Pastor Chris Thomas Sermons

We definitely don’t find mourning high on the “blessings” list but Jesus continues his kingdom declaration by talking about those who mourn. What does it mean for us to mourn as Christians and how is it a part of our calling to mourn the brokenness of the world as Jesus did?

Jesus speaks more about money than any other topic. Is wealth a bad thing in and of itself? Jesus warns about the pursuit of wealth as our end goal but wealth can be used for God. When Jesus talks about being “poor in spirit” it is more about a disposition before God the Father than a condition of material possessions. How can we be people who are poor in spirit before the Lord?

This week I start a new series on the Beatitudes at the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. For Matthew’s gospel, the Kingdom of Heaven is an important theme. In the first teaching of Jesus’ that Matthew records, Jesus sets the tone for what the Kingdom will be about. What do the Beatitudes have to do with being Kingdom oriented people? Listen in and meditate on this question with me.

The world has thrown us a curve ball when it comes to our ideas about fellowship. As we end our series on practices every Christian should do, we look at how the principle of fellowship can still be accomplished in these days of COVID-19.

God has been generous toward us in his mercy and love. We are called as Christians to be generous with the blessings God has given to us. What does it look like to live a life of generosity toward God and others? We take a look at the parable of the Good Samaritan to think about this Christian practice.

God has blessed us with so much in life let alone the grace and mercy we have received through Jesus. We see a regular practice throughout scripture of giving thanks to God for all God has done. Do we have thanksgiving on our lips first or grumbling? Listen in as I talk about how to develop a practice of giving thanks.

We are totally forgive by God in the grace offered to us in Jesus Christ. What keeps us hiding from God still? Confession is an important practice in the Christian life that helps us to come before our creator vulnerable, trusting, and ready to turn from our sinful ways. Listen in as we reflect on this practice today.

Today I talk about the practice of prayer and how important it is in developing a relationship with God. Through prayer we bond with God and learn God’s heart so that we can be like God and follow God’s will for our lives.

We hear a lot about meditation these days as an important practice for mental and physical health. Christian meditation takes after the Jewish practice of meditation focusing your mind on God’s revealed word to learn God’s will for you. We look in this sermon how to develop this practice in your life.

One practice we have used in Church before can be found in more detail on this page about Lectio Divina

God promises to always be with us but sometimes it can feel like God is far away. Why is that? In this sermon I look at how we can sharpen our awareness of God’s presence in our daily lives.