"grace" Tagged Sermons (Page 3)
Intervention
No one likes intervention. Intervention is uncomfortable and fraught with fear. Like getting rapped on the knuckles, intervention stings. Matt’s message holds an ancient story of Jesus’ intervening love (Mark 8.31-38) in conversation with Amy Winehouse’s song Rehab and Brené Brown important work on guilt & shame. How might we open to God’s intervening love as we journey through the wilderness of Lent toward rehabilitating our spiritual lives?
I Am Not
The hopes & fears of all the years will be met in a vulnerable child in a little town that is both far away and right here. John was clear he was not the long awaited Messiah and embraced his calling to be a witness. Matt’s Advent message weaves reflections on the story of our church community with readings from Isaiah 61.1-11 and John 1.6-8,19-28. How might grace inspire and shape our call to be witnesses to a new redemption…
Found, Take 3
Jesus asks his followers, “Who do you say I am?” Matt’s message weaves this question from Matthew 16.13-20 with an unexpected experience of being found by grace at a nation-wide vigil called Standing in Solidarity with Charlottesville. This is the third week of our worship series, Found, focused on noticing & celebrating grace in our everyday lives.
Found, Take 2
Pastor Chris reflects on his experience with being found by grace amidst struggle and draws upon the story of Jesus & the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15.21-28) to challenge listeners to join with God in flipping the script of evil by coming out of lethargy, out of apathy, out of inactivity. This is the second week of our worship series, Found, focused on noticing & celebrating grace in our everyday lives.
Found
Our worship series, Found, invites reflection on noticing grace in our everyday lives. Linda’s message is rooted in the story of Peter walking on water and then calling out to be saved as he begins to sink (Matthew 14.22-31). Traditional readings of this story focus on Peter’s doubt and invite us to simply trust Jesus more deeply. Linda’s message revisits this story and wonders if it might actually be read in a very different way, a way that might help…
Flour.
How might the beautiful, simple, & inspiring ingredients that have been passed down to us through the generations stir up the gift of God among us? Matt’s message invites the love of God to rekindle our imaginations as we discern making Deep Commitments at The Table. Worship on is rooted in 2 Timothy 1.1-14.
Ruined by Baptism
We celebrated the Baptism of 7 adults and 5 children in worship this morning. Matt’s message is rooted in Mark 10.46-52. The baptismal liturgy is adapted from Marcia McFee & the closing song is based on Matthew’s Song by Agape (David Scherer).
Growing in Faith
Matt’s message is rooted in Mark 10.17-31. What powers might be holding us captive and preventing us from taking a next step into the freedom toward which Grace lures us? How might we grow in faith? What might the story of Jesus and the rich young ruler have to teach us about growing in faith today?
Rooted in Grace
Linda’s message is rooted in the story of Jesus’ baptism as recorded in Mark 1.9-11. How might baptism shape us as a people who are rooted in Grace?
Salvation
Matt’s message invites reflection on Salvation and is rooted in James 2.14-26. What are you saved for? How might you notice the salvation that IS at hand in the world? This is the fifth week of our five-week worship series called On Ramp. The music featured in this podcast includes live versions from worship of Make a Difference by Rachel Kurtz and Benediction by Josh Garrels.
All Means All
Our worship series, This Christian Life, is based on the format of story telling curated by Ira Glass on This American Life. Our stories this morning invite reflection on what it means to be a community that says, “All Means All.” We begin with the story of the gift of the Holy Spirit being poured out on “outsiders” in Acts 10.44-48. Act 2 is an original composition by Joe Kye called 11-8.
Did Jesus Die for Your Sins?
Matt’s message is rooted in John 3.14-21. Did Jesus die for your sins? How do you understand the death of Jesus? Matt’s message draws on the writings of Carl Gregg’s “John 3.16 – The Rest of the Story” and Gregory Anderson Love’s Love, Violence, and the Cross: How the Nonviolent God Saves Us through the Cross of Christ.
