JR.'s Sermons

We're told that unless you accept Jesus as your savior, you go to Hell. But what about the countless people around the world who died without ever hearing about Jesus? Or those who were introduced to him at the end of a conqueror's sword? How can God be loving if those people go to Hell? How can God be just if they're punished for something they couldn't help?

Why did Jesus die on the Cross? Did God really kill Jesus because he was angry at us? These questions point to the heart of God's character, and many of us are afraid of the answer. But when we understand how the Bible talks about God's wrath, we see the Cross not as an angry God defending his own reputation, but rather as the one who created and loves us saving us from ourselves.

God loves us, and God is quick to forgive. Unless we commit the unpardonable sin. What does it mean to 'blaspheme the Holy Spirit'? Why is that the sin God considers unforgivable? How can that be if God's love is unending?

We say God is Love but what about Hell? Do people who don't know God really get tortured for all eternity? If someone prays right before they die, are they safe no matter what? How is that fair when good people who never heard about God suffer forever? Is it possible we've got Hell all wrong? How could Hell actually be good news?

The Church is supposed to be a spiritual family that is assembled around Jesus to offer his love to the world. But far too often, churches are the source of deep trauma. We know Jesus calls us to love our enemies, but what do we do when our enemy is the Church? How do we love the ones who hurt us in the name of Jesus?

We hear that God brings joy and peace. But if we're honest, we don't often experience those feelings. Does that mean we're lacking in some essential way? That we need to try harder? Be better? No - joy and peace aren't emotions. They're a state of being that flows out of God's own character. So what does it look like for us to experience them?

What does it mean to say the Bible is the "inspired Word of God"? How do we know the Bible is trustworthy? After all, it's a library of more than sixty books by dozens of authors written and compiled over the course of centuries. Doesn't that make it less reliable? Not for those of us at Catalyst - the human component of Scripture is a feature, not a bug. What makes the Bible inspired is that it's fully divine and fully human.

How do we know who God is? After all, there are dozens of religions who all make competing claims about God's nature. God has revealed themselves to us through God's actions in human history. From the Exodus to Jesus himself, God shows themselves to be a liberator. God rescues us from injustice and oppression. God works for the flourishing of all of us!

What does it mean for us that the Holy Spirit is alive around and within us? On Pentecost, the birthday of the Church, we're exploring one of Jesus' stranger word pictures. It all has to do with an ancient festival, the Dead Sea and of course the book of Revelation. Hey... it's our birthday, so we have to party!

Jesus prays that God will make us one the same way Jesus and the Father are one. What does this oneness look like? Think of us all like lines of computer code. We're all different, and all have different roles to play. Oneness doesn't mean uniformity; it means we're all working together to execute God's mission of liberation in our world!