It is a fundamental Christian truth that God speaks.  God always has a word for you.  God is never silent.  “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Jesus says.  This is a parable about God’s Word, and what God says and what His Word does. Sermon on Luke 8:4-15 by Rev. Jeff Hendrix

We think it's not fair if we don't get what we think we deserve. Grace isn't a thing God gives us because we deserve it; it's not a thing God gives us so we can accept Him/do good works/help ourselves.  Rather, grace is an attitude, God's perspective toward us, through Jesus finished work. By Grace, God's gives us everything.  Sermon on Matthew 20:1-16 by Rev. Jeff Hendrix

Peter attempts to make a dwelling, a home, on the Mountain of Transfiguration.  His heart and mind is in the wrong place.  God directs away from how he feels, to rather what he hears. Sermon by Rev. Jeff Hendrix on Matthew 17:1-9.

If an ancient Jewish wedding ran out of wine, it meant immense shame on the bride and groom and all the guests.  While we don’t exactly have the same type of cultural expectations of our weddings banquets as in Jesus' day with a seven-day banquet and the problem if we run out of wine, if we’re talking about marriage in particular and broadly, the 6th commandment and God’s gift of physical intimacy, there is one thing that always hangs around if something goes wrong or this gift is abused:  Shame.   But that’s why Jesus being at this wedding and performing a sign is so important, so restorative, so refreshing, for those who feel shame.   Sermon on John 2:1-11 by Rev. Jeff Hendrix, Some thoughts in this sermon adapted from Herold Senkbeil, “The Care of Souls,” and the Rev. Jacob Smith’s sermon on John 2:1-11.

The Gospel writer Luke presents Jesus’ life as a journey, all centered around the temple, that is, the church where God’s people gather.  The story begins at the temple in chapter 1 with the angel appearing to Zachariah. Luke tells us that at eight days old and again at 40 days old, the infant Jesus went to the temple to fulfill the law.  The journey climaxes with Jesus teaching at the temple, ends with the temple curtain being torn in two, and then Luke tells us that immediately after Jesus ascended into heaven where do the disciples go? Back to the temple. And that’s where the book ends.  

And at the same time, Luke provides most of what we know from the New Testament about house churches, and how the gospel was proclaimed from house to house, setting a pattern for early church mission work.  And so Luke gives us a theology of the home, a theology of the church, and where these two meet in Christian education.    

Sermon on Luke 2:41-52 by Rev. Jeff Hendrix

The star, visit of the wise men, and their gifts are more than just a cute story.  They are a lesson in the way God works even today.  Sermon on Matthew 2:1-12 by Rev. Jeff Hendrix

The Sunday after Christmas – where we read of Herod's slaying of the boy babies in Bethlehem – teaches us about the nature of the Kingdom of God.   The Kingdom of God is not now, never has been, and never will be found according to the way the world wants.  It is hidden behind sorrow and suffering, persecution and scorn, behind defeat and loss, in the insignificant things of the world.  This is a message worth holding on to, because it means that no matter what happens in 2021, the Kingdom of God is yours. 

Sermon on Matthew 2:13-23 by Rev. Jeff Hendrix

On the three days after Christmas, we celebrate three more "birthdays:" heavenly births.  December 27 is the Feast of St. John, who was “a martyr in will but not in deed," meaning that he was willing to lay down his life for his Lord, but was not called on to do so.  Instead, he died of old age, and as the apostle who wrote that Jesus is the Beginning and the End, has some important things to teach us about the end of our lives.   

Sermon by Rev. Jeff Hendrix on John 21:19b-24.

Sermon & Exordium for Christmas Day from John 1:1-14 by Rev. Jeff Hendrix

Sermon for Christmas Midnight from Luke 1:1-14 by Rev. Jeff Hendrix