In Good Faith: The Central Reformed Church Sermon Podcast

Based on Romans 12:32-40 and delivered by guest preacher Larry Schuyler on Sunday, August 7, 2022, at Central Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

In a world that puts the individual at the center of their own little universe, how do we as Christians stay connected to one another, let alone die to our own egos? Well, our faith is meant to be active and interpersonal, supportive and communal. The church we attend is meant as more than just a building or location, it's home to the body of Christ, our community. We were made to live together! And living together, though often hard, is more than worth it—we can provide love and guidance, one to another, as we navigate our way through life, ever closer to God's will. There is fellowship in life with God, something the religion of "Me and God" can never offer. Our faith is so much bigger than ourselves, bigger than we could ever imagine.

How do we live in a world of moral turpitude, a world that says right is wrong and wrong is right, a world that favors the mighty and arrogant over the vulnerable and meek? God's justice may seem slow, or even non-existent, in such a world. But God's justice is God's will, and by living out God's will we may bring that justice to bear. It cannot be thwarted, though it seems long in coming, and we may not see it in our lifetimes. But, as Pastor Steve recites, the moral arc of the universe is long, and it bends toward justice.

Our world favors acquisitiveness as a primary, personal virtue. We all feel the tug to keep up with the Joneses, to accumulate as much material wealth as possible before we pass. As we know, Christ offers a different path, and that path requires more of us than mere divestment of superfluous wealth and possessions. When we live with a truly generous heart we give away our time, our presence, and our very self. We go the extra mile. Christian giving is dependent upon the heart of the giver being aligned with God's will. From this attitude or posture, everything flows—we can give freely without counting the cost, without even considering it. We can become a greater blessing to others and receive greater spiritual blessings beyond anything materially imaginable.

Pastor Steve continues his sermon series on "The Good Life" with this message on empathy. But why empathy? In recent years, it feels like our culture's use of this word has become somewhat careless, and our engagement with it as an idea or position has suffered and weakened. But empathy has a strong, divine lineage—God directly engaged with our human experience through the person of Jesus Christ, and so much of Christ's own ministry was grounded in empathy, in his ability to enter the perspectives and deeply subjective emotional experiences of "the other." When we enter into that same space with those around us who suffer, struggle, grieve, and fear, when we engage with them as bearers of the divine image, even the most mundane of exchanges can make all the difference for them.

Pastor Steve begins a new five-week sermon series—The Good Life: Grounded in the Gospel. We all want to live "The Good Life," to feel content and blessed and fulfilled, but the ways we go about trying to achieve that life often work counter to that goal. The good news of the Christ's Gospel truly offers us the opportunity for life well-lived, and it begins with forgiveness. God offers us mercy and understanding—forgiveness by another name—so we might in turn offer it to others and to ourselves.

How often do we make excuses? Once a day, maybe twice? More? Try taking stock sometime and you'll surprise yourself with how often you make excuses for yourself. It's just human nature—we make excuses for anything and everything! Because we're tired, insecure, bored, angry, disinterested, ashamed, pained, and the list goes on. Christ takes the hard path and makes no excuses (notice that he never made it easy for himself), and asks that we simply follow his lead without a thought given to what costs might accrue or what inconveniences might arise. As Pastor Steve says in this sermon, "Lay down the excuses, place Christ first."

"What is your name?" asks Jesus, and the man answers "Legion." What do we make of Christ's exorcism of legion from the demoniac? In this sermon, Pastor Steve explores what it means to live as legion, to live in a state of spiritual and emotional fragmentation. So many of us have wandered aimlessly through life, and so many of us yet do. We are lost to ourselves, strangers to our own being. How are we made whole again? As Pastor Steve says in this sermon, in Christ we find completeness.

Based on Romans 5:1-5, and delivered on Trinity Sunday, June 12, 2022, by Pastor Steven D. Pierce at Central Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

As delivered by Pastor Steven D. Pierce on Pentecost Sunday, June 5, 2022, at Central Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan.