Our great temptation after the awakening of Baptism is to stop moving. To assume that we're good to go when, in faith, we've barely started moving. Jesus calls on us to keep going, keep studying, keep serving and defiantly proclaiming forgiveness. And by these actions, our people will know they are free. The sermon preached on Reformation Sunday, Oct 30, on John 8.

We are conditioned to pick a side and stay in that lane without changing. Our gospel reading from Luke 18 fits that idea. Who will you choose, the contemptible Pharisee who puts down everyone, or the traitorous tax collector who is an outcast from respectable society? Whoever we are and wherever we stand, do we know that we are safe in the presence of God? The sermon preached Sunday, Oct 23 on Luke 18.9-14.

No one is excited to do something when the outcome is unclear. Prayer, for some, is an immediate connection with God. Prayer, for others, is labor intense and requires more energy than is available. Jesus in our gospel calls on us to pray ceaselessly anyway. All the glory, all the grime, give it all to God. The sermon preached on Luke 18.1-8 Sunday, Oct 16.

The disciples make our demand of Jesus, "Increase our Faith!" Jesus responds by taking everything we hold dear away from us. We expect Jesus to keep filling us up and Jesus calls on us to stand with the powerless in our midst and remember that more power is not what we need. The sermon given Sunday, Oct 2 2016 on Luke 17.5-10.

Its not so much about 'them' as it is about 'us.' Jesus tells a story that feels safely one-sided, until we realize its not so linear and our presence in it is not so obvious. Thank God for Christ, who reunites us with Grace and each other through a simple gate. The sermon preached Sunday Sept 25 on Luke 17, 'The Rich Man and Lazarus.'

Jesus compares his followers to a dishonest manager? That doesn't seem right, though its right there in the gospel of Luke. There must be something more going on, more than what we see. The sermon preached Sunday, Sept 18 on Luke 16.

Jesus gets a little less bearable this week as he keeps hanging out with those people. We know those people, sinner types who bring their business all up in ours. How many new faces is too many, how many is not enough? The sermon preached on the gospel of Luke 15.1-10.

Paul speaks the name of a slave and reminds Philemon that Onesimus is not less than, his life matters as a brother in Christ. Speaking words that matter affirms life and proclaims that we people of God share in the power of the gospel to transform our world. For our people of color brothers and sisters, the words Black Lives Matter declare that shared power and saying them moves we people from division toward God's kingdom. The sermon preached Sunday September 4, 2016 on Paul's letter to Philemon.

As our preaching series with Paul continues, we find ourselves stuck in the paralysis of death. We do not want to leave our loved ones behind and we do not wish to stay in the fields of stone forever. What, then is our hope through Christ? The sermon preached Sunday, Aug 28 on 1 Thessalonians 4.13-17.

Who told you about God? Someone came along and spoke words of Grace and new life through Christ and now you're walking in faith. Who have you told about God? As saints cross our paths, we are called to be that same voice of forgiveness and Grace for a friend, a spouse, a classmate. The sermon preached Sunday, Aug 14 on Philippians chapter 1