Monthly Archives: September 2017

Identity Markers: Of the Same Mind – Sermon on Philippians 2:1-13

September 27, 2020
A video of this sermon is available here.

Note: The gospel lesson for this Sunday is Matthew 21:23-32, and should be read immediately before this sermon.

Imagine the frustration those priests and elders must have felt in the gospel reading we just heard! Jesus was always catching these leaders in their own words, making them look foolish in the eyes of the people. They liked the respect shown to them in the streets and the markets. They loved being the ones in authority. And here was this unschooled carpenter, teaching right under their noses, sounding like he knew God more intimately than any human possibly could. Continue reading

Forgive Again – Sermon on Matthew 18:21-35

Revised for September 13, 2020

I don’t think any of us call ourselves Christians with the idea of becoming less like Jesus as our goal. We’re all in it to become more like Jesus. Sometimes, it’s hard, though, isn’t it? Sometimes we’d like Jesus to let us off the hook a little bit, tell us what we are doing is good enough, pat us on the head and let us get on with being a little less like him. Right? But it never seems to work that way. Continue reading

Discipleship 101: Dealing with Conflict – Sermon on Matthew 18:15-20

September 10, 2017
Watch a video of this sermon here.

Updated for September 6, 2020

School starts this week for our children and youth, but all of us have lots more to learn about becoming fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. Continue reading

Discipleship 101: The Marks of a Disciple – sermon on Romans 12:9-21

September 3, 2017
Watch a video of this sermon here. 

Last week, we heard the Apostle Paul encourage us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. We learned that we do this, not by being conformed to the world, but by being transformed through the renewing of our minds, so we can discern God’s good and acceptable and perfect will for us.

Paul went on to describe how we are each part of the Body of Christ, with many diverse gifts that help us equip ourselves, and each other, as members joined together in Christ. We discovered that living sacred lives in a secular world is really a call to discipleship. But what does that word, ‘discipleship,’ mean? What do I have to do in order to be a disciple? Continue reading