(Sermon preached June 30, 2024) In Mark 5:21-43, the gospel writer sandwiches a story within a story about two people receiving healing. One has suffered for twelve years, the other is twelve years old. Jesus meets them both with tenderness and calls them to rise up. This sermon invites us to consider how we can help each other to rise up.
Defeating Giants
(Sermon preached June 23, 2024) The story of David and Goliath is often told as an underdog story where David is imagined as a young boy. But what if the story is not as we have been led to believe? (See 1 Samuel 17 for the story)
The Chosen
(Sermon preached June 16, 2024 – Dads and Grads Sunday) 1 Samuel 15:34-16:13 tells the story of David, the eighth son of Jesse, being anointed by Samuel to be the next king of Israel. This sermon explores this unexpected choice and how God sees beyond the superficial and looks to the heart. How is your heart?
So You Want a King?
(Sermon preached June 9, 2024) The elders of Israel approach Samuel with the request for a king, so they can be like the other nations. After consulting with God, Samuel warns them about what a king will do, but they want one anyway, rejecting God as their king. And here we are, all these years later, and people still think an earthly ruler is going to solve all their problems. We’ll see…
Here Am I, Send Me
(Sermon preached May 26, 2024) Isaiah 6:1-8 tells the story of Isaiah’s mystical encounter with God. In the same year the great king Uzziah dies, Isaiah, in this vision, sees God on the throne. God wants to know, “Whom shall I send?” to be God’s messenger.