JR.'s Sermons

Who do you most identify with in the Christmas story? Maybe we most love Mary and Joseph, or the magi on their road trip, or the shepherds. The song Mary sings while she’s pregnant with Jesus is a reminder that Christmas is about more than gifts and parities… it’s about God rescuing the world. What does that mean for us? Well… it depends on where we are in God’s story.

Have you ever been silenced? It doesn't feel good. No wonder so many of us don't speak up for what's right. We feel ignored, unimportant or unworthy. But Mary's story shows us that God calls us to speak up, to join in. All God requires of us is a "Yes".

Churches often approach serving as an opportunity to take Jesus to people who don’t know him. But Scripture insists that God is always ahead of us, already at work. How can we learn to approach serving as pilgrims, looking for where God is already at work?

Churches think of Discipleship primarily in terms of learning more about God. But we only become more like God when we let ourselves be known by God. What does it look like to become a church that makes it easy to be known by God?

‘Diversity’ has become a buzz word in more and more churches. But it’s not just the trend of the day. The whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, reveals that God has called us to be a diverse body from the beginning, united but not uniform. How can we as a church embody God’s call to diversity better?

American culture is in the midst of what psychologists are calling a loneliness epidemic. How is the Church called to be a cure for loneliness? And what does that mean for what's ahead for Catalyst?

Big changes, painful loss and other significant events often test our faith. How can God be good if we're suffering? But God is at work in the midst of those painful places to bring us to trust, and to grow our faith.

When we see a need, we often think, "Oh, someone should help!" One of the biggest barriers to us stepping up is our own anxiety. But what if those are opportunities to grow in our faith? What if God is inviting us to step out and serve?

Most of us groan when we hear the word 'discipline' - especially when it comes to faith. Spiritual disciplines seem so often like chores we have to do to earn God's favor. But God invites us into these disciplines to create space for us to discover the Holy Spirit at work in our lives, and grow our faith.

We have all encountered people who impacted our faith - for better and for worse. Relationships are important - and inevitable. How can we be wise about our relationships? How can we be intentional both to see how God is working and to be ready to partner with God?