Sermons

Sermon Archive

March 8, 2020 – That Saturday Morning Kind of Feeling – In Matthew 5, we saw how we can often try to numb or mask our pain by getting attached to “bad” stuff – anger, jealousy, addictions, unhealthy relational patterns.  In Matthew 6, Jesus begins to warn us against the other side – how we can try to prove our worth to others through the “good” stuff.  Which one do you struggle with more?  And how can you ground yourself in God’s love as a way forward?

March 1, 2020 – Love Your Enemies – We only really grow when we push past our places of resistance and our barriers that keep us from loving our enemies.  This is why Jesus’ command to love our enemies is actually full of love.  He wants us to discover the joy and life that comes only when we lay down our rights in order to build up the other.

February 23, 2020 – What Do You Do With Your Pain? – Our life begins to open to wonderful new possibilities when we open ourselves to God’s love.  Check out this week’s sermon on the Sermon on the Mount and how Jesus invites us to lead with courage and vulnerability. Listen Here.

February 2, 2020 – Foundation Work – Depression.  Grief.  Heartache.  Weakness.  Struggle.  Frailty.  Vulnerability.  What if these words not only capture the truth about what we all experience from time to time?  What if they are also the starting point for how God gets to work in our life.  We open our series on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount with the first four Beautitudes.

January 26, 2020 – We Are Better Together – What is your reference point?  What do you consult to get you through your day?  Your daily planner?  Your phone?  What does it look like to make Jesus our first point of reference, and how do we fulfill his mission of both truth/righteousness and mercy/compassion.  The American Church seems to be suffering a divorce in the body of Christ and it’s up to us to go the whole distance – stretching out with both holiness and mercy.

January 19 – The Village vs. The Mission – Our church, like all churches in America right now, has a critical choice to make.  Will we close ourselves off from the world around us so that we can remain safe and keep our culture protected?  Or, will we move out into our community and seek to bring Christ’s light into the places that challenge us and force us to change?

January 12 – Restarting Your Baptism – Our life with God involves three stages, all tied to catching a wave.  The first stage is when we live in opposition to God, and we keep finding ourselves being pounded by life’s waves.  The second is when we use our own energy to kick and try to live more in line with God.  But, the real joy comes when we live in conjunction with the Spirit’s power, allowing God to support and move us into greater service to others and the world!

January 5 – Which Nature Will You Nurture – Matthew’s Gospel gives us the wonderful news of Jesus’ birth in the first chapter and then challenges us with an important question:  What is our response to Jesus’ presence in the world?  What place does the way of Jesus have in your life as we start this new year?

December 15 – The Gift of Presence:  Present to Yourself – This world is not always kind.  There are frequent and unfortunate setbacks that cause us to feel – at times – as if life were conspiring against us.  Joseph was in such a place.  His hopes were being derailed by events unforeseen.  But, maybe the message of Christmas is just for such people … like Joseph … like you and me.  How’s your Christmas season going?  Maybe you’re ready to hear the good news of the Joseph’s of the world.

November 24 – King of All The Low Places – This week we explore the good news of how Jesus’ willingness to embrace humiliation is God’s reminder to us that Christ is King of all the moments of our lives, including those places we feel are too broken or humiliating to ever be redeemable.

November 10 – Rich Before We Were Born – Jesus invites us to find a life that is richer than anything we can find or build on our own.  The challenge is to let go of our own plans and to be open to Christ’s leading.  This week, we explore the “what must I do” mentality that can take over our lives and why it’s so much more rewarding to open up the sails of discipleship and let God lead us.

November 3 – Making an Active Commitment – We finish up the Blessing project series by exploring Paul’s investment in Onesimus and how this provides a model for all of us as disciples.  We are all called to pour out our energy, love, time, and money into the life of “the next generation.”

October 6 – Our Loving Arms & Hands Are God’s First Instruments of Blessing – This week we start a five-week series on what it looks like to be a church that welcomes and blesses children, and we explore how Jesus himself received the gift of loving arms from his parents and others.  One Christian has called our families are “first schools” in the way of Jesus.  This month we are encouraging each family to bless one child.  Who will you seek to bless this month?

August 18 – The Exact Right Thing to Do – Nehemiah 1 – What do we do with our pain?  That’s one of the most important questions any of us faces in life.  It is also an essential question for us as a culture right now.  In this week’s sermon, we explore how Nehemiah is able to take his pain and use it NOT for harm, but for good – allowing God to transform his pain into an experience and actions that build community and allow others to experience life.  Click here to read this week’s sermon.

July 28 – Created to Care – Genesis 18 – In their book Healing the Eight Stages of Life, three teachers talk about the tension most adults face, especially as they get deeper into life.  That tension is between living a life of “generativity” vs. a life of “stagnation.”  This story about Abraham advocating on behalf of others reminds us that we too are called to work on behalf of others.  In fact, the best way to get “unstuck” in life is to engage more deeply in acts of caring – for others, for ourselves, and for the world around us.  Click here to read this week’s sermon.

April 18 – Maundy Thursday Meditation – click here.

March 17

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March 10 – Baptism of Zeke Mannering – “When Israel Was a Child” – Deut. 10:12-22

Deeply embedded in the story of God’s work with His people Israel is the story of God as a parent to Israel.  From the book of Deuteronomy, we can see God’s parental heart at work.  This sermon is for all who feel themselves called to mentor and guide another.  Click here to read the message. Download the sermon and listen.

Ash Wednesday – Joel’s Plea to Remove the Barnacles from Our Hearts – Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

Click here to read the Ash Wednesday message on how our hardest work is to address the places of unfreedom in ourselves, turning our attention away from blaming others to letting God get into our own places of anger and self-righteousness to unearth new life.

February 17 – Life Lessons from Moses – Exodus 2:16-3:4

Click here to read this week’s sermon.  What do you do when you’re life has come off the rails?  Maybe it’s something small, or maybe it’s something big.  The pattern of Moses’ life gives us some lessons to guide us in these moments.  Take heart.  You are not alone, and there is hope for all … no matter where you are or how far you’ve wandered.

February 10 – Empty Nets, Bodies in the Sand & Truly New Life – Exodus 2:11-15

Click here to read.  What happens when our life comes apart?  How do we deal with loss and failure?  The story of Exodus is a story of redemption, and redemption begins when we allow our own lives to be healed, forgiven and redeemed.

– 2018 –

December 2 – An Interrupting Hope – Lk. 1:5-17

Click here to read.  Life does not always work out like we want.  In fact, life is bound to give us moments of deep sadness as we see our hopes deferred or unrealized.  Faith is holding onto the hope that God sees us in our barren state and will bring forth that which we yearn and long.

November 4

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September 23 – Loving Like Jesus Means Loving the Least of These – Mk. 9:30-37

Click here to listen. – What does it look like to be great?  Jesus radically redefines greatness as our willingness to embrace and empower the hurting, marginalized and the weak in our midst.  We want to be a congregation that is here to make the community around us better, not ourselves.

September 16 – “Here to love like Jesus, live like Jesus, and serve like Jesus” – Mt. 4:23-25

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Christianity is – at its core – about the good news of Jesus being there for us and with us.  Where do we see Christ at work, and how can we get back to what is most important?  This past Sunday, Pastor Wes invited us to let our relationship with Jesus give us the energy we need to serve.

September 9 – small church.  BIG HEARTS.  – Matthew 14:13-21

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As a church family, we’ve committed to doing a lot together.  The question is, where do we find the strength to do the ministry we feel called to do.

September 2 – Stretching Exercises

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August 26

A Family of Believers:  The Way of Jesus (click here to listen).  What do we mean that we say in believe in Jesus as our Lord?  Part of that means we are committed to following the example Jesus sets for us in his actions, thoughts, and behaviors.  Check out this week’s sermon on how Jesus shows a commitment to (1) the conversation, (2) to pleasing God, and (3) to building up the Kingdom of God (sermon text).

August 19

A Family of Believers:  Clinging to the Good News (click here to listen).  Ours is a time of confusion, doubt, and nay-saying.  So, what does it mean to say we are a “family of believers“?  Believers in what?  And how do we keep ourselves full of hope and trust?  Check out this week’s sermon (sermon text).

August 12

Our Four Family Truths (click here to listen).  “Family” is a bold word.  It is a counter-cultural word.  It invites us to live in connection with others in a deeper way.  Check out these four family “truths” from Romans 12:3-8 and how they apply to us as a church family and your own family (sermon text).

August 5

Family: We Make It By Committing – This Sunday we continued looking at our desire to be a welcoming family of believers by exploring the story of Ruth’s commitment to Naomi, and how we too are called to make such life-long commitments in a topsy-turvy world.  Read the sermon here.

July 29

Moving from “Welcoming” to “Wanting” – The first in our series looking at our desire to be a “welcoming family of believers.”  The first step includes moving from saying we are welcoming on paper to being a congregation that truly wants the best for our neighbors and for those who walk through our doors.  The story of King David and Mephibosheth pushes us out to be extremely welcoming in our actions towards others.  Click here to read this week’s sermon.

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