Sermon Video: The living hope of the resurrection - I Peter 1:3-5

Hope is a necessity.  It may not sound as necessary as food and water, but we need hope.  The future is unknown, our own deaths are certain, where will we be without hope?  False hope abounds, where can we find true hope?  The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead offers humanity living hope.  Hope that will not disappoint, and hope that is connected by faith to the glories of heaven in the age to come.  Because we, as Christians, have this living hope in our lives, everything changes.  We no longer fear death, we can sacrifice today in service to God's kingdom, and we can share the joy we feel with those around us.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: Why are we here? - I Peter 2:9-10

In this shorter Maundy Thursday message, the focus is on the use in the Bible, both OT Hebrew and NT Greek, of plural pronouns, a trend that we can miss in English because "you" is both singular and plural.  The point is simply this: God's plan has always been to redeem a people to be his own, not a bunch of individual persons.  We have to come to God by grace individually, but our growth, our sanctification, was always intended to be a community process.  We worship together, we pray together, we study the Word together, and we serve together.  Solo Christianity is not a real thing, we all need to be a part of His Church, connected by our common bond of faith, working for the same purpose, to share the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: A Gentle King - Zechariah 9:9-10

What sort of leader do people want?  What personality and character best defines a leader?  Historically, famous leaders have been bold and decisive, often ruthless, in their pursuit of power, many of them men of war like Alexander the Great or Napoleon.  The empire they built were built by the sword, and as often as not crumbled soon after.  In contrast, how does Jesus choose to portray himself at his moment of triumph while he enters into Jerusalem?  Jesus follows the prophecy of the prophet Zechariah and enters the city as a gentle king, riding a young donkey.  Jesus rejected the role of the conquering hero, scoring the easy path of political revolution and religious reform, in order to accept the role that only he could play: savior of the world.

It was through an act of humble submission, to his Father's will, that Jesus went to the cross, and it was unprecedented courage and strength that held him there as he bore the weight of humanity's sins upon his shoulders.  The world may think it wants a leader who will fight for them, but our only hope is that we have a leader who was willing to die for us.

Our hope, as Christians, is never in political or military solutions, for those are only the surface, humanity's true problem is deeper, and beyond the power of any to solve but God alone.  Our hope is in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the gentle king and humble servant who alone can make men free.

Zechariah ends by talking about the future reign of the predicted king in peace.  Our world today is mired in conflict, violence is never absent, war is a permanent part of our experience.  Yet one day that will all change, the Son of God will return in glory, will put an end to the rebellion of Satan, and will rule in peace, a peace that will have no end.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: The fulfillment of God's plan for Ruth and Naomi - Ruth 4:1-22

What is the cost of redemption?  In the climax to the story of Ruth, Boaz and another potential kinsman-redeemer discuss the cost of redeeming the land of Elimelech.  At first, when it seems like a sweet business deal, the other man is interested, but when Boaz reveals that the land will not permanently pass to the one who redeems it because he will also acquire the obligation to marry Ruth and produce and heir to continue the line of Elimelech, the other man suddenly changes his mind; the cost was too high.  Boaz, because of the high value that he places upon Ruth, gladly steps in and fulfills the role of the kinsman-redeemer.  God subsequently blesses, Ruth and Boaz with a son, Obed, who is symbolically placed upon the lap of Naomi to show that he will inherit from Elimelech.  At the end of Ruth, we also learn that Ruth will become the great-grandmother of King David, thus also including her in the line of the Messiah.
Two important lessons jump out at us from the finale of Ruth. (1) The high cost of redemption for Boaz reminds us of the much higher cost paid by our kinsman-redeemer, Jesus, to redeem us from our sins.  Jesus paid it all to redeem humanity, paid with his life, but also gained for himself and for God's glory from among the Lost countless ones who trust in him unto salvation. (2) God was still willing to bless Naomi, even though she had earlier lost her faith.  The will of God was at work in Naomi's life, even if she didn't realize it, even through her darkest moments.  Naomi may have given up on God, but God never gave up on her.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Politics and Dangerous Assumptions

Presuppositions can be dangerous.  We all have them, they’re the foundational ideas that we hold, often without even being aware of them, that underpin our beliefs and belief systems.  There is a presupposition that was once assumed in the American political landscape, even if our nation didn’t always live up to its lofty ideal, yet now it is being directly challenged.  You ought, I hope, to recognize this presupposition, it is after all something we hold to be self-evident: all men are created equal.  The belief in the equality of humanity is directly connected to the belief in God who created mankind.  Because God made us all, we must therefore be equal.  How could any race or nation be valued more, and more importantly, how could any be valued less, if all were alike created by God?  And yet, this idea is under assault in the political discourse today.  It isn’t being directly stated as such, but the assumption that American lives are worth more than non-American lives underpins many of the issues as they are being discussed today, from refugees and immigration, to trade agreements and foreign policy.  It may seem natural for an American politician to value American lives more, after all a Roman politician would have valued the lives of Roman citizens far above those of non-citizens, let alone the “barbarians” beyond the Empire’s borders, but if those same politicians are claiming to be themselves Christians, and are claiming to represent Christians, it must be pointed out that their belief system is built upon an idea that is anti-Christian.  The idea that God’s people don’t have to care about the lives of Syrians, Mexicans, the Chinese, Muslims, or any other group, is a grave insult to the cross upon which Christ died to offer salvation to the world.  That some of those being labeled in political discourse as the “them” that “we” don’t have to care about (and can even hate), are in fact our fellow Christian brothers and sisters, is a grave sin.  If those claiming the name of Christ don’t have love for their fellow Christians, how can the love of God be in them? (I John 3:16-17) Likewise, those of the “other” who are not Christians fall into the second category of people, for in the Christian mind there can be only two, the Redeemed and the Lost.  How should we treat the Lost?  If we treat them with disdain, if we dismiss them, revile them, hate them, how can we possibly share the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them?

Are you a Christian?  Do you care about those living in abject poverty around the world, or is American prosperity more important to you than their suffering?  Do you care about the rights of people who don’t look or think like you?  If you let a politician sell you on the idea that you must choose “us” over “them”, you are walking away from the call of the Son of God to share the love of God.  Politicians love to have villains, it is an age old tactic to make the foreigner the enemy, but it is not, nor can it be, a Christian one, for it was our king who said, “Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you”, and “take up your cross and follow me.”  There isn’t any room near the cross for the politics of division and hatred.