Priorities (Part 4)

Genesis 12:1-4 & Philippians 3:7-14

Sunday, February 1, 2026

To be a Christian is to journey toward Jesus: to be on a pilgrimage toward a life that is more and more centered on and shaped by his example and his call to love God and to love our neighbor. A pilgrimage is hard work and riddled with doubt and uncertainty, which is what makes partisanship so alluring to us. Partisanship promises righteousness without sacrifice and victory without compromise. But partisanship drains the soul, while pilgrimage transforms it.

Bryant Anderson preaching.

Current Series: Priorities

In the introduction to his podcast, Russell Moore speaks of "holding fast to what really matters": kingdom over culture wars, truth over tribalism, pilgrimage over partisanship, sanity over cynicism, witness over winning, and Christ over everything. As we begin a new year, we reflect on how to set (or re-set) our priorities so that our hearts and lives are directed toward things of lasting importance—no easy feat in this chaotic world.

Palms Presbyterian Church is a church of the Presbyterian Church (USA) located in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. To learn more about us, visit us at palmschurch.org.

Priorities (Part 3)

Isaiah 11:1-9 & Matthew 5:38-48

Sunday, January 25, 2026

We want to make a difference in the world, and we want the church to make a difference, too. We have plans, hopes, and dreams, and we work to make them happen. But sometimes the life that scripture calls us to live seems completely at odds with what will actually get results. So which is more important: the ends, or the means?

Bryant Anderson preaching.

Current Series: Priorities

In the introduction to his podcast, Russell Moore speaks of "holding fast to what really matters": kingdom over culture wars, truth over tribalism, pilgrimage over partisanship, sanity over cynicism, witness over winning, and Christ over everything. As we begin a new year, we reflect on how to set (or re-set) our priorities so that our hearts and lives are directed toward things of lasting importance—no easy feat in this chaotic world.

Palms Presbyterian Church is a church of the Presbyterian Church (USA) located in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. To learn more about us, visit us at palmschurch.org.

Matthew 2:1-12

Sunday, January 4, 2026

Beverly Dempsey preaching.

Palms Presbyterian Church is a church of the Presbyterian Church (USA) located in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. To learn more about us, visit us at palmschurch.org.

The Great Exchange (Part 3)

Philippians 2:5-11

Christmas Eve, December 24, 2025

We have turned our lives into carefully structured and controlled environments with little room for surprise and wonder. The coming of God in the flesh in Jesus Christ is, at its simplest, a profound interruption—but we have inoculated our lives against being interrupted, and made it harder than ever to experience real, meaningful, abundant life.

Bryant Anderson preaching.

Referenced in this sermon:

• "Advent Calendars Are Totally Out of Control" (Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic)
• "Why adults are scrambling for food-focused advent calendars — and paying $945" (Stephanie Breijo, The Los Angeles Times)
• "Christmas on the Border, 1929" by Alberto Ríos

Current Series: The Great Exchange

The theologian Laurence Hull Stookey once referred to Christmas as "the Great Exchange": the moment when God exchanges divinity, power, and life for humanness, weakness, and death—all for our benefit. In the words of C.S. Lewis, "The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.” We call this the Incarnation: God taking on flesh in Christ. Christmas is more than a birthday celebration for Jesus; it is a moment to remember what God has done, to recall the power of the incarnation, and to rediscover the great exchange that has taken place for us.

Palms Presbyterian Church is a church of the Presbyterian Church (USA) located in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. To learn more about us, visit us at palmschurch.org.

The Great Exchange (Part 2)

Genesis 1:26-27 & John 1:1-5, 10-14

Sunday, December 21, 2025

We rarely contemplate what an astounding thing it is that God created humanity in God's own image—that there is a spark of divinity in each of us. Even more astounding, however, is that God would set aside divinity altogether in order to fan that spark in us into a flame, leading us to new life.

Bryant Anderson preaching.

Current Series: The Great Exchange

The theologian Laurence Hull Stookey once referred to Christmas as "the Great Exchange": the moment when God exchanges divinity, power, and life for humanness, weakness, and death—all for our benefit. In the words of C.S. Lewis, "The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.” We call this the Incarnation: God taking on flesh in Christ. Christmas is more than a birthday celebration for Jesus; it is a moment to remember what God has done, to recall the power of the incarnation, and to rediscover the great exchange that has taken place for us.

Palms Presbyterian Church is a church of the Presbyterian Church (USA) located in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. To learn more about us, visit us at palmschurch.org.

The Great Exchange (Part 1)

Isaiah 9:2, 6-7 & 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

Sunday, December 14, 2025

In the incarnation, God exchanges power for weakness, taking on the frailty and limitations of human existence. This is not pretend weakness, or temporary weakness; it is a wholesale rejection of qualifies as power in this world, so that we can discover the power that is made perfect in weakness.

Bryant Anderson preaching.

Referenced in this sermon:

• Laurence Hull Stookey, Calendar: Christ's Time for the Church (1996)

Current Series: The Great Exchange

The theologian Laurence Hull Stookey once referred to Christmas as "the Great Exchange": the moment when God exchanges divinity, power, and life for humanness, weakness, and death—all for our benefit. In the words of C.S. Lewis, "The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.” We call this the Incarnation: God taking on flesh in Christ. Christmas is more than a birthday celebration for Jesus; it is a moment to remember what God has done, to recall the power of the incarnation, and to rediscover the great exchange that has taken place for us.

Palms Presbyterian Church is a church of the Presbyterian Church (USA) located in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. To learn more about us, visit us at palmschurch.org.

Isaiah 2:1-5 & Matthew 24:36-44

Sunday, November 30, 2025

Beverly Dempsey preaching.

Referenced in this sermon:

• Seamus Heaney, The Cure at Troy (1991)

Palms Presbyterian Church is a church of the Presbyterian Church (USA) located in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. To learn more about us, visit us at palmschurch.org.

Wisdom (Part 11)

Job 38 & Job 42:1-6

Sunday, November 23, 2025

The Book of Job ends with a bracing monologue from God, who berates Job from a whirlwind, followed by Job's humble submission. Job was sure that if he could get an audience with God, his case would be vindicated. In the end, God says nothing that might help Job better understand his suffering. What does this tell us about our own suffering? What does this tell us about God?

Bryant Anderson preaching.

Referenced in this sermon:

• Stephen Mitchell, The Book of Job (1992)

Current Series: Wisdom

Some of the most intriguing texts in the Bible are those belonging to the genre known as Wisdom Literature. These books explore some of life's deepest, most pressing, and most unanswerable questions—questions of meaning, happiness, fulfillment, and suffering. While the world has changed immeasurably since these texts were written, the concerns they voice and the challenges they pose are just as relevant today as they were then. The books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job have much to teach us—even today—about what it means to live well in a complex world.

Palms Presbyterian Church is a church of the Presbyterian Church (USA) located in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. To learn more about us, visit us at palmschurch.org.