Stanford RUF Minister Crawford Stevener visits Resurrection Oakland and teaches us about the mountains and valleys of the Christian life via two stories in Mark 9. In the Transfiguration of Jesus, we see the literal and figurative mountaintop, when He is revealed to be the cosmic God of Glory. In the healing of the demon-possessed boy, we learn about the famed quote—”Lord I believe, help my unbelief.” We ultimately see that faith in Jesus is the only thing in this life that leads to true and lasting spiritual healing.

While many don’t make formal resolutions, we all have goals, hopes, and expectations heading into the new year. The Bible tells us that there is just one thing to aim our lives at, and if we have this one thing, we will lack nothing—love. In a sermon given on New Years Eve, Pastor Dave teaches us why we need love, where to aim our love, and how to get love.

During our special Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, we conclude our Advent sermon series with a special performance of “Mary Did You Know.” Luke’s gospel records the very first Christmas song ever sung—the one from Mary herself. Bonhoeffer called it “the oldest Christian hymn.” It shows us that Christmas is hope for broken people and hope in a broken world.

When Simeon sees the young Jesus, he declares his life to be complete. What would have to happen in your life to make that same declaration? We need a longing heart, a cosmic hope, and a piercing sword.

The song the angels sing to the incredulous shepherds is perhaps the most famous song surrounding Christmas in the Gospels. It speaks of the peace we long for, the peace Christmas offers us, and how this peace can change our lives.

Through Zechariah’s Song in Luke 1, we learn that Christmas means three things: it means that God wants you to know His love, it means that God is always working in our lives, and it means that we should never stop looking at Christmas, when Jesus came into our world in the most unexpected way.

In a special sermon by UC Berkeley RUF Minister John Kong, we learned that because Christ confronted the ultimate darkness for us, we can walk in the light. But why is this? It’s because God is light, we need light, and Christ Himself is the Light.

Concluding our series about the life of Peter, Pastor Brent asks the question: What will give us a meaningful life? How do you avoid wasting it? The answer is mission—living a story that is bigger than your own. Living in God’s mission is 1) something happens to you, and 2) something happens through you.

Peter’s denial of Jesus in Luke 22 is perhaps the most famous and relatable story of failure in the Bible. In examining this passage, Pastor Brent teaches us three ways the gospel changes the way you handle failure: it makes you honest about failure, it shows you the true nature of failure, and it offers the only healing for failure.

Understanding who someone is can have radical implications for how you relate to them. In the case of the interaction between Peter and Jesus in Matthew 16, Peter’s confession gives us three things: a truth for our minds, a challenge for our wills, and a promise for our hearts.