JR.'s Sermons

How much of our life actually involves Jesus? Is he essential or a mascot? The church at Laodicea paid Jesus lip service, but when he came to town, they left him out in the cold. On this Palm Sunday, how can we be sure we're welcoming Jesus as our lord, not ignoring him?

How does a Church measure success? Is it with numbers? Activities? Size? By any of those measures, the church at Philadelphia was a failure – and yet Jesus praised them more highly than any of the other churches. What can we learn about how to be faithful from this weak church?

What does it mean for a church to have a good reputation in the world? After all, reputation is rooted in values, and what should matter to a church isn't always what matters to Jesus. The Church in Sardis got it wrong; how can we get it right?

Part of the pain of growing older is learning the world isn't as black and white as we thought it was. We struggle to navigate a life - and a faith - that is messier than we wish it were. The Church in Thyatira faced similar problems - with different teachers advocating different solutions to their tension. They needed a Jesus with burning eyes and bronze feet (what?!). And so do we.

How often do we examine the roots of our values? Why do we really care about the things we care about? How did we decide what our vision for the Good Life is? Christians in Pergamum had the same problem we do – they assumed the values of their culture were compatible with Jesus’ vision for their lives. Jesus warns them – and us – that’s not the case. How can we know what Jesus wants for us?

Christians have always had a reputation for being a little weird. But how exactly are we supposed to be different from the culture around us? And what does that cost us?

Somehow, it's far too easy for religion to turn rotten. Faith that begins beautiful and life-giving turns cruel and judgmental. Jesus' message to the church in Ephesus reminds us: we need to return to our first love to avoid the trap of legalism.

If we think about it for a minute or two, we realize church isn’t a building, but an organization. But what kind of organization? The Church is a body of ministers, a whole group of servants. How does that work? And what does it look like when we do it well?

What does it mean to get saved? It's more than just a one-time experience. Salvation is a process that's on-going, one where we're learning how to live as God's children. What does that process look like? How can we be sure we're "working out our salvation"?

What does it mean to be #blessed? We have a sense that it's not material prosperity, but it's hard to put our finger on exactly what it IS. Jesus shows us that blessing is about experiencing God's presence, a presence available to us regardless of what we do. God shows us grace - being with us whether we deserve God's presence or not!