we need to find the institutions, themselves, guilty. Instead, he offers a crucial reminder: Jesus did not come to serve the government or religious authorities - he came to replace them. The Church is not called to be an institution, but a faithful group of followers living as Christ lived.
The Gospel of John: Judas and Peter
Jesus comes to do what only he can do. He makes us clean, he forgives us, and he loves us just as we are. Pride tells us that God's grace is always for someone else. Jesus tells us - dirt and all - that we are loved and accepted.
The Gospel of John: Love or Fear
The life we build is constructed through an endless series of small choices. Each choice reflects our core orientation to the world: do we choose fear or love? The Resurrection is about the victory of life over death. But it is not the victory of just any kind of life - it is about the victory of a life defined by love, not fear.
The Gospel of John: Reading the Signs
The Gospel narrative is not single-dimensional. With every perspective, the contours of its story change, broaden, and vary. John does not satisfy our longing for a simplistic tale of black and white morality, where every scene clearly communicates the significance of Jesus’ every action. Instead, John uses ambiguity to challenge our preconceived notions. He squarely asks us: do you really understand the Gospel? Or are you just following along?
The Gospel of John: The Freedom of Disbelief
There are many good reasons not to believe in God. They may be personal or public, individual or universal. John’s Gospel is just as attentive to belief as it is to disbelief. The resurrection of Lazarus is the ultimate and greatest miracle Jesus performs - and it has the effect of dividing its witnesses. As it turns out, it is the religious witnesses who deny the resurrection. Those who follow Jesus because of who he is, not what he does believe in the resurrection, even if they reject the religion of the Pharisees.
The Gospel of John: Faith of the Heart
The Great Commandment is reflexive. Because God calls us to love him and serve our neighbor using every part of ourselves - heart, soul, body, mind - he also redeems every part of us. This means that God wants more from us than obedience or worship - God wants a relationship with us. We cannot experience this relationship and we cannot live out the Great Commandment unless we offer God our hearts - in addition to our minds.