Faith Reflections

Text: Acts 16:11-40, Philippians 1:1-11 / Date: 5-24-2026 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN)Paul's Christ-centered message reaches Philippi impacting the lives of a wealthy woman, a female slave, and a Roman jailor.

Text: John 17:13-26 / Date: 5-3-2026 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN)As Jesus prays before his crucifixion he speaks of joy and hatred, light and dark, and a sanctified life for his disciples as they make him known in the world and draw others to him.

Text: Colossians 1:15-23 / Date: 3-22-2026 / Location: Calvary Christian Reformed Church (Edina, MN)Paul proclaims the supremacy, centrality, and sufficiency of Christ as he points to Jesus as the firstborn of all creation and the head of the church.

Text: John 19:16b-27 / Date: 3-8-2026 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN)Through excruciating pain Jesus brings the Christian community together. From the cross he creates a family of spiritual brothers and sisters.

Text: Romans 8:31-39 / Date: 2-15-2026 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN)The preserving hand of a sovereign God on his children as they persevere in the faith.  Responding with lives that seek understanding, a personal relationship with God, and faithful witness to our neighbors.

Text: Ephesians 1:3-14 / Date: 1-125-2026 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN)A sovereign God reaches into a fallen humanity and graciouslyadopts us as his own. 

Text: Matthew 25:14-30 / Date: 12-28-2025 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN)Jesus responds to questions about his return with parables of readiness. What we do with what we've been given while we are waiting for that return matters.

Text: Isaiah 9:6, John 15:1-17 / Date: 12-14-2025 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN)Remaining in Christ and abiding in his truth and love. We prune our lives so we can bear the good fruit of the vine.

Text: Philippians 4:10-13 / Date: 11-9-2025 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN)Grateful hearts and contentment in times of abundance and times of need. Recognizing on God's sufficiency.

Text: Isaiah 58 / Date: 10-19-2025 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN)Evaluating our worship and its focus. Is it God directed or self serving? Isaiah calls us to seek the good of others and share what we have, spending ourselves for others as proper worship.

Text: I Peter 4:8-11 / Date: 9-7-2025 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN)Connecting with God, others, and each other through service.Building community and worshipping God through the fruit of our faith.

Text: Deuteronomy 7:7-9 / Date: 9-7-2025 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN)Moving forward while recognizing God's faithfulness. His presence in the past gives us confidence in the present and for the future. Deeply rooted in God we seek to bear good fruit.

Text: Psalm 77 / Date: 8-31-2025 / Location: Pease Christian Reformed Church (Pease, MN)Trusting in God when the path is perilous or his presence is not felt. Remembering the moments when he has shown up and trusting him to carry us again.

Text: Deuteronomy 6:4-9 / Date: 8-3-2025 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN)Considering the sacrament of baptism and the promises we make to the children of our church community.

Text: I John 4:13-19 / Date: 7-27-2025 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN)Recognizing the beautiful in the broken and the broken in the beautiful. A message from our summer SERVE event where we explore the tension between the two, having eyes to see them both, and God's presence in it all.

Text: Ephesians 6:10-24 / Date: 6-1-2025 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN)Paul closes his letter with strength for spiritual battles. Truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, the Spirit, and prayer to stand firm against the distractions and attacks of the devil.

Text: Ephesians 5:22-6:9 / Date: 5-25-2025 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN)In a world of power dynamics Paul speaks to mutual submission. He calls his readers to seek the best for the others, show respect in both directions, and fufill their responsibilities.

Text: Ephesians 4:1-5:21 / Date: 5-18-2025 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN)We are called to a worthy life, using our gifts to build up each other and the church, as we pursue purity, maturity, and unity. God is calling us to a new way of living.

Text: Ephesians 2:11-3:21 / Date: 5-11-2025 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN)Christ, the cornerstone, breaks down the barriers between the rival Jews and Gentiles. Are we willing to reconcile with outsiders and make plain to them the message of the gospel?

Text: Ephesians 1:1-2:10 / Date: 5-4-2025 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN)Paul opens his letter to the Ephesians emphasizing spiritual blessings and being brought from death to life in Christ. What do we know from God's word (doctrine) and what do we do with it (duty)?

Text: Romans 12:1-3, Isaiah 53:4-10 / Date: 4-27-2025 / Location: Pease Christian Reformed Church (Pease, MN)Isaiah 53 features The Servant who endured suffering for those who had turned from God. An offering for the sins of the people and an image of God's grace.

Text: Luke 24:13-35 / Date: 3-23-2025 / Location: Bethel Christian Reformed Church (Princeton, MN)Old Testament prophecies point to Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah. He tests two travelers on the Road to Emmaus. Who do you say he is?

Text: Luke 5:29-32, Matthew 5:43-48 / Date: 3-16-2025 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN)Does our self righteousness get in the way of the healing Jesus came to bring? Do we recognize his grace for us as the same he offers to our enemies? A call to love like Jesus loved.

Text: Matthew 5:13-16 / Date: 1-26-2025 / Location: Pease Christian Reformed Church (Pease, MN)In a world full of decay and darkness Jesus calls us to preserve truth and bring his light.

Text: Luke 1:67-80 / Date: 12-1-2024 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN) With the arrival of John the Baptist his father's silence is broken. So to is the silence of God, as a prophetic voice returns to his people for the first time in 400 years.

Text: I Kings 19:3-14 / Date: 11-10-2024 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN) Can you hear God through all the noise in your life? He demonstrates his presence and power to Elijah again. This time in the silence.

Text: I Kings 18:16-39 / Date: 11-3-2024 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN) God calls his people back to him by demonstrating his power and superiority over the idols that turn our attention away from him.

Text: Romans 6:1-8 / Date: 9-29-2024 / Location: Pease Christian Reformed Church (Pease, MN) What does baptism symbolize and signify? What should we be reminded of as we remember our baptism? Romans speaks of sin and grace, burial and resurrection, old life and new life.

Text: Exodus 14:21-15:21 / Date: 8-18-2024 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN) God makes himself known through the waters delivering the Israelites from the Egyptians. Do we trust God in our uncertainty during our Red Sea moments?

Text: Exodus 13:17-14:20 / Date: 8-11-2024 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN) The Israelites are released from Egypt but find themselves pursued with their backs against the water. In this liminal time between slavery and the Promised Land do they trust in God to direct their path?

Text: Galatians 5:22-25 / Date: 8-4-2024 / Location: Bethel Christian Reformed Church (Princeton, MN) We are called to live in step with the Spirit and not the sinful nature. Our call to bear fruit is explored using the Fruit of the Spirit and other passages referencing the fruit in our lives.

Text: Exodus 4:29-5:21 / Date: 7-14-2024 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN) How do we respond when things get difficult? Moses' message to the people is well received until Pharaoh makes it harder for the people.

Text: Exodus 3:16-4:20 / Date: 7-7-2024 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN) God demonstrates his power to a Moses who remains reluctant to carry God's message and instructions to his people and those oppressing them.

Text: Exodus 2:1-10 / Date: 6-16-2024 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN) Moses is drawn out of the Nile and into Pharoah's palace demonstrating the ways God uses what is intended for evil for his good. He redeems us for his purposes.

Text: Matthew 9:1-8 / Date: 6-9-2024 / Location: Pease Christian Reformed Church (Pease, MN) Revisiting this passage with a new congregation. Jesus shows himself capable of healing the physical, the natural, and the supernatural. But more important than these is spiritual healing.

Text: John 4:3-30, 39-42 / Date: 5-26-2024 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN) Jesus crosses boundaries to offer the Samaritan woman living water. An evaluation of the opportunities and obstacles we create that draw people to Christ and keep them from meeting him.

Text: Isaiah 40:28-31, The Book of Esther / Date: 4-28-2024 / Location: Pease Christian Reformed Church (Pease, MN) Lessons from the Book of Esther about God working behind the scenes in our life and encouragement for all to rise up and serve him.

Text: Matthew 4:1-11 / Date: 3-24-2024 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN) Jesus temptation in the wilderness and his obedience during Holy Week illustrate to us the trust we must have in our trials.

Focus: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 21 / Date: 3-17-2024 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN) Revisiting the catechism's question "What is true faith?" with another congregation two years later. This question and answer points us to knowledge, truth, and trust by the power of the Holy Spirit through the merit of Christ's sacrifice for us.

Text: Luke 11:5-8 / Date: 2-25-2024 / Location: Trinity Hill (Chanhassen, MN) The parable "A Friend Comes at Midnight" provides insights into the culture Jesus was speaking into and our call to be shameless in praying to God.

Text: 2 Samuel 12:1-15 / Date: 1-28-2024 / Location: Pease Christian Reformed Church (Pease, MN) Nathan confronts David with his sin through a story of an abuse of power. In repentance David finds grace amid the consequences of his actions.

Text: 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 / Date: 1-21-2024 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN) Part Three of a series on building relationships and sharing our faith. A focus on Paul's willingness to meet people where they were and encouragement to love our neighbors through sharing life with them.

Text: 2 Timothy 1:7 / Date: 1-14-2024 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN) Part Two of a series on building relationships and sharing our faith. Encouragement to take confidence in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Text: I Peter 3:15, Ephesians 2:10 / Date: 1-7-2024 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN) Part One of a series on building relationships and sharing our faith. How is God preparing you and preparing moments for you to tell your story and his story?

Text: Exodus 19:3-8, 20:1-17, Deuteronomy 7:6-13 / Date: 12-17-2023 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN) In a series on Old Testament covenants, God rescues his people from slavery in Egypt through the leadership of Moses. Grace and deliverance precede the covenant at Mount Sinai. God chooses his people in love and remains faithful to his promises.

Text: Psalm 103:17-19 / Date: 11-19-2023 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN) An introductory message to a series on God's promises to his people highlighting redemptive safeguards in the Old Testament family structure and some similiarities between sacred covenants and secular treaties.

Text: Matthew 9:1-8 / Date: 11-12-2023 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN) In faith, a paralyzed man is brought to Jesus by his friends. He is healed physically and received more than the restoration of his body.

Text: Psalm 139 / Date: 10-22-2023 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN) The Psalms are emotional expressions of highs and lows. Psalm 139 tells us that we are fully known by God and surrounded by his presence and Spirit wherever we go.

Text: Luke 15 / Date: 9-24-2023 / Location: Calvary Christian Reformed Church (Edina, MN) The three parables of Luke 15 show us the search and celebration in finding what's been lost. Will we intentionally seek the lost and valued souls that need to be redeemed to God's family?

Text: Matthew 6:25-30 / Date: 7-30-2023 / Location: Faith Christian Reformed Church (New Brighton, MN) Part of a seven message series for the Twin Cities SERVE event under the theme of "What Do You Want?". The week explored what we really want, worth, freedom, hope, love and acceptance, signficance, and making a difference.