Romans 5:1-11 is the text for this sermon in which Paul tells the church at Rome that suffering actually builds strong character in those who persevere in spite of it.   

Jim Grasley takes this week's sermon from Psalm 121 in which the Psalmist affirms that God is the source of his help through all of life.  

This week's sermon comes from Romans 5:12-19, and its central idea is examining the far-reaching consequences of the first humans' rebellion against God.  In this text Paul, the writer, compares the destructive consequence of Adam's sin to the contrasting repair, restoration, and recovery of Christ's central act.

February 15 was Transfiguration Sunday in the Christian calendar, so the text chosen for the sermon was the account of Jesus taking Peter, James, and John to the top of a mountain where his appearance was "transfigured" before their eyes.  This text is from Mark 9:2-17, although it is recorded in Matthew and Luke as well.

This sermon comes from Matthew 5:13-20, and it concerns Jesus' telling the crowd of follower that they, and they alone, were salt and light in the world.  They were to deliver preservation and healing in the manner that Salt does.

Matthew 5:13-20

Salt of the Earth

Jim Grasley examines 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 in this sermon.  A text where Paul takes up the issue of the paradox of the Cross.

In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, he warned against being judgmental toward other people.  And he used an exaggerated but effective image to make his point - the log versus the speck.  This is the text, Matthew 7:1-5, for examining the third of the Three Practices.  "I will not compare my best with your worst."

This sermon looks at the second practice of the Three Practices, "Stay in the room with difference."  The basic idea of this practices is to stay connected to Others, even when you hold an opposing viewpoint.  Paul showed the validity of this practice in the way that he connected with the Greek philosophers in the city of Athens.  This sermon comes from Acts 17:16-34.

This is the first of what is called The Three Practices which are three ways of engaging people in the world around us, based on the way that Jesus instructed us to imitate.  The text comes from John 4:4-30 which is the account of Jesus' conversation with a woman of Samaria.

Jim Grasley delivered this sermon on 4 January, and his text is John 3:1-15.  The sermon is about Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus, and it opens a January series of sermons about the Three Practices that make Christians more tune-in, attentive, and gracious listeners toward the people around them.