Roseville Covenant Sermons

We often describe a brand new baby as, "the miracle of life." It's an appropriate phrase because scripture tells us in a variety of ways that life is not an accident nor is it a given, but life is a precious gift from God. In the same way, there are few things that shock our sense of goodness more than when a life is taken by violence. It is the ultimate act of disorientation and desecration. "Bloodshed pollutes the land" (Numbers 35:33), and just like toxic chemicals that seep into groundwater, the act of murder poisons the bonds of human community in ways that can seem impossible to undo.This week we continue our sermon series on the Ten Commandments by considering not just the prohibition of murder (Exodus 20:12), but the task of God's people to bear witness to life's sacredness in all the ways we resist violence and vengeance, seek peace and prosperity, and live responsibly and reverently. Most important of all, we'll do what we do every Sunday as the Christian community: rejoice that the blood of the ultimate victim of violence does not stain the earth with vengeance, but washes us clean with mercy (1 John 1:7).

There are words that have fallen from the lips of parents at least once in their life, "Because I said so!" Even the most patient moms and dads sometimes just want kids to follow instructions without stopping to explain why. It would be tempting to appeal to the fifth commandment as justification, "Honor thy father and mother." (Exodus 20:12). There are Bible verses that commend a child's obedience to a parent, but what if I told you the fifth commandment is more for adults than it is for children?Because the nature of aging and parenting in the modern world has become so revolutionized in the last few generations, the meaning of the fifth commandment can be hard to find without remembering the historical context of the Bible. In the ancient world there were no nursing homes, social security, or 401ks. Instead, generations both old and young lived in cooperative and dependent relationships within families and the aged were cared for with dignity. The fifth commandment is less about a child's blind obedience to mom and dad, but more the wisdom for all generations to build strong bonds of compassion, trust, and grace. In a world where generations have become increasingly at odds with each other, we need not only the Bible's laws to guide our parenting, but the grace of Christ to heal our estranged families. This week is a tender topic, but the good news is of God's tender-loving kindness. That is his honor, and it is how we honor one another.

Early in his ministry, Mark’s gospel records these words from Jesus:“The Sabbath was made for humankind (man), not humankind for the Sabbath.” (Mk 2:27). Sometimes it can feel like Jesus is speaking in riddles. What does Jesus mean? In our journey through the 10 commandments, scholars and theologians suggest that the third command about Sabbath is a cornerstone to the other nine. It isn’t all that radical to tell someone not to steal or kill or commit adultery. Many other law codes in ancient near eastern traditions such as the Sumerian or Hammurabi have parallel teachings about these things. But none have a word to say about Sabbath. It stands alone. At the heart of Sabbath is something that extends far beyond what we do or don’t do on Sundays. For the people of God, Sabbath is a countercultural identity God gives us to say to “all the other gods” (as we sang last Sunday) - that we are holy and do not exist to work and produce. Sabbath is a way of marking time that stamps us with the origins of Creation, reminding us that time does not belong to us. We neither control nor are controlled by time. Instead, we submit to Sabbath not merely as a single 24-hour practice, but as a posture. Sabbath was made for us.

Do you ever get a word or phrase stuck in your head and it drives you a little batty? Or maybe there's a word or a name that "triggers" you because you associate it so closely to a bad memory. The Bible frequently warns us that words can be dangerous and that names are important. This is why the story of Exodus includes a story about God's name (Exodus 3:13-15) and a warning that this name carries serious weight (Exodus 20:7).This week we turn to the third commandment, traditionally translated, "Do not take the LORD's name in vain", but maybe more accurately, "Do not bear the LORD's name for evil." The third commandment is more than just a prohibition on swearing, but a reminder that God's people  have a responsibility to represent the Almighty well! There are times in the Biblical story God's people use his name like "magic words", a spell, or a talisman that gives cover to their evil conduct (Jeremiah 7:1-15). The commandments tell us that using words about God for selfish or vain reasons confuses and disparages a precious and awesome gift: God shares his name and reputation with people because he longs for a covenantal-partnership, an unbreakable relational bond. 

One of the major shifts that took place in the human mind during the age of enlightenment and the rise of democracy is the idea that religion was simply one "part" of your life among many. It has resulted in the idea that "worship" is simply what we do on Sunday mornings, and is related to the very specific spiritual activities like saying a prayer, singing a song, or attending a service. This was a departure from the pre-modern worldview that had no distinct categories of religious and secular: everything was spiritual! Worship is more than just a set of pious activities. Worship is what your entire life orbits around. One psychologist suggested, "Your 'god' is whatever is at the top of your hierarchy of values." Where you put your focus and what you spend your days pursuing will say more about who your god is than what box you check on a religious questionnaire.The first of the Ten Commandments tells us to worship nothing and no one except, "the God who brought you out of Egypt" (Exodus 20:2-6). The commandments begin with what we worship because worship will direct every other motive and method in our life. Like a ship whose course is off by a mere single degree, when our worship is misdirected it will not take long to become completely lost at sea. This Sunday we'll unpack the meaning of worship and tackle some challenging questions that have an incredible impact on the direction of our lives.

Historians sometimes observe a kind of see-saw in the life of societies and nations. In one era, a culture may become permissive and libertine. Once this gives way to anarchy, the pendulum swings back towards the rule of law in response. In some ways, we might be seeing this in our moment. An increasing number of people who have grown up with lawlessness are growing curious about tradition, religion, and moral order. There are signs that "rules" are coming back in fashion, and a good number of these people are growing curious about what the Bible teaches about morality.When the Bible lays out it's most famous set of rules, it is interesting to note the setting and context. Moses delivers the Ten Commandments to a people recently liberated from Egyptian slavery and tyranny (Exodus 19:1-6, 20:1-21). Newfound freedom is guarded by a call to law and obedience. But it's essential to note the order of things: God does not first give the Hebrews a list of rules and then offer liberation as a reward. God liberates first, then in response invites his people to live lives ordered around God's character.Historic Christian theology has always been careful to say that the Law does not save God's people. The Law shows us our need for the Gospel (God's grace in Christ) and upon the freedom we find in unconditional love, a new kind of moral order follows. This summer we'll examine the Ten Commandments not as more rules to follow for the sake of our salvation, but as insights into God's character-- leading us out of slavery and into the freedom of his love and grace.

To wrap up our Bridgebuilders series, we will return to the Old Testament prophets, where we started, to consider Isaiah’s words to the people of Israel post-exile. In Isaiah 58, they ask the question: “Why have we fasted and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?” But, they seem to lack self-awareness as it turns out that when they “fast” their workers are exploited and violence breaks out. God replies, “You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.”God continues: “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?” This Sunday we will consider this call from God and how we can joyfully and boldly live into the call for his glory and our neighbor’s good.

One of the fun things about the Bible is that it is full of little sayings we throw around in everyday conversation without even realizing where they came from. This week, we will spend some time in Luke 10 which has not one - but two! - of these sayings. If you've ever referred to "a wolf in sheep's clothing" or "shaking the dust off your feet", you're squarely in Luke 10 territory.We find Jesus sending out the disciples in pairs with specific instructions. The mission at hand is urgent, so Jesus tells them to pack light - not even an extra pair of sandals! Don't dilly dally along the way. The message the disciples are entrusted with is this: "The Kingdom is near." And in the middle of it all, Jesus warns the disciples that they will find themselves like a lamb among wolves. In other words, they will be vulnerable. At the same time, he says not to linger if their message isn't well-received.Sometimes we can feel like it's up to us to build the kingdom, but this passage will remind us that our work is mostly to prepare the soil where it will land. What does it mean for us to recognize the nearness of the kingdom in our own communities? And how do we join Jesus in preparing others to receive it? Strap on your favorite summer sandals and join us this Sunday as we take our marching orders from Jesus and the disciples.

Who has told you the good news of Jesus? I can list a whole slew of people who turned my heart toward Jesus in small and big ways. Their influence moved me to consider God in deeper, truer, and more personal ways. They ‘evangelized’ me (evangel = good news). Sometimes when we think of evangelism we think of street preachers or formulaic gospel presentations and we get the ‘ick.’ And, because we don’t want to do that, we excuse ourselves from any form of sharing God that involves words. We decide we’ll stick with sharing God through our actions — which early church leader James does declare as vital in his letter to early Christians (2:18).  But, as usual, it is rarely the either/or we want it to be. Along with just and loving actions, our public witness must involve words — giving explicit voice to God’s goodness and truth. Paul writes to the Roman church that this is only logical: “How can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it?” (Romans 10:14—15 MSG).This coming Sunday my hope is that we can recover our identity as those sent to speak, rid ourselves of fears or insecurities, and discover our voices to use on behalf of another. After all, we have the best news to share!

In a world with increasing global conflicts that seem harder and harder to resolve, it can feel like diplomacy is a lost art. Across the history of civilization, tribes, nations, and empires have called upon individuals to cross boundaries with wisdom and skill to negotiate peace and friendly relations. When describing the work of an apostle, Paul uses this image of a diplomat, telling the Corinthians, "We are Christ's ambassadors." We may not be tasked to negotiate international treaties, but our calling is to announce reconciliation between God and a world that has turned from Him (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).In the second week of this sermon series on the public witness of the church, we turn our minds to the primary message of the gospel: that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus have brought about the forgiveness of our sins and the undoing of our deaths. This is the greatest act of reconciliation in the universe, and when we take this awesome mystery to heart, Christ's love compels us to plead to others, "Be reconciled to God!" (5:20). We often call this evangelism—a word that has sometimes been misused, but should not be abandoned. It is the work of the highest kind of peacemaking: pointing to the God who reconciles the world with His blood, not ours (5:15).

Divided. Isolated. Fractured. Atomized. These are the words we often hear used to describe our current cultural moment. There is discontent and a hurt in the world that creates estrangement, injustice, and violence (we call it sin). Yet in the face of these forces, God's people have been called to be peacemakers, rebuilders, and repairers (Isaiah 58:6-12). That's a huge task! What power makes it possible? For the Christian, we believe it comes from the hope of the gospel. When human beings are reconciled to God, reconciliation among people often seems to follow.This week we begin a new sermon series on the public witness of the church: the work we're called to do on behalf of our neighbors at the intersections of evangelism, compassion, and justice. We begin by examining the biblical definition of peace: something more than the absence of violence, but the presence of a hope and a future that pulls us towards a flourishing life. In one of the more radical examples of this work, we'll turn to the prophet Jeremiah and his commendation to exiles living in Babylon to, "seek the peace of the city..." (Jeremiah 29:4-7, 11). In the simple acts of living with hope (like planting gardens or raising children) we make peace even for our neighbors most estranged from God and us!

"It is to your advantage that I go away" (John 16:7). I think a great number of us come to worship because we want to become closer to Jesus, so how then is it advantageous that Jesus "goes away"? Without some understanding of who the Holy Spirit is, you might get the sense that the point of the Christian life is to suffer in God's absence until one day we might be reunited, but the Bible tells a different story. Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit (in Greek, "the Paraclete") follows him and does all that he does (16:14). God is never far from us because the Spirit walks alongside us!On the traditional church calendar, this Sunday is set aside as "Pentecost", a day to remember the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4). Traditional liturgical colors of red adorn the sanctuary as a symbol of the Spirit's flame, but this day is not just to remember a singular historic event long ago. We’re celebrating the ongoing reality that God is not just the mind who designed the universe, but God is ever-present and ever-active as our counselor, helper, advocate, intercessor, and the very breath of God within you!

Confirmation is a long tradition in many Christian churches in which our youth commit to study, reflect, and practice their faith in the hope and preparation that they will continue to be life-long followers of Jesus. It culminates on Confirmation Sunday, which includes our students sharing their faith stories. The traditions, rites, and celebrations of Confirmation Sunday spotlight our youth as individuals and rightfully honor the steps of faith they are taking.Yet at the same time, there is something almost ironic about some of our Confirmation traditions: while we publically celebrate and honor our students' faith, the New Testament also commends a faith that is quiet and modest, that are lives are to be, "hidden in Christ our God” (Collosians 3:2). This Sunday as we worship, I will urge us not to overly fixate on what our students have done but more importantly reflect on what they might teach us, that, "Christ is all and is in all.” (Collosians 3:11). May their lives and witness point us to the real life of the world.

Over the last 5 weeks we've surveyed ancient cultural customs, re-examined the stories of Hebrew patriarchs, considered the context of Israelite law, looked at historic heresies, and had plenty of time to reflect on historic doctrine. The book of Galatians is indeed "a crash course" of the gospel and would be an excellent textbook for "Christianity 101." Yet all these challenging thoughts and ideas and beliefs are not just for pondering in the mind, but putting into action.On the final page of Paul's letter to the Galatians he offers some practical application for how the good news of grace finds practice in our lives: be gentle with people who struggle in their sin, bear each other's burdens, don't boast, examine yourself first before complaining about others, and do good to all (Galatians 6:1-14). The Good News isn't a manual for how to live a flawless life, it's the knowledge that helps us bear the conflicts, contradictions, and paradoxes of a world in which we are simultaneously sinners and saints.  

Many political scientists and statesmen have observed that while freedom is the bedrock of democracy, freedom requires exercises of responsibility to keep from collapsing on itself. It's sometimes described as the difference between "liberty" and "license". License thinks freedom is for your own self-satisfaction. Liberty is freedom that we extend to others for the sake of common good.In the first 2/3rds of Paul's letter to the Galatians, he makes an impassioned case against legalism and moralism. Grace through faith is what saves the Christian, while overconfidence in "works of the law" is a kind of slavery. Yet in the fifth chapter of his letter Paul now reminds the Galatians that gospel liberty is not license to indulge our selfishness, but the freedom of grace empowers us to, "serve one another humbly in love." (Galatians 5:13). Jesus frees us from the impossible pressures of legalism, but he does not free us from the Spirit of Love who first wrote the law. Grace for sinners is the merciful invitation to "walk by the Spirit", "bear good fruit", and so fulfill the heart of the law, "love your neighbor as yourself" (5:14).

Some decades ago, a sociologist suggested that one of the major sources of increasing depression in our world comes from the pressures we put on ourselves to create and manage an image or an "identity." He called it, "the weariness of self." The effort to fit in, stand out, or rise above can be exhausting. We have phrases in our parlance that capture this (eg "we're slaves to fashion").Biblical wisdom points us a different direction. Paul's letter to the Galatians includes warnings of a "slavery" not enforced by a master's whip, but by our own obsession with performance standards and identity markers. He tells us the gospel is not a kind of slavery, but it is an adoption (Galatians 4:4-7). Your identity is not something you must create, it is something given to you by Christ. To truly live a life of goodness and to truly know the joy of salvation, our job isn't to distinguish ourselves with behavior, signals, or performative work. Rather, all who are baptised in Christ are something more than our race, sex, or class... we are children of God (3:26-27).

We may think the days of succumbing to peer pressure are long gone; that saying what we think others want us to say or doing what they want us to do or wearing what they want us to wear was for the high school lunch table. But, when we’re honest with ourselves, we know that people pleasing doesn’t just go away with adolescence. We are much too fickle for that.As we move into the second chapter of Galatians this Sunday we will see that these very human temptations existed centuries before us as well. In his letter to the church in Galatia, Paul calls out Peter as an example of what not to do as we live as followers of Jesus and reminds us that the ramifications of the gospel are not just for ourselves but also for how we love and live with others.

An old proverb says, "a leopard can't change its spots." We assume that people are largely predictable and personalities are largely fixed. We make certain judgments about a person who drives a large pickup truck and shops at Fleet Farm, and make another set of judgement about someone who drives an EV and shops at the organic co-op. Our culture has excelled at believing that certain things about us will never change and it's better to look for existing allies than win over a new convert. We are skeptical of change.The gospel tells us something different. When the Apostle Paul begins his "magna carta" on Christian freedom and the power of grace, he begins by telling the story of his own radical conversion: transforming from an anti-Christian terrorist to a devoted Christian apostle (Galatians 1:13-23). As we begin our Eastertide sermon series in the book of Galatians, we'll start with a very important question: what is the gospel and how does it work? In the biography of the Apostle Paul we'll see profoundly that grace is the power more transformative than judgement, and the foundation of life for the people of God.

When you piece together the stories of the first Easter from the four gospels, you may notice that essentially no one that morning was instantly able to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead. They experience bewilderment, curiosity, confusion, and fear... but not many immediately understood or even celebrated that Christ was risen. Each of the four gospels give us some unique details about the events of that day, and Luke is the one who tells us that late in the afternoon the risen Jesus goes on a hike with a couple of disciples and spends perhaps hours chatting before they have any clue this stranger on the trail with them is the crucified Lord! It is only after sharing many questions, scriptures, miles, and then a meal that their eyes are opened and their hearts burn with the fire of faith (Luke 24:13-32).There is a lesson to take from what Jesus did on that "walk to Emmaus" so many years ago. The journey to belief is not simply receiving a message, but the process of reflecting, remembering, questioning, and then experiencing the living Jesus. Because the church is more than a museum and Christianity is more than a historical society. We speak of Jesus in the present tense because our faith is a living, breathing thing-- not just a gift once given, but continually. On Easter Sunday we do not say, "he was risen." We proclaim, "he is risen... indeed."

Historians have long wondered how Jesus showed up to Israel's capital one Sunday morning welcomed as a hero, only 5 days later to be crucified like a criminal. What happened in between Palm Sunday and Good Friday? To answer the question we'll need to dig into a complex religious-political situation of a raging culture war within 1st century Judea, provoked by the crisis of Roman occupation, that created no less than four major Jewish political parties and a whole lot of controversies (Luke 19:45-20:26). What has any of that to do with us? It's not just historical curiosity. Jesus refuses to be a mascot for any of our agendas or a footnote in our manifestos. He didn't come to endorse a side, but to be seated on the throne of our hearts.This story of palms and passion illuminates what we are being saved from when we turn to Christ in faith. Salvation doesn't come from political power, money in the bank, approval of friends, the success of your cause, or the vanquishing of your enemies. It is the message that every human heart writes checks it can't cash, but the loving self-sacrifice of God in Christ pays the bill and redeems us from debts of vindictiveness, ego, greed, vanity, and hatred; from the dominion of death to the kingdom of the living.

Throughout our series in Luke for Lent, story after story has invited us to reflect on our theme: "change of heart." Whether it's a man who feels the need to build bigger barns to deal with the "problem" of his abundance, an upstanding religious man whose ability to part with his wealth stands between him and his own question of righteousness, or a "small" man who, though he is despised, rises to the top as the least likely to repent. Each of these characters presents us with startling contrasts and unsettling convictions that leave us asking: how is our relationship to money influencing our love for God and others?In this week's parable, we will find rich people tossing their couch change into the coffers while a poor widow gives just two coins. This parable is often taught as a lesson to imitate the widow and be willing to give all we have. But there is more to the story. This story has less to do with the widow "giving it all to God" and more to do with why she only has two coins in the first place. 

We all like a good redemption story, and followers of Christ are told to rejoice when a sinner repents (Luke 15:7), but sometimes it's hard not to be skeptical when a nasty scoundrel makes a sudden conversion to Jesus. We can probably think of more than a few examples where it seems a public conversion feels little more than a publicity stunt and doesn't seem to lead to meaningful transformation. Sometimes when it comes to redemption stories, we'd like to "see the receipts."Our scripture this week tells the story of a notorious sinner who does bring the receipts to his conversion. When Zaccheus the corrupt tax-collector finds himself befriended by Jesus, he not only declares he's a changed man, but shows it as well with a public commitment to rectify his financial misdeeds (Luke 19:1-8). The story shows us what repentance can look like, but more importantly, it shows us what Christ does that brings about our repentance. He befriends the despised before amending their behavior, not after. Jesus isn't waiting for you to get your act together before he starts working in your life, he's eager to start today!

In one of the most provocative and difficult passages in the gospels, we meet a man who is both very wealthy and very righteous. He is generous, just, self-controlled, friendly, and honest. Yet when he asks if all this is enough to "inherit eternal life", Jesus tells him to sell every last thing he owns, give it to the poor, and follow him. The man's face falls, and he walks away disappointed at Jesus' answer (Luke 18:18-23).The story of the "Rich Young Ruler" forces us to consider that even if we use our money with great integrity and righteousness, wealth can become an idol and a barrier to salvation. It's a fascinating example that even when used by good people for good ends, unless one is willing to put love of God above all other loves; we will find ourselves at a distance from the Kingdom of God. Does this sound impossibly hard? It is! (18:27), Yet the Good News is that God's grace does the impossible and Christ's spiritual riches are more than enough for our spiritual poverty. Thanks be to God!

This Lenten season we are examining Jesus' teachings about wealth, poverty, generosity and the behaviors of the Christian around their money and possessions. But behavior does not arise out of nowhere. Behavior stems from belief. What we believe about God and God's provision impacts how we give and save; how we spend and share. When Jesus was asked a question about dividing an inheritance, he started telling stories about birds and barns (Luke 12:13-34). It seems worry leads to greed, but one can "sell your possessions and give to the poor" when you believe your life means more than a ravens and the greatest treasure is in heaven.

Repentance is a Biblical word that you'll find all across the scriptures and is central to the Good News of Jesus. It's the word the prophets use to invite change and transformation in God's people. The word in the New Testament is metanoia, which literally means "afterthought" or "changed mind." Repentance involves sorrow over our sins and errors, but it also invites us to look ahead to consider how our conduct should be different.Our sermon series for the season of Lent will look at the Gospel of Luke and the ways Jesus speaks about money and how the gospel convicts and transforms our relationship to our wealth. We begin this week with the words of John the Baptist and his message of repentance (Luke 3:7-18), but we'll also remember that a baptism of repentance is only the doorstep to Jesus' baptism of redemption-- that though the price of our sin is steep, God in Christ has paid it all.

When I hear the word "rule," my mind often goes to the classroom, courtroom, or ball field. I tend to think of legal restrictions imposed upon us not to be broken without penalty. Yet the ancient meaning of the word "rule" isn't so much about restriction, but support. The old Latin word "regula" literally means "straight stick." A regula could be a cane you lean on to help you walk, or it could be a trellis to help your plants grow tall. There is an ancient Christian practice sometimes called "A Rule of Life" that prescribes sets of spiritual disciplines and commitments not as a set of handcuffs, but more like a pair of crutches. The Apostle Paul says it is the rule of grace that, "teaches us to live godly and upright lives" (Titus 2:11).This week as we wrap up our sermon series on spiritual disciplines, we'll do a quick survey of some additional historic Christian practices like simplicity, service, and silence and also consider what it means to keep a "rule of life". 

One of the foundations of the gospel is that Jesus' life, death, and resurrection ensures a union to the life of God and no person or institution needs to stand in between you and your maker except Jesus Christ himself (1 Timothy 2:5). We sometimes call this our "personal relationship with Christ". But even though our faith is deeply personal, scripture simultaneously tells us our faith is not private. A personal relationship with Jesus is also a mutual participation in the Christian community we call church. The New Testament never commends "lone wolf" Christianity, but is persistently calling us to share our very lives with one another (1 Thessalonians 2:8).Much of our sermon series on spiritual disciplines has focused on habits one can practice as an individual, but some disciplines are inherently cooperative and communal. This week we'll consider what it means to have spiritual companionship with other believers who can hear your confession, share your burdens, offer you guidance, and sharpen your belief and conduct. One of the great gifts of the gospel is that God's marvelous grace empowers us to open the deep places within us (even with their wounds and sins) and find common grace with a person you might have little in common with except a shared love of Jesus.

When I was young, I remember learning a song in Sunday School that went like this: "The B-I-B-L-E, yes that's the book for me! I stand alone on the word of God - the B-I-B-L-E!"  The tune was catchy and I suppose it could be credited for planting a seed in my young mind that reading the Bible was an important thing to do. What I didn't know is that cultivating rhythms of reading my Bible along with a relationship to and understanding of the words on the page would be a lifelong pursuit. An NIV Children's Bible with a picture of Jesus holding a lamb on the front was a doorway to that journey.This journey might begin with child-like wonder, but it grows into something deeper as we faithfully put one foot in front of the other, one page at a time. Early attempts to grasp the stories and characters slowly turn into curiosity about what it means to draw near to the heart of God. Reading our Bibles doesn’t feel flashy most days, but below the surface, something is happening that we can’t always measure or mark. This Sunday, we will consider how the spiritual discipline of scripture reading moves us beyond mere knowledge and into a way of being in the world that looks like Jesus.

We live with all kinds of biological necessities and forces of nature that impact how we live our lives and how we plan our days (think of sleep schedules, bathroom breaks, shelter from weather). Perhaps the necessity we order our lives around most is food. When will you eat? What will you eat? With whom will you eat? For most of us, this physical necessity anchors at least three points in our day because it is essential for survival. So it makes sense that the Bible speaks often about food and diet, and one of its commendations is to sometimes not eat.Across both the Old and New Testaments the people of God practice the spiritual discipline of fasting, yet for many modern Christians (especially Protestants) we don't often have a strong sense of what fasting is for. Perhaps this is because we forget that your soul is not just what is done with your inner life (thoughts and emotions), but includes your physical body! (Romans 12:1). This week we'll consider scripture's teaching about spirit and flesh as we think about prayer and fasting. It seems especially important to note how often the people of God turned to fasting in times of social crisis (Esther 4:16, Joel 2:12-15). Perhaps this is a timely discipline as we pray for peace and justice in our own land.

Most of us know that the work of artists and craftsmen involves creativity, but equally important to arts and science is the practice of design. A creative idea alone doesn't always make for something beautiful to appreciate. The elements of design are careful decisions a crafter makes to serve the subject of the piece. A photographer uses focus and framing to emphasize the face of a model. A tailor will adjust the cut and fit of a suit to accentuate a good look. A good architect designs a building to fit well in the larger landscape. Design is the set of choices we make to draw our attention to the subject we want emphasized.Perhaps this is a metaphor for those uniquely religious practices that most of us think of when we talk about being Christian (e.g. prayer, quiet time, Bible reading, fasting, etc.). Spiritual disciplines are not the subject of the art of faith; they are design choices and practices we use to focus our attention in deeper love for God and neighbor.This week we begin a new sermon series exploring spiritual disciplines and considering the practices we want to build into our lives that deepen our sense of God's grace. Commitments to daily prayer, devotional reading, fasting, sacrificial giving, and receiving spiritual direction aren't rungs we climb on a ladder to God. They are the architecture we build to draw our eyes towards God, behold the riches of his mercy, and then become more like Christ.

I don't like to be a pessimist, but I can't help feeling that more often than not there is a great "let down" in the days following Christmas. All the energy and excitement our culture puts into the anticipation of Christmas morning only sometimes lives up to the enormous expectations of happiness. Perhaps this is because we overly fixate on the event of the nativity but overlook the eternal reality of the incarnation of Christ.This is why it is important not to let the warmth and splendor of Christmas Eve cease once the candles are blown out. This Sunday we'll continue to contemplate the wonderful mystery of Jesus as "God with us" (Matthew 1:23) and "Word made Flesh" (John 1:1). When we take these things to heart, wonder and love become daily companions instead of annual visitors. Letdowns will still happen, but a life lived in God means satisfaction is not so far away as we think.

From the RCC 2025 Christmas Eve candlelight Lessons & Carols

In today’s world, women are pushed up against two realities. The first is that they still often exist in the shadows of men. The other is that they are bombarded by messages of all kinds about how to live: messages about power and rights and bodies. Secular voices on these matters stand in stark contrast to how scripture invites women to be in the world. Yes, there are power scales to be balanced, but we don’t fight with the world’s weapons (2 Cor. 10:3-4). The God we worship does battle differently.This week we will wrap up our Advent series on women who held prominent places in the birth of Jesus. If Bathsheba and Mary were to walk the earth today, they would no doubt be encouraged to consider their “rights” and their “bodies” in bearing children they did not ask for. But these are not women who fall for easy outs. They are women who fall in line with the God of Israel who promises to lead them out even when all feels lost.The child of one woman will redeem the other’s story. We will find that even when power is mis-used, God will grow a new Branch for David’s family, one who will “bear fruit from the old root” (Isaiah 11:1).

Surveys tell us Americans are steadily losing trust in institutions like government, media, education, and (near the top of the list) "organized religion." This isn't new. The Bible tells more than a few stories of corruption in the temple & priesthood.This includes the days that Jesus was born into. First century Jews not only longed for political revolution to overthrow the Roman occupation, they longed for spiritual revival to purify the temple. When Luke begins his gospel, he starts with the story of a priest and his wife who are a faithful remnant within a vapid institution: Elizabeth and Zachariah were, "righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly" (Luke 1:6). Like many Biblical couples they have a story of infertility met with miraculous conception, but they also show us the kind of people who get an early glimpse at God's coming Kingdom: the humble and the faithful.In this second week of our sermon series on the women of Advent, we'll look at the story of Elizabeth and the birth of John the Baptist and notice how much it rhymes with the Old Testament story of Hannah and the birth of the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 1). Both show us God's work is not bound to corrupt human systems, but in the temples of the heart within women and men who remain devoted to God even when their surroundings are not.

The final book of the Old Testament was written around 400BC—words of the prophet Malachi. Following Malachi, we don’t have any prophetic Biblical writings for the next four centuries. Sometimes Christians will then describe John the Baptist as the prophet who breaks the 400 years of silence.But chronologically, the first person in the New Testament described as a prophet is actually Anna, a widow who spent her days worshipping, praying, and fasting in anticipation of the redemption of her people (Luke 2:36-38).Prophecy is not just good surveillance, skilled observation, or intuition. Prophecy is a ministry of the Holy Spirit speaking words of God that accomplish something in the lives of God’s people. Sometimes prophets call us to repentance or warn of condemnation. Other times prophets offer words of comfort or reminders of faithfulness. But the purpose of Prophecy is always in service of creating Holy People growing deeper in hope, peace, joy, and love.This Advent we give special attention to the women’s stories in the orbit of Jesus’ nativity, as well as women in the Hebrew scriptures that preceded them. Their lives and words bring us profound insight into the ways of God against despair, violence, sadness, and apathy. Like all good prophets, they teach us to look for Christ in the places we don’t often look first.

The story of Joseph may live only as a musical drama with a flashy coat in some of our minds, but in the biblical narrative, Joseph’s story takes up 13 of the 50 chapters of Genesis. And there is far more to this tale than mere teenage jealousy between brothers.The story of Joseph takes us deep into the heart of a decades long family conflict that illuminates the effects of sibling rivalry and the power of blood in the context of relationships. There is something about family that tests our limits in ways other relationships don’t. Family relationships hold the power to hurt and the longing to heal in ways other relationships don’t.Joseph’s story is not merely instructive for our understanding of kinship in our physical families. It also invites us to reflect on how blood calls us to be reconciled to one another in the body of Christ. Joseph’s response to the mistreatment he endured at the hands of his brothers foreshadows that of our older brother, Jesus, who endured the harsh realities of the cross to “bring many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10). We hope you’ll join us for our one-week sprint through the Joseph story before we land at the communion table to remember our common belonging to one another.

Consistency is one of the main things we look for in honorable people.  Will they do what they say they will do? Do their behaviors resemble their values? One of the repeating themes in the stories of Genesis is that our protagonists are sadly quite inconsistent.There is a tragic irony that on one page of the Bible a character can be noble and courageous, and then on the very next page they make a "heel-turn" and become faithless and vain. Despite the fact Abram and Sarai have been commended for their faith, in their impatience for a child to carry on their name they hatch an unholy plan that involves exploiting a vulnerable immigrant, sexual impropriety, cruelty, and irresponsibility (Genesis 16:1-16).The bitter irony is that they know what it's like to be on the receiving end of those things! The Bible is never afraid to show the people of God their deep flaws, but the God of Abraham always holds the door open for redemption. Their stories are a warning for us to look for our own inconsistencies and repentantly turn to Christ for our own redemption. 

There is a cliche that is often true: silence speaks volumes. In last week's scripture we read of a profound encounter Jacob has with God. Yet as we turn the page in Genesis, the Almighty seems absent from the story that follows and its effects are chilling.We read a dark tale from the next generation of Abraham's family: a daughter is assaulted, a father is silent (negligent), brothers become duplicitous, and justice perverts into vengeance (Genesis 34:1-31). Sometimes the lessons of the Bible are not moral examples, but a look into what life is like without attention to God's holiness and righteousness.This Sunday we'll consider what it means to be God's holy people and the victims who suffer from our half-hearted obedience. While our motivations and commitments might be hopelessly mixed, we worship a savior who was selflessly devoted to every assault victim because the gospel tells us God in Christ actually became the ultimate victim of violence! But in his selfless sacrifice and perfect holiness, he dismantles the cycles of vengeance when he, "entrusted himself to him who judges justly" (1 Peter 2:23).

Last week we met a character in Genesis with an unflattering name. The name Jacob means, "supplanter" and it rhymes with words like "heel-grabber" and "trickster". His name resembles his conduct. Jacob is a scoundrel who extorts and deceives (Genesis 25 & 27). Following this he spends 20 years living as an exile in a strange place, and becomes the victim of another's trickery! (Genesis 29-31)These years are humbling Jacob the trickster, and he is compelled to return to his home in hope of reconciliation. But this won't happen before a dramatic moment of conversion and transformation-- one of the most spellbinding stories in the Bible, a night of wrestling a mysterious stranger that ends with a new name and a lifelong disability (Genesis 32:22-31). Almost everyone desires some kind of change within themselves, but true transformation rarely happens without outside forces working upon us to confront our sin, draw out strength we don't know we have, and ultimately show us undeserved kindness and mercy. The story of Jacob is the story of the gospel, his wrestling with God is a confrontation with sin and the receiving of grace. When we believe and are baptized we too receive a new name from our sparring partner: we are no longer called slaves, but our Lord calls us brothers and sisters (Hebrews 2:11).

There are few things in life that can get as complicated and messy as family. Our relationships with parents, siblings, spouses, and children are some of the most important we'll ever have, but they are the ones most fraught with discord. The book of Genesis is full of these kinds of stories and this week we'll look at one of the most famous: the sons of Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob & Esau (Genesis 25:19-34, 27:1-28:2).Their story has some warnings and lessons for us about the ways favoritism, envy, ambition, and dishonesty can bring trouble; but more importantly their story reminds us of the nature of the blessings of God. Esau treats God's blessings too trivially, Jacob seeks God's blessing too ambitiously, yet God's faithfulness is unchanging. As our journey through Genesis enters new generations, we'll see some familiar patterns start to emerge-- and in them all the opportunity to reflect on our own apathies and ambitions, and God's graciousness and faithfulness despite these things.

Here in chapters 21-22 of Genesis we get to some of the most troubling passages in the book: two stories of children endangered by adults. In chapter 21 Abraham and Sarah send the firstborn (Ishmael) out to the desert to die. In chapter 22 it appears for a moment God asks Abraham to offer the second born (Isaac) as a sacrificial offering. In both situations, God intervenes to prevent the death of the child. These are stories that feel dark, chilling, and confusing. Let me suggest they are supposed to feel that way.When you look at the book of Genesis with "a view from 30,000 feet," a certain theme rises from the book: how do we believe in a good God in a world full of terrible evil? While human eyes often fixate on the strange and destructive acts of God in the book of Genesis, the book is actually a profound indictment of how cruel and violent human beings are. And yet God's persistent love for human beings moves him to mercifully intervene to preserve life, not destroy it. The Bible is not a book of fairy tales to make us feel good about humanity. It is a raw and real book about the inhumanity of man but the divine kindness of God. The prophet Micah once asked, "Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" No, God does not demand human sacrifice for our sin, but in Christ he offers himself to interrupt our sin that we might, "do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly" (Micah 6:7-8).

My mom was a teacher for over 30 years before she retired two years ago. Throughout my childhood I heard about the collective bargaining that went on between her teacher’s union and the schools as salaries, benefits, and school calendars were negotiated.As we continue on in our Genesis sermon series, we’re continuing to look at the Sodom and Gomorrah story through Abraham’s eyes (Genesis 18:16-33). As a chosen man of God, Abraham takes on the role of collective bargainer, kind of like a union rep, seeking to keep the cities from destruction. It’s an interesting tactic and as we consider Abraham’s negotiation and God’s response we learn a lot about their characters. A human bold enough to make an appeal to the divine and a God who loves righteousness so much he excuses the wicked. This is good news for us today as part of the human race where “all have turned away, all have become corrupt there is no one who does good, not even one” (Psalm 14:3).

Sometimes words and names have the ability to generate an immediate connotation. For example, simply saying “Sodom and Gomorrah” likely conjures up images of fire, sulfur, violence, sexual sin and maybe the odd ending of a human being turned into a pillar of salt. The mere mention of this city can be used as shorthand for wicked living or warnings to steer clear of serious punishment exacted by God’s wrath.But the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is far more complex than jokes about judgment or extreme statements about a sinful city. While we generally attribute the sin of the city as sexual in nature, the words of the prophets in scripture reveal there is something else that is of grave concern to God. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus makes a strong statement about Sodom and Gomorrah, but it is not about its sexual sin. What Jesus says suggests that while the sexual sin isn’t off the table, it may not be the main dish. Church, may we come humbly to this text and hungry to hear the lessons it has for us.

I've been living in Minnesota for fourteen years now. In some ways those 14 years feel like they've gone by fast, but in other ways my old life back in Chicago feels like a very long time ago. Had someone made a promise to me when I first moved to Minnesota that hasn't yet come to pass, I imagine I'd be getting impatient by now.That seems to be what's happening in our scripture reading this week. Abram and Sarai are going on 15+ years since they first heard the voice of God declare they would become parents of a new nation, so Abram is starting to wonder when the waiting is over? (Genesis 15:2). God answers Abram with an invitation to a ritual of slaughtered animals and a fever dream (15:9-12).With a little historical-cultural background to help understand, this strange scene actually becomes an incredible illustration of the nature of God's relationship to his people. God's promise (his "covenant") is not a set of rules one must follow to be accepted. The foundation of life in God is the covenant-promise that God will graciously endure what is necessary for us to be in union with Him. 

Good storytellers know that good stories are rarely a predictable series of events where a protagonist only ever makes the right decision. Good stories always have trials and setbacks where characters must fail and learn from loss. This isn't just true of fiction.This is true of life in general; especially the spiritual life. Our journey from sin to salvation is always going to be a complicated one. The Bible shows us this in the origin stories of God's people. The book of Genesis gives an account of the Hebrew patriarchs and matriarchs that is unflinchingly raw about their flaws but also keenly aware of God's ability to transform them (Genesis chapters 12-50). This fall our sermon series will look at their stories and consider how God makes them (and us) Holy people by using both trials and triumphs to see our lives as offerings unto God. We begin this Sunday with a whirlwind tour through the first few years of promises, treachery, wealth, and danger divided between a large cast of characters and we'll observe the dangers of fear, the temptations of wealth, the power of faith, and the task of holiness (Gen 12:10-14:24).

Even the most introverted of us probably know the pain of "not being invited" to a party. It's hard to get through life without feeling left out at some point. Exclusive groups are common to human nature as we tend to gather with people most like us. But just because something is biologically or sociologically "natural" does not make it entirely good. The gospel often prods us to move beyond our natural instincts to exert ourselves into the supernatural. More than once Jesus compared God's Kingdom to a great party where invitations are extended not just to "family and friends" or those who can benefit you, but to invite, "invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind..." to those on the margins of society (Luke 14:12-14).One of our priorities in this congregation is to be people who are Reaching Out to our neighbors with the good news of Jesus by sharing our resources and creating a hospitable atmosphere, but also to have "habits of invitation" to come and see what Christ is doing in our lives. Our natural inclination will be to extend invitations to those we're closest to (friends and family), but scripture frequently tells us God has a special affection for those far from society's center. So our effort this week is to consider where and how we are reaching out to those beyond the comforts of what is familiar, to look for the overlooked, especially to those who's invitations elsewhere are sparse.

A local church may often describe itself as a, "spiritual family". It's an appropriate biblical term. The Christians of the New Testament referred to themselves as brothers and sisters. In a world that suffers a lot of loneliness and isolation we might think the image of spiritual family is an inviting one, but many of us know that family life often comes with a lot of pain. Just like biological families, the spiritual family of the church has the ability to hurt each other and the reconciliation of brothers and sisters is some of the hardest work we can do in this life.One of the smallest books of the New Testament speaks to this issue. Paul's letter to Philemon is a glimpse into a real-life episode of reconciliation within a congregation, but with deep cultural complexities and surprising approaches to matters of power, justice, grace, equality, and forgiveness. This Sunday as we consider the task of our own congregation to build community, we'll look at the book of Philemon to consider the gospel's power to make us reconciled people in ways that go beyond "patching up differences" but seeing each other in new ways: as beloved brothers and sisters, equals before God, heirs of the grace of Christ.

The Christian life is one of becoming a disciple of Jesus. Sometimes we think becoming a Christian is relegated to a conversion moment or praying a certain prayer that eventually leads to becoming a disciple. But what if it is more about learning to follow Jesus in our everyday lives?  When Jesus calls the first disciples, he simply says “follow me”, and they do. We are not told if this is a conversion moment. Simply that they are curious enough to begin following Jesus. The Greek word for “disciple” is “mathetes” (μαθητής). It means “learner”. The Christian life, then, is about “learning to follow Jesus” as a lifelong pursuit, a “long obedience in the same direction” (to quote a book with this very title by author Eugene Peterson). Discipleship involves responding to Jesus and participating with him in the ordinary spaces.

Sometime in the late 6th century BC, a young Jewish priest and mystic had a vision: a valley full of skeletons (victims of a deadly conquest) lay before him and a voice asked him, "Can these bones live, o mortal?" The prophet replies, "only you know!" (Ezekiel 37:1-3). 500 years later the first Christians believed God had an answer to the question when he raised Jesus from the dead, and then proclaimed that,"made like him, like him we rise" (Romans 6:5, Hymn #258). These bones can live, and they will!This week we conclude our summer sermon series on the Apostles' Creed by reflecting on its closing lines, I Believe... in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. These words ask of us a leap of faith in a future unknown, but they also are the words that animate our Christian life here in the present. The promise of eternal life is not just a reward to enjoy at the end of the life, but the hope of resurrection can be the engine of our faith and love, now and beyond the grave.

In my house we often call laundry, "the never ending chore". With five people who are prone to get dirty, it seems never more than a day goes by before we need to start a new load or fold another pile. If the question is, "when is the laundry chore done?" The answer will be something like, "when we stop needing to wear clothes!" Jesus once said, "be prepared to forgive seven times a day!" (Luke 17:4). That doesn't mean the eighth time you're now free to hold a grudge. The number 7 in the Biblical mind means "whole, complete". So essentially Jesus is saying, "Keep forgiving until there stop being wrongs to forgive." Forgiveness can feel like the never-ending spiritual chore.Yet there is a different way to think about forgiveness: not as a chore, but as a perfect act of God for all of humanity's wrongs. When we forgive one another, it doesn't come from some special strength we muster on our own. It's simply believing that God's divine act of forgiveness is at the heartbeat of the cosmos. In the words of one ancient creed, "we believe in one baptism for the forgiveness of sins." Best understood, Christian life is not a list of chores, but a belief to hold on to.