Sermon Video: Jesus: The Name Above All Names - Ephesians 1:19b-23

In one of the Apostle Paul's beautiful rabbit trails in his letters, he muses on the power of God that both works in/through his people and raised Jesus from the dead.  This thought leads Paul to contemplate the glory and authority that belongs to Jesus, as the risen Lord, declaring it to be above all others that every will be.

Sermon Video: Thanking God for you - Ephesians 1:15-19a

After reminding the church at Ephesus about God's wondrous blessings given to them in Christ, the Apostle Paul continues by sharing that he personally thanks God for them.  Not only is Paul thankful to God for saving them, Paul also prays for them that they might grow in their faith and know God more.

Sermon Video: The Holy Spirit is our guarantee - Ephesians 1:11-14

Already in Ephesians Paul has shared with us the awesome benefits of being "in him," that is, in Jesus Christ: (1) We have become the adopted sons and daughters of God, (2) and we will be a part of the unification of all things with God at the final fulfillment of God's will.  Here he offers yet another blessing: We have a guarantee that the first two things will certainly come to pass.  That guarantee is none other than the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, God himself now dwells not simply among us, but within us.

Sermon Video: The Endgame of God's Grace - Ephesians 1:7-10

What is the ultimate goal and purpose of God's grace?  There are many amazing purposes that lead to this conclusion, among them the adoption into the family of God of the redeemed, but the endgame of God's grace is unity.  Unity of everything under Christ to God.  At present, everything suffers from disunity, even the world itself.  The final triumph of God's grace will be the full reunion that restores the original created order and purpose of God.

Sermon Video: An Introduction to God's Grace - Ephesians 1:1-6

The first half of Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus is an ode to the wonders and majesty of the grace of God.  Fittingly, Paul delves into that very subject as soon as the customary introduction is completed.

As Philip Yancy's book asked, "What's so amazing about grace?"  Paul has the answer for you.

Sermon Video: A Grieving Abraham is Swindled - Genesis 22:20-23:20

Following the death of his beloved wife Sarah, Abraham seeks to buy a plot of land from his neighbors for her tomb.  For both religious and cultural reasons, Abraham rebuffs their offer to let him "borrow" space, and the offer to take the tomb for free.  After Abraham's need is well known, Ephron offers to sell him the cave, with its adjoining field for an exorbitant price.  In other words, he takes advantage of Abraham's desperation.

The parallels to our modern legal and economic systems are legion.  Payday advance schemes, legalized gambling corporations beyond count, cryptocurrencies, medical scams, religious and political fundraising designed to line the pockets of those on the receiving end, Wall street get rich quick schemes, fraud in government programs, unscrupulous landlords and tenants, and last but not least, the straight-up scammers who lie to steal from the most vulnerable.  We are awash in people trying to take advantage of the vulnerable.

What do we as followers of Jesus do about it?  We refuse to participate in such things, even when legal, we warn others about them, and we stand with the vulnerable to protect them.

Sermon Video: Abraham: A foreigner in a foreign land, Genesis 21:22-34

The interactions between Abimelek and Abraham serve as a template for God's teaching on the respect and kindness God expects from his followers with respect to those on the outside-looking-in.  Whether those in need are foreigners or outcasts in our own society, the followers of Jesus are called to imitate his compassionate outreach.  For Abraham, this meant promising Abimelek that in the future when his descendants had the power to do so, they would treat Abimelek's descendants with kindness.

The modern Church has struggled, especially in the West, to fulfill this calling, we need to set aside our own political or cultural notions and instead truly embody the Fruit of the Spirit.

Sermon Video: The God of the downtrodden - Genesis 21:8-21

After the birth of Isaac, both Sarah and Abraham fail to treat Hagar and Ishmael with kindness.  In fact, Sarah seems to hate them both, and Abraham does little to provide for either of them.  God is different.  God chooses to intervene and protect them both.  When they are at their lowest point, having lost hope of even living to see tomorrow, God provides.  Why?  Among others reasons, it is because God is the God of the downtrodden, the lost and forgotten, the outcasts and rejects.  Why?  Because God's love and mercy delights in it.

Sermon Video: God's Promises - The Birth of Isaac, Genesis 21:1-7

 

After decades of waiting, the promised son of Abraham and Sarah arrives. What does this miracle birth tells us about God's promises? About us as we wait for them to be fulfilled?

Sermon Video: When the sins of God's people harm others - Genesis 20

In this chapter, Abraham returns to an old ruse, one he used disastrously back in chapter 12 of Genesis.  Like then, Abraham's plan involves deception and causes harm to others.

So, what do we do when the people who hurt us claim to be God's people?

The first step is to determine if they really are God's people, sadly many charlatans abuse God's name for their own ends.  Abraham was certainly God's guy, God even calls him a prophet in this text.

The second step is to remember that God's people are still flawed people.  Redeemed they may be, but perfect they are not.  They will fail, and those failures will at times harm others.  This isn't God's fault, it is ours.

Lastly, what ought to come next is repentance and an attempt to repair the damage coming from God's people.  In Genesis 20 Abraham does not repent, but God still requires that he be a part of the solution to fix what he has broken.  If/when God's people fail, they ought to be the first ones trying to make it right.

Sermon Video: Do Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures? - Genesis 19:30-38

In a disturbing episode that speaks to the trauma and hopelessness of those it involves, Genesis relates the origin of the two tribes that would occupy the land east of the Jordan River when the Israelites were journeying through Sinai.  The Moabites and the Ammonites were both connected with Abraham's nephew Lot which doesn't make them part of the Abrahamic Covenant (like the descendants of Ishmael and Esau) with respect to the general blessings upon Abraham's offspring, but it does mean that they are distant kin to Israel and they will have a role to play, for better and for worse, in the years to come.  The most famous example of this interaction is of course Ruth who is called "the Moabitess" over and over in her story.

In the end, there was no need for Lot's daughters to follow the course of action that they chose, because we serve one God whose character and power can be counted upon, his people never have to choose immorality.

Sermon Video: The LORD rescues Lot from Sodom - Genesis 19:1-29

Once again Genesis focuses on  Abraham's nephew Lot, a secondary character in the story Moses is telling, but one whose life has impacted Abraham's twice before, and has yet a further impactful role to play.  Here we see the grace of God playing out in Lot's life as Abraham's bargain with the LORD to not let the righteous be swept away with the wicked plays out.  Because Lot is so deeply rooted in Sodom, the angels sent by the LORD actually end up taking an active role in pushing him out of the city before the judgment falls.  In the end, the destruction of Sodom is less a story about evil been punished and more a reminder that God's grace is amazing because Lot and his daughters were saved when the day of judgment arrived.

Sermon Video: The Light that was seen from afar, Matthew 2:1-2,9b-11

 

The Light seen by the Magi of the East is powerfully symbolic in Matthew's Gospel.  This astronomical phenomenon brought them on a long journey to see the newly born King of the Jews.  For us it serves as a reminder of our need, as disciples of Jesus, to also reflect his light in our world.  Our task is to draw those in the darkness to the light of Christ that they too may be saved.

Sermon Video: The Mother of the Messiah, Luke 1:26-38

After having appeared to the priest Zechariah in the Temple in Jerusalem to foretell the coming of the great prophet John, God's plan shifts to a teenage girl in the backwater village of Nazareth.  The angel Gabriel shares amazing and unprecedented news with Mary, setting up a moment of decision on her part.  Will she run away like Jonah, hesitate like Moses or Esther, or will she embrace this responsibility of being the mother to the Messiah?

We all know how Mary responds, an incredible example for us to imitate of hearing the word of the Lord and obeying it.

Sermon Video: Joseph adopts the Messiah, Matthew 1:18-25

 

Joseph of Nazareth was a fairly ordinary man up until the moment he found out that he fiancé Mary was pregnant.  Instead of letting pride or anger rule him, Joseph chose to embrace mercy, he was willing to divorce her quietly.

Having demonstrated this strength of character, an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream to tell him that God had chosen him for a monumental task: Adopt the Messiah.

Joseph may have been an ordinary carpenter, living in the unimportant village of Nazareth, but when he obeyed God's command by marrying Mary, Joseph became an example of faith and obedience that we would all do well to imitate.

Sermon Video: The Son before Bethlehem, John 1:1-3,14

 

Where was Jesus before Bethlehem?  For ordinary human beings like us that's a question that doesn't go anywhere, our lives began at a definite point-in-time.  But for the Son of God, the long-awaited Messiah, that question opens the door to profound theological truths.

The Apostle John explains in the prologue to his Gospel that the Word (Jesus before the Incarnation) was with God in the beginning, that he is, in fact, God.  Not only that, the Word (Jesus), had an equal hand in all of Creation.

That same person, the one who is God and is with God (the wonder of the Trinity allowing such phrases to be true), also came to Earth "in the flesh."  The Word became a man, the man Jesus.  

The wonders and depths of these truths are great, our response is simple: Worship Christ the newborn King.

Sermon Video: Abraham pleads with God to spare Sodom, Genesis 18:16-33

In a fascinating conversation, Abraham humbly pleads with God on behalf of the soon-to-be condemned city of Sodom. Why?  We know that his nephew Lot and his family live there, but Abraham's concern is broader, including for the fate of people who are strangers to him.

In our world today this reminds us of an acute issue within the Church where far to many now view the Lost as part of the "them" that they would rather destroy than rescue.  Do we desire mercy for those we think of as "the enemy" or only their ruination?

In the end, Abraham's plea with God reminds us of our own necessary mantra when considering those who do evil in our world: There but for the grace of God, go I.

Sermon Video: Is Anything Too Hard for the LORD? - Genesis 18:1-15

 

Through the lens of God's conversation with Abraham and Sarah about the impending birth of Isaac, consider the question of limitations on God's power: Are there any limits? In fact, there are, but they're self-imposed. Nothing constrains God except his own character and promises.

Sermon Video: Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision - Genesis 17

 

Genesis 17 picks up the narrative 13 years after the birth of Ishmael in Genesis 16.  At this point Abram and Sarai have been in the Promised Land waiting for the miracle of a son and heir for 23 years.  At this point God speaks to Abram, tells him that he will be called Abraham and his wife Sarah, and adds that the promised son, Isaac, is only a year away.  Abraham laughs at this prospect, as Sarah will do in the next chapter.

God also gives Abraham a sign of the covenant that already exists between God and Abraham: circumcision.  This initiation rite wasn't unfamiliar in the Ancient Near East, God chooses something culturally appropriate to set apart Abraham and his descendants as his particular people, the ones he has called into this relationship.

Circumcision functions for Israel in the same manner that Baptism functions for the Church, it proclaims that those involved belong to the larger group, to that they are a part of the people of God.

Sermon Video: God responds to the foolish choice of Abram and Sarai - Genesis 16

 

Abraham and Sarah are heroes of the faith, but they made plenty of mistakes along the way.  One of the most serious of them was the decision by Sarai to offer her slave Hagar to her husband Abram as a 2nd wife in the hopes that a son born to Abram and Hagar could be considered her son by adoption.  This way an effort to "assist" the fulfillment of God's promise.  Here's the thing: God doesn't need immoral help to accomplish his will.

In the end, the plan works in that Hagar bears Ishmael, but is a disaster in all other respects because it spawns a bitterness between Sarai and Hagar.  In the end, God intervenes to protect Hagar and her son, preventing Abram and Sarai's mistake from going further off the rails.