In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on the concept of salvation in Christianity. Most of us were taught that "to be saved" means that one has accepted Jesus as their Lord and is therefore going to heaven. They are saved from sin and hell.

Whether you cringe at this or agree with it, most of us think that this is the foundation of Christianity; that without this notion of salvation, there is no Christianity.

But there's just one problem... this notion of salvation is nowhere in the Bible!

So...what does salvation mean? What is the hope that it offers us? Why is it still so important to our faith? Listen in to find out!

In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on the surprising history of the words “faith” and “belief.” Did you know that they didn’t always mean what they do today? How were they used and what difference does it make? Well, it makes a world of difference! Find out how in this first message of Pastor Eric’s new series: “Meeting Christianity Again…For the First Time.”

"Don't be a Jerk." That's one way some have said you could summarize the gospel. But in a time of historic disruptions and climate change, in this message Pastor Eric invites us to consider a vision for our faith, our lives, our church--for the world--that meets the magnitude of our moment; the kind of vision that Jesus offered his world 2,000 years ago amidst its own great disruptions.

What dreams and visions does his inspire for you? What does your soul long for in these tumultuous times? How will you give yourself to this vision in the year ahead?

In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on the kinds of rhythms that undergird our society--namely excessive busy-ness that leads to constant exhaustion--and how these rhythms are leading not to flourishing, but to burn-out; are leading not to better well-being, but rather tearing at the seams of our families, friendships, community bonds and--well, many of those things that actually matter the most.

How is this true in your own life? How are your own daily rhythms shaping you? What do you spend most time oriented around--how does it lead to flourishing, and what does it force you to sacrifice? What would it look like to reorient your daily schedule around--or to better integrate into it--those rhythms that restore and reconnect you to that which matters most, rather than fragment and distort it?

This message by Pastor Eric explores how the Book of Deuteronomy describes the call to "honor the sabbath" by recalling how God had delivered them from slavery in Egypt.

What does this experience of oppression and liberation have to teach us about the meaning of sabbath for our lives? Why ground the vision of sabbath and honoring it in a memory of exploitation?

With such questions in mind, Pastor Eric explores how the invitation to "practice sabbath" is not merely about one day a week or individualistic practices or "thou shalt not's!" Rather, it calls us to reimagine ways to structure our world that lead to wholeness; to reimagine structures grounded in the common good, in abundance; and to work together to reorder these structures wherever they are dis-ordered away from such things.

What comes to mind when you think of sabbath? When you think of the weekend and rest? Most of us think of a time to catch our breath after a busy week, a time to regain our energy so we can get "back to the grind." Work is what matters most. Work is what shapes our schedules, what we orient our lives around.

But, while work is necessary, our faith calls us to reconsider what matters most in our lives and to try to find ways to orient our days around that. Sabbath isn't about resting just enough to go back to work. It's a time where we are reminded that we were created for wholeness, for goodness.

Think about those times in your life where you have the spaciousness to relax; to wonder; to listen to the birds or watch a bee cover itself in pollen; when you eat not merely to stave off hunger, but delight in the flavors; when you get caught up in the laughter and stories of friends or family.

Too many of us get to the end of life only to realize that we prioritized the wrong things; we regret giving too much time to things that, in the end, don't really matter, and missing those moments that do.

Sabbath is a picture of a world where there is enough. As we imagine that world, that lives for ourselves, we must ask: what is needed for me to reorient my life? What do I need to let go of or walk away from? What do I need to say Yes to? What do I need courage to risk doing?

This is the call to live toward the vision of Sabbath: a life and a world of flourishing.

In this final message of Pastor Eric's summer sermon series--"What the Faith?!"--he reflects on the question: Why Christian? Why be/remain a Christian in light of scripture's inconsistencies? In light of the fact that the Bible contains texts that are sexist and xenophobic--are violent in various forms? Why be Christian in light of the epic and tragic failures of Christians and churches throughout history, and still presently? Why not just go it alone? What is to be gained by participating in a Christian community?

As Pastor Eric explores these questions, he shares some of his own faith journey--from experiencing spiritual abuse and being rejected by Christians to being loved back to life by another Christian community; from journeying out of one way of being Christian to finding and being found by another Christian community.

Along the way, he invites us to reflect on these questions and our own journeys for ourselves.

In this message from Pastor Eric's "What the Faith?!" sermon series, he moves from last week's exploration of our individual anger/rage in response to being wounded or violated ("How to Destroy Your Enemy") to exploring collective / communal responses to this, for instance those whose nation or city is invaded by a foreign military, enslaved communities, and other marginalized communities.

Is it OK to be angry/filled with rage? If so, in what was is it constructive and when is it destructive? If we cannot skip over anger in our journey of healing, how do we move beyond anger/rage?

It turns out scripture may have some surprising answers for us--and they may just come from the passages we least expected.

In this message from Pastor Eric’s “What the Faith?!” sermon series, he explores Psalm 137 and others that call upon God for violent vengeance. If we believe scripture is somehow instructive and revelatory for us as people trying to follow Jesus, what do we do with such passages? How are we to read them? How are we to understand them when we lift them up alongside Jesus’ call to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” and the many passages that tell us, in short, not to be angry?

To help us understand the harsh words in Psalm 137 and others like it, Pastor Eric reminds us that these are words upon the mouths of people who have themselves experienced the ravages of war, who have watched helplessly as they were invaded and decimated by the military of a global superpower of the day. In that context—and the parallels in our own world—we are invited to read this psalm and others like it while asking: How does one heal from trauma? How does a community, a nation heal from collective trauma? What role does expressing anger and even rage at such violations play in the healing process? And when/how does our anger get in the way of that healing? These are the kinds of questions that shape Pastor Eric’s exploration in this message as we consider how we heal today from our many wounds—individually and collectively.

This is the fourth message in Pastor Eric's summer 2022 sermon series, "What the Faith," exploring pressing issues in our larger culture and the surprising, conflicting things the Bible says about them. How do we read the Bible if it doesn't offer a straightforward answer? How do we live faithfully today as God's people if we can't just do/apply what the Bible says? In this message, preached in the weeks after the US Supreme Court overturned the 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade that made it legal for people to choose to have an abortion, Pastor Eric explores this question in relation this long-standing "culture war." What if scripture isn't as clear about when life begins as some Christians have insisted? As he explores this topic and these questions, Pastor Eric invites us to consider that the faithful response as followers of Jesus may be to go beyond the overly simplistic and reductionist binary that our society has created of being either "pro-life" or "pro-choice."