JR.'s Sermons

What does love look like in public? As Dr. Cornel West says, it's justice. How can we love well, in public? What does it mean to say that love changes the world?

Party of what's so challenging about seeking out love is that we've been told God is love, but have so many unloving images of God. Jesus helps us to see who God is and how God loves us. And as we connect to Jesus, his love transforms how we engage the people we encounter.

What keeps us from being more loving? Proverbs has a list of seven things God hates - and God hates them because they're barriers to having more love in our lives. How do we spot these barriers? And what do we do to root them out?

We've all heard love is the most powerful force in the world, but it can be hard to believe it's really true. What is the nature of Love's power? And how do we find it in our life?

We mistake a lot of things for love (like, for instance, the infatuation between Romeo & Juliet). But the reality is that not all that masquerades as love is truly love. How do we spot the impostors masquerading as love so we can avoid them?

So many things in our world pass themselves off as love, it can be hard to spot genuine love. But the truth is that we're surrounded by love. So how can we learn to spot it? It helps to learn the fruit that grow from love. After all, if we can spot the fruit, we can identify the root of love from which it grows.

What does it take to love well? How do we receive love well? Our journey to love begins with making sure we're ready. And a big part of that is... just showing up! Guest speaker and author Matt Mikalatos invites us to begin the journey well.

We've all experienced financial strain as a result of the pandemic. Those strains make generosity harder. The Bible reminds us that generosity isn't about how much we give, but our attitude. Do we insist on generosity? On a faith-filled attitude that helps us remain open to our world rather than closed off in fear.

One of the biggest struggles throughout the pandemic has been the loss of our social rhythms. We don't see our co-workers, our friends or our families nearly as much as we once did. This loss of social interaction has taken a toll - because we were created to know and to be known. So how can we reclaim social rhythms? What does the practice of hospitality look like in our new reality?

With everything happening in our world, we feel crushed and hopeless. Now, more than ever, we need to reclaim the weekly rhythm of worship. Why? Because this weekly rhythm reminds us who we are: God's beloved people, called to be peacemakers in this chaotic world.