Exodus (Part 3)

Exodus 3:1-15

Sunday, July 28, 2024

Craig Davies preaching.

Exodus (Part 2)

Exodus 3:1-10

Sunday, July 21, 2024

In the midst of tending sheep and minding his own business, Moses is drawn away from his day-to-day concerns and into the presence of the living God. There in God's presence Moses is called to be an agent of God's work in the world—a call he might have missed entirely if he hadn't been attentive enough to notice the holy amid the ordinary.

Bryant Anderson preaching.

Exodus (Part 1)

Exodus 1:6-14 & Romans 6:15-18

Sunday, July 14, 2024

The story of the exodus begins with the enslavement of the Hebrew people in Egypt. For generations the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived in the shadow of Pharaoh's power, forced to give their labor and their lives in service of the glory of their oppressor. Their captivity becomes the setting for God's liberating and redemptive work on their behalf.

Bryant Anderson preaching.

Misquoted (Part 5)

2 Corinthians 5:15-21 & Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sunday, July 7, 2024

Beverly Dempsey preaching.

Misquoted (Part 4)

Isaiah 55:6-13 & Romans 10:8b-15a

Sunday, June 30, 2024

We can pack a lot of understanding – and misunderstanding into otherwise benign words. Take the conjunctions if and unless. One is the beginning of a hypothesis; the other is the launch of a threat. With this week’s message, we will reflect upon a too-often misquoted scripture verse that has frequently been bridled by a wrongly applied conjunction, leading some to question another’s salvation. We will also delight in the many pathways to salvation that the gospels share through Jesus’ interactions with strangers and friends. In the end, I pray, we are left to hope.

Beverly Dempsey preaching.

Misquoted (Part 3)

Isaiah 43:1-3a & Jeremiah 29:11

Sunday, June 16, 2024

Things don't always go according to plan. Or, at least, things don't always go according to our plans. But we often assume that God must have a bigger plan into which all the unpredictabilities and disappointments of our lives fit like pieces of a puzzle. There is, however, a danger in thinking that everything that happens is part of God's Big Plan: this must mean that God intends for the bad things to happen as well as the good, which seems to contradict our conviction that God is a loving God. So what does it mean that God has a plan?

Bryant Anderson preaching.

Misquoted (Part 2)

Isaiah 55:1-9

Sunday, June 9, 2024

The prophet Isaiah reminds us that God's ways are higher than our ways, and God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts. This is self-evidently true. However, this truth has often been used to short-circuit honest and faithful attempts to reach a deeper understanding of the nature and work of God. These words are not meant to close down reflection or thought; on the contrary, they are meant to open to us a world of divine mystery that we are generously invited to discover and explore.

Bryant Anderson preaching.

Referenced in this sermon:

• Franz Kafka, "An Imperial Message"
• Edward Lorenz's "strange attractor"

Misquoted (Part 1)

John 14:12-14

Sunday, June 2, 2024

Jesus says, "If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it." That sounds like a pretty clear, concrete promise. But how many times have we asked for something and not received it? Have we been praying wrong, without sufficient faith, or is there something deeper going on when we bring our needs to God?

Bryant Anderson preaching.

Referenced in this sermon:

• Bruce Wilkinson, The Prayer of Jabez (2000)
• The Invisible Gorilla Experiment
• John Caputo, What to Believe (2023)