The gospel reading of Jesus getting baptized and being anointed by the Holy Spirit is obvious. Though a natural question could be, why does Jesus need to get baptized? Baptism is good news for many of us. It is a tangible sign of God's unbreakable love for us that goes with us wherever we are and whoever we become. Jesus doesn't need to be reminded of his birth father,he doesn't need to be forgiven of anything, and he doesn't need public displays of divine affirmation. His anointing must be about something else. Or someone else. Our sermon series "Superheroes Checklist" continues from Jan 13, 2019.

Our sermon series is a weekly reflection on a list of skills and attributes we can use to tell our friends about Jesus, the same way we might tell them about our favorite superhero. Our first attribute was Epic Quest. Find the whole list on Trinity's website.

We begin our list of key descriptions of Jesus with "Epic Quest." The gospel of Matthew that frames our sermon is about a group of magi who travel a distance by divine GPS expecting to see God in our world. How far are we willing to go to find God? Or maybe the better question to ask: wherever we go, do we expect to see God? The magi has no sense of what they were searching for except God is here among us, apparently in a house in Bethlehem, and he's being called a king. They were strangers in a strange land and they went. We might be strangers in our neighbors' homes and not know much about each other and still, we can go across the globe or the fence hoping to encounter God. The first in our sermon series "Superheroes Checklist" launched Jan 6, 2019.

It is good for us to be gathered around God, who has come to be among us. No more distance, no longer separated, no lingering sense of isolation or solitude. God has come to be in our lives that we can live out God's promise of life. Huddled in the nativity, we become God's holy family. Can we see God in our lives? Can we imagine a love so profound that God will stop at nothing to be with us? Our Christmas Eve sermon on Luke 2.

Mary sang one of the most beloved, known and reprised songs of Christian scripture. Our tendency is to celebrate her song, give her nod of thanks, and slide her back in a box after Christmas. Yet her song continues to resonate through our streets and our people. Her words speak of a hope some of us take for granted while others cry out in the streets. Do we hear Mary's song in our community today? How is God drawing us back through a street smart, brash teen mom who sings for every voice that has gone ignored for too long? Our final sermon in the Advent series, Moved to Joy, on Luke 1.

Go ahead, sing out. Let your voice be a disruption to the normal pace and flow of life. Sing Christmas carols, sing Mariah Carey or Bing Crosby, sing your hope in God that the kingdom of near. Our gospel may be about John and yet its mostly about us. Its about our wild world and the temptation to remain silent, lest we seem a pest.Then again, if we remain silent, the world keeps moving and the good news that God is breaking into this world to be us will go unheard. Might as well use our voices and get the word out, God is coming. Our second sermon in our Advent series, "Moving to Joy," on Luke 3.1-6.

In this apocalyptic text from Jesus that includes stars, the moon and trees, Jesus is pointing us out to the unknown future and he is compelling to see our world as it is. We don't have to wait in fear for a coming day of calamity, some of our neighbors are already there. We might already be there. And yet, there are signs of God in the midst, Jesus standing with us through the ordeal of daily life. Can we, when we see God, stand and be a reflection of God for our people wrapped in shadows? An Advent sermon from our sermon series, "Moving to Joy" on Luke 21. 

Jesus is standing alone on trial before Pilate and admits that no one is coming for him. The crowds have walked away, the disciples deny him, and we have our reasons for bailing on him, too. There is no one beyond the doors who is going to save him, and Jesus doesn't need us to protect him. He'll let all our fancy, churchy, and politically charged labels fall away. He's no king, he is the Son of God. Our sermon on Christ the King Sunday Nov 25, 2018.

There is no room for hate. There is no justification for inciting fear. There is no space for racism. There is no acceptable level of violence. In the presence of God. There is only life in abundance. Paul is standing between us, calling us in the name of Christ to see each other. Not look for the differences as we humans always do, to instead look for God in the face of our neighbor. To see Christ alive in the stranger. There is no place for white supremacy and there is no excuse. We have Grace, forgiveness and love. We are called by Christ to live this good news. Our sermon from Sunday October 28 (Reformation) on Romans 3.21-26.

In the shelter of the Most High, all the good words about God make sense. We barely have to think about them, every single one just seems to fit in a mysterious, obvious-to-us way. Beyond the threshold of God's shelter is where the distance from God begins to appear. Do God's good words about healing, protection, care and shelter fit with our world of war, division, oppression and injustice? Psalm 91 lets us ask that question and linger with our doubt, if only to remind us that its the same doubt that our neighbors dwell in every day outside of our church's walls. A sermon on the praise in Psalm 91 given Sunday, Oct 21, 2018.

Jesus talks about divorce and adultery. Nothing awkward about that. As we dig into the text, we discover this isn't simply some legal argument meant to shape our salvation. Jesus takes us all the way back to the beginning and draws every single one of us into the conversation. We are all culpable for the shattered relationships that surround our lives, our community, and our nation. How we see and respect the women in our culture reflects how we honor God. And then, for an added living example of our brokenness and Christ's Grace, children show up. All of Creation in one teachable moment that starts with a random question from a group of privileged naysayers. Our sermon from Sunday Oct 7 2018 on Mark 10.1-16.