Emmaus Road Church | Fort Collins, Colorado

Sermon Scripture: 1 Timothy 2:1-7

There is no question that the cultural, political, and spiritual environment in which we currently live is tense and complicated, and speaking directly into this angst, scripture provides a frustratingly simple solution. It gives us a method, an action, a prescription that not only leads to common peace, but produces lives that are marked by quiet godliness and dignity.

If you want to step off the treadmill of outrage and retaliation all around us, Paul says, “Pray.” Learning to stop, to lament, to resist striking back, and instead to redirect all that energy into prayer — even prayer for our enemies is the prescription to peace.

Sermon Scripture: 1 Timothy 1:12-17

This Sunday we begin a new series called Great Hope from 1 & 2 Timothy. In his first letter, Paul writes to his younger friend and ministry partner, reminding him that God’s mercy is greater than failure, and His Kingdom is built on trust. Paul himself was once “the worst of sinners,” yet Christ entrusted him with the gospel, overcame his past, and turned his story into a testimony of grace. In the same way, we are invited to take heart: God’s mercy meets us where we are and empowers us to live and share His Great Hope.

Sermon Scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:6-15

John Wimber once said that Faith is spelled R-I-S-K, and nowhere is that more true than in our finances. In 2 Corinthians 9, Paul reminds us that generosity isn’t a matter of waiting until life feels secure, but of planting the seeds we already hold in our hands. 

This week we explore the practical side of giving: when to begin, where to give, and how much . Along the way we’ll discover that generosity is not ultimately about money but about trust—an architecture of the heart built in community, where open hands lead to open hearts and the joy of giving overflows.

Sermon Scripture: Luke 12:13-34

Jesus warns that bigger barns and fuller accounts cannot save us, because what we keep we eventually lose, and what we freely give away is what we end up keeping. 

Today we’ll remind ourselves of the freedom that comes by living generously. Then we will learn about how the early church lived this out and ask ourselves how our own daily practices of generosity can lead us into a life of true freedom, contentment, and satisfaction.

And maybe, just maybe, as God’s people respond to this call, the world can become a little better, safer, satisfied, and provided for along the way.

Sermon Scripture: Luke 12:35-48

In Luke 12, Jesus reminds us that all we have belongs to God. This week we’ll explore what it means to live not as owners but as caretakers—entrusted with God’s abundance to do good and to bless others. Stewardship is a way of life that teaches us to breathe in God’s generosity and breathe out blessing.

Sermon Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:6-11, 17-19

When we live generously through our giving, we participate in God’s very nature of abundance, life, and joy. Today, we turn to the next theme in Jesus’ teaching on generosity where we are warned to guard our hearts against greed. 

We live in the most affluent generation in human history, yet so many of us are wracked by fear, worry, greed, and unsatisfied desire, all of which become fuel for greed.

“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed because life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” Luke 12:15

Sermon Scripture: Matthew 6:19-24

As Americans, we live in a nation that was founded on three ideals: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—and yet, ironically we are one of the unhappiest nations in the world. It turns out that many of the things that we think will make us happy, actually don’t. And “the good life” we’re all searching for is often found in the places we least expect.

Acts 20:35 recorded one of the things that Jesus’s disciples likely heard him say over and over again, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” 

If you take an objective look at the empirical evidence, it’s clear that our American, western formula of “more money = more happiness” is simply not true. Instead, it really seems that Jesus's formula of “more generosity = more happiness” is the pathway to a happy life.

Sermon Scripture: Matthew 27:45-46, Psalm 22

We often think of memorizing scripture as something we did in Sunday School as a kid. Something we have outgrown. But what if memorization isn’t something you grow out of, it’s something you grow into. 

When we hide the words of Scripture in our hearts we carry them with us in a way that allows them to become breath in our lungs, strength in suffering, and truth in uncertainty. In our modern, digital, AI crazed age, this is the kind of memory we need.

Sermon Scripture: Luke 4:1-13

This week, we’ll explore what it means to truly study the Bible—and why it can sometimes leave us feeling unsettled. While Scripture can be sweet and comforting, it can also challenge us deeply, especially when it's misused or misunderstood. We'll reflect on Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, where both he and the devil quote Scripture—but with very different motives. 

In a world that values speed and certainty, we’ll talk about how to slow down and study the Bible with care. Our goal is not just to know the words, but to sympathize with their origin, and to live the truth they point us toward today.

Sermon Scripture: Joshua 1:7–8, Psalm 1:1–3, Revelation 10:8–10, Luke 24

We live in a world bursting with information, yet we are growing less and less literate in the deeper sense—not in our ability to decode words, but in our ability (or willingness) to sit patiently with them. We are spending less and less time receiving from the written word and allowing it to shape us.

This week, we turn to the ancient practice of meditation upon scripture. As we do so we might find deep transformation taking place in us, through the small and subversive act of slowing down as we read scripture.