Continuing The Body Politic series, this message turns to Mark 12:28–34 and Jesus’ answer to a scribe searching for a way through the complexity of Scripture. Jesus brings together the commands to love God and love neighbor, offering a through line for faithful life. The sermon applies that same wisdom to the complexity of politics, arguing that Christians should not escape political life, reduce it to a single issue, or simply surrender their judgment to a party or political leader. Instead, Scripture and the community of the church can form Christians to approach public life with wisdom, humility, and a commitment to neighbor love.

The message explores what neighbor love looks like when Christians exercise political power. A vote and a voice are presented as forms of stewardship, resources entrusted to us that can be used for the good of others rather than simply for ourselves. Particular attention is given to neighbors who can easily be overlooked, including the biblical pattern of concern for the widow, the poor, the immigrant, and the orphan. And political action is expanded beyond the ballot box to include embodied acts of service that seek the flourishing of our communities. Through stories of serving as a poll chaplain and Christian ministry in Mexico, the sermon shows how ordinary acts of faithfulness can transform our common life in ways that political victories alone cannot accomplish.

Launching The Body Politic series, this message asks how followers of Jesus can engage politics without simply adopting the divisions, fears, and methods of the surrounding culture. Rather than telling Christians which candidates or positions are "most Christian," the sermon invites the church to "show its work" by developing a biblical imagination for public life. Politics is framed broadly as the way we manage our common life together and as one of the places where Christians can practice love of neighbor. Drawing from 2 Corinthians 5:16–21, the message argues that Jesus changes not only what Christians believe, but how they see other people, especially those with whom they deeply disagree.

At the center of the sermon is Paul's description of the church as ambassadors entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation. In a culture that profits from turning neighbors into enemies, the church bears witness to another kingdom by becoming a people whose allegiance to Jesus runs deeper than partisan identity and whose life together demonstrates the reconciling power of the gospel. Political engagement, then, is not about domination or withdrawal, but faithfully representing Jesus in public life. 

Building on the themes of Jonah, this message explores Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10, asking how the command to love our neighbors shapes Christian engagement in public life. As Jesus responds to the lawyer's question, "Who is my neighbor?", he refuses to narrow the scope of love and instead tells a story that overturns expectations by making the despised Samaritan the model of faithful discipleship. The sermon highlights how genuine neighbor love moves toward those in need, willingly bearing personal cost and shifting the central question from "What will happen to me?" to "What will happen to them if I do nothing?"

The message also considers how love of neighbor extends beyond immediate acts of compassion to addressing the conditions that leave people wounded along the roadside. Drawing on the witness of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King Jr., the sermon argues that Christians are called both to care for those harmed by injustice and to seek the transformation of systems that perpetuate suffering. Ultimately, the Good Samaritan points to Jesus himself, who identifies with the wounded, the marginalized, and the outsider, inviting his followers to engage civic life as ambassadors of God's kingdom with mercy, courage, justice, and sacrificial love.

Concluding the book of Jonah, this message explores the prophet's surprising anger after Nineveh repents and receives God's mercy. Rather than celebrating revival, Jonah reveals that his deepest struggle is not with Nineveh but with the character of God himself. Set against the backdrop of a polarized political season, the sermon invites listeners to consider how fear, outrage, and resentment can shape the way they see their neighbors. Through God's patient questions to Jonah, the message challenges believers to examine whether their anger is producing the fruit of God's kingdom or drawing them away from the compassion of Christ.

The sermon also emphasizes that Christians are called to love their cities without becoming captive to partisan identities. Just as God pursued Jonah with patience and grace, he continues to pursue his people, inviting them to share his love for communities filled with brokenness, injustice, and people in need of mercy. The open ending of Jonah becomes a question for every generation: Will we love the people God loves? Followers of Jesus are called to engage public life as ambassadors of God's kingdom, praying for their cities and seeking the good of their neighbors with humility, justice, and compassion.

In this guest message from Daniel 4, the story of King Nebuchadnezzar becomes a powerful portrait of humanity's struggle with pride and God's relentless commitment to restoration. Through Nebuchadnezzar's dream, his refusal to heed God's warning, and his eventual descent into madness, the sermon explores how pride subtly grows through comfort, prosperity, accomplishment, and self-absorption. Rather than viewing God's judgment as merely punitive, Daniel 4 reveals that God's intervention is an act of mercy, exposing pride so that healing and restoration can begin.

The message also contrasts Nebuchadnezzar's pride with Daniel's humility and compassion, highlighting that genuine humility refuses to delight in another person's downfall and instead seeks justice, mercy, and restoration. Ultimately, the sermon points beyond Nebuchadnezzar to Jesus Christ, the true and humble King who willingly descended to the lowest place so that humanity could be restored. The answer to pride is not simply trying harder to be humble, but looking to Jesus, God's decisive intervention, who reveals both the character of God and what it truly means to be fully human.

Using the familiar "GOAT" debate as a starting point, this intergenerational message explores Jesus' radical teaching on greatness in Mark 9 and Mark 10. While the disciples argued about status and positions of honor, Jesus completely redefined greatness by teaching that the first must become last and that true leaders become servants. Through the disciples' misunderstandings and Jesus' patient instruction, the sermon contrasts the world's pursuit of power, recognition, and influence with the kingdom's vision of humility, self-giving love, and sacrificial service.

The message culminates in Mark 10:45, where Jesus declares that he came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. An intergenerational panel reinforces that every generation encounters the same unchanging Jesus, whose greatness is demonstrated not by accomplishments or fame but by the cross and resurrection. The sermon invites listeners to place Jesus at the center of their lives and to embody his vision of greatness by serving others with humility, compassion, and love.

Continuing the journey through Jonah, this message explores chapter 3, where Jonah finally obeys God's call to preach in Nineveh, though only reluctantly. The sermon highlights Jonah's transformation from death to life to mission, showing that God's pattern throughout Scripture is to rescue people not only for their own sake but so they might become a blessing to others. Jonah's brief, incomplete sermon stands in sharp contrast to the remarkable repentance of Nineveh, revealing that the effectiveness of God's mission depends far more on God's Spirit than on the perfection of the messenger.

The message also explores the tension between God's justice and mercy, emphasizing that the forty-day warning offered to Nineveh reflects God's patience and desire for repentance rather than immediate judgment. The repentance of an entire city, from its king to its common people, demonstrates that genuine revival transforms communities through justice, righteousness, and changed lives. Ultimately, Jonah points beyond himself to Jesus, the greater Jonah, who entered death, rose to new life, and now sends his followers into the world with the same pattern: death, life, and mission

Continuing the series through Jonah, this message explores Jonah chapter 2 and the remarkable prayer uttered from the belly of the fish. Far from being an isolated story, Jonah is shown to be deeply woven into the larger story of Scripture, revealing how the Bible communicates wisdom through irony, imagery, and recurring themes. The sermon examines ancient understandings of the sea as a symbol of chaos and death, showing how Jonah's descent into the depths echoes the experiences of Noah, Moses, Israel, and ultimately Jesus himself. Through Jonah's prayer, listeners are invited to see that God's redemptive work often unfolds through a pattern of life, death, and new life.

The message also highlights the surprising grace of God toward a deeply flawed prophet. Even in his distress, Jonah remains self-righteous and resistant, yet God continues to pursue and deliver him. Rather than presenting Jonah as a hero, the book exposes his lack of compassion and points beyond him to Jesus, the greater prophet who entered fully into humanity's brokenness and emerged victorious through resurrection. Ultimately, Jonah chapter 2 reminds believers that salvation does not belong to prophets, kings, or the righteous, but to God alone, whose compassion extends even to imperfect confessors and reluctant servants.

In this message from Luke 10:25–37, the familiar parable of the Good Samaritan is set against the backdrop of Juneteenth and the biblical conviction that every person bears the image of God. Beginning with the lawyer’s question about eternal life, the sermon explores how Jesus redirects the conversation away from possessing something and toward becoming someone. Through the story of a wounded traveler, religious leaders, and an unlikely Samaritan hero, Jesus reveals that neighboring love is not about determining who deserves our compassion, but about becoming people who show mercy, even toward those we fear, misunderstand, or consider different from ourselves.

The message challenges listeners to recognize the ways self-protection, prejudice, and distraction can keep us from seeing others with compassion. Drawing on reflections from Juneteenth, Martin Luther King Jr.’s final sermon, and the story of Mary and Martha, the sermon highlights the balance between sitting at the feet of Jesus and responding to the needs around us. Rather than calling believers to solve every problem in the world, Jesus invites his followers to notice the person before them, lean in with mercy, and trust that neighboring love itself bears witness to the kingdom of God.

During a special Splash Camp Sunday, Pastor Caleb explores Jonah chapter 1 through a lighthearted "choose your own adventure" sermon experience, with the congregation selecting various speaking challenges throughout the message. Beneath the humor, however, lies the profound truth that Jonah is an unusual prophet. Rather than faithfully carrying God's message to Nineveh, Jonah runs in the opposite direction, descending farther and farther away in an attempt to escape the presence of God. Yet even in Jonah's rebellion, God remains actively at work—not only pursuing the people of Nineveh, but pursuing Jonah himself. The storm at sea, the pagan sailors, and even the great fish become instruments of God's relentless grace.

Through Jonah's downward journey, we are reminded that God's pursuit does not end when we fail or turn away. Jonah chapter 1 reveals a God who is creative, patient, and determined to bring his people back to himself. Whether through ordinary circumstances or unexpected interruptions, the Lord continues to seek those who have wandered. The invitation of the story is to recognize the ways God may be pursuing us and to join him in faithfully serving the people and places to which he has called us.