In 2020, the Coronavirus pandemic is the center of our focus.  What good amid this is the Easter proclamation?

When faced with a choice, why did the crowd ask for the release of a murderer rather than a man who raised the dead and taught the love of neighbor?  Would we do otherwise?

If God is all-powerful and all good, why does He permit suffering and evil in the world.  It is an important question that philosophers and theologians have largely answered to their satisfaction, but it still afflicts us... especially if we aren't familiar with those disciplines.  Let's explore this topic together in the light of God's Word.

The video referenced in this sermon can be found here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrrSZboiKNU

What does it mean to have a god?  How we answer that question will tell us a lot about our relationship with Jesus, even if we have professed Christianity for any years.  How do we answer the question?  Let's find out together...

Why do you come to worship?  Do you encounter Christ when you come? If not, why not?  John's Gospel story gives us some clues.

How long do you give someone in your life to fulfill a promise before you assume they never intend to do so?  In his second letter, Peter says, "the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness," but at times it feels like He is.  How do we have hope that God will accomplish His purposes, even when the process seems painfully slow?

How does evil work?  How do we become what we despise and engage in what we deplore.  "Temptation" is a word used by advertisers to draw us in... how do we learn to see it as what it is and resist it?  Jesus teaches us today.

That people should be free to worship--or not worship--God according to their conscience is not an Enlightenment idea... it has its roots in the teachings of Christ.  As Lent begins, we are called in conscience back to the living God.

We have all had experiences that have forever changed us.  How did the Transfiguration of Jesus change Peter?  How should it change us?

"That depends on your interpretation."  Have you ever heard this?  So much of what we read in the Bible seems unclear or open to a broad range of interpretation.  In His "Sermon on the Mount," Jesus takes pains to make clear much of what we might misinterpret.