JR.'s Sermons

Bad times test our faith. But good times test our faith in a whole different way. Moses warned God’s people that the privilege they would experience in the Promised Land could be toxic to their faith if they weren’t vigilant. So as we near the end of the pandemic, what does that vigilance look like for us?

It's one thing to ask if Jesus is really with us in hard times. It's quite another to ask if we're willing to stay with Jesus in those same hard times. Jesus wants us to have a mature, vibrant faith, one that is strong enough to support us as we follow him everywhere - even in the worst times.

It's natural to ask where God is in tough times. But according to Scripture, that desire to test God is a sign of an immature faith. How can a mature faith carry us through troubled times?

We've all heard "You're not yourself when you're hungry." But what if the opposite is true? What if something as basic as hunger shows us our true selves? When we're not the masters of our desires, we will miss what God wants to do in our lives and in our world. Jesus shows us how to master our desires so we can be present to God.

Some of our strongest temptations involve our cravings - food, sex, attention, connection. Why is desire so powerful? And how do we live with our desires so they connect us to God rather than poison our lives, relationships and faith?

Knowing how to follow Jesus today can be complex and difficult - especially because our world of polarized politics, social media and technology is so foreign to the worlds of the Bible. That's why Scripture invites us to grow not in knowledge, but wisdom. How can we know the Jesus who is still with us, leading the way?

We often struggle to see where God is at work, especially in times of personal or cultural hardship. How can we learn to see God all around us, continuing to create new goodness? How can we learn to live in faith that God's not finished with us?

So much of our world is grounded in competition – who gets the most votes, has the most money, the best looking family, best grades and so on. No wonder they call it a rat race. It’s nothing new – we’ve been fighting to be on top for thousands of years. What sets Jesus apart is not that he’s strong enough to win – it’s that he refuses to play the game at all. What does that mean for us today?

We all want to know why bad things happen to good people. But Scripture is much less interested in the origin of evil than the goal – to poison humanity against our creator. Jesus shows us what a faithful human response to sin looks like – and how God proves God is the one we can trust to protect and provide for us!

To say God is our creator is to insist we live in a particular story - one that believes that God created all people to enjoy peace and justice. How can we identify the barriers to flourishing for everyone, and join Jesus in creating a better world?