Sunday, December 27: Follow Me Mark 16:1–8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. Mark 16:8 The final message in our series will end on a bit of a down note. We’ve seen in Mark that Jesus […]
Sunday, December 20: Christmas Luke 2:1–10 We gather to worship and recognize the glory that is Emmanuel. God with us! This week we focus in on the nativity! In this family-friendly message, we explore what each of the holiday decorations may have been thinking. What did the shepherds feel when they were included at this celebration? How […]
Sunday, December 6: Follow Me Mark 14:32–72 One reason I appreciate the Bible as God’s true account, is the way they deal with the “heroes” of faith. You know the men and women we look up to and think how amazing followers of God they are. Moses split the red sea… and then in a fit of […]
Sunday, December 6: Follow Me Mark 14:32–72 One reason I appreciate the Bible as God’s true account, is the way they deal with the “heroes” of faith. You know the men and women we look up to and think how amazing followers of God they are. Moses split the red sea… and then in a fit of […]
Sunday, November 29: Baptism Matthew 28:18–20 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that […]
Sunday, November 22: Follow Me Mark 14:1–31 Mike Tyson once said, “Everybody’s got a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” And while he’s probably not a great role model in general, there’s some definite truth to that idea. We all know how things ought to go, and we can cruise right along until something […]
Sunday, November 15: Follow Me Mark 13:1–37 What do we need to know to survive the coming Apocalypse? …would be a great example of an attention grabbing headline. When will it happen? What should I stockpile? Where should I bury my many pounds of gold bullion? In our passage today Jesus’ disciples offer a casual comment […]
Sunday, November 8: Follow Me Mark 12:1–44 Last Sunday, we saw Jesus arrive in Jerusalem and immediately cause a scene in the temple. Pressure has been building between Jesus and the religious leadership of his day, and in Mark 12 things erupt. Having prophesied the destruction of the temple, Jesus turns on the religious leaders and […]
Sunday, November 1: Follow Me Mark 11:1–33 “Dad, look what I made!” This is what greets me most days when I come home from work (it’s wonderful). Whether it’s wooden blocks, Lincoln Logs, Legos or Minecraft; drawings, music, or crafts; children love to create for their parents. I don’t know that we ever grow out of […]
Sunday, October 25: Follow Me Mark 10:17–34 As Jesus continues towards Jerusalem, teaching along the way, he encounters a man who asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Solid question, and probably one that we all have an opinion on one way or another. Our text in Mark tells us that the man is […]
Sunday, October 18: Follow Me Mark 10:1–16 As we follow Jesus in the gospel of Mark, we’ve seen a regular pattern of his concern for the vulnerable. Whether it’s vulnerable children, the hungry, or the sick, Jesus’ ministry is marked by special care for those who are most often left out. In our passage today Jesus […]
Sunday, October 11: Follow Me Mark 9:30–50 In Mark 9:30–50, Jesus and his disciples are traveling through Galilee when Jesus says to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” (Mark 9:31 ESV) […]
Sunday, October 4: Follow Me Mark 9:2–29 This Sunday we continue our study in the book of Mark. We will cover a lot of ground in half a chapter, and it will truly reflect the ups and downs of our spiritual journey. We will see a mountain top experience the disciples had, as well as a […]
Sunday, September 27: Follow Me Mark 8:31–9:1 “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Mark 8:34 ESV) What does that mean to you? This week we are returning to the Gospel of Mark in a series called Follow Me. In the first eight chapters of […]
Sunday, September 20: Vision Sunday 1 Corinthians 9:19–23 Do you remember the good old days? There once was a time when the air was so clean that you could even go outside. There wasn’t a pandemic. You didn’t have to worry about murder hornets. Grocery stores were stocked with toilet paper. Kids went to this place […]
Sunday, September 13: Underdogs Joshua 2:1–14 If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re the type of person who should be at church, it’s fun to read through the Bible and see what God has to say. An old racist who refused to preach to the Ninivites? Check, God can partner with a Jonah all day. Someone insignificant, […]
Sunday, September 6: Underdogs Daniel 6 Life has a way of hitting us hard. Medical crises, unemployment, and trouble with our kids are just some of the ways life can overwhelm us and remind us that we are not in control. How do we respond to these times? From where does our deliverance come? This Sunday […]
Sunday, August 30: Underdogs John 4:13–15 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal […]
Sunday, August 23: Underdogs Matthew 4:18–20 The life of Peter is a wild ride, he has some ups and downs. He’s got a solid fishing business, and he leaves it behind to follow an unknown, wandering preacher. Jesus singles Peter out as the foundation of the church in one moment, and he’s being rebuked and compared to […]
Sunday, August 16: Underdogs Esther 2:5 – 7:10 When Israel went into Babylonian captivity, the rug was pulled out from under their feet. Everything about their lives—their jobs, their government, their homes, their religion—changed. They underwent the biggest national identity crisis in their history and came out asking the question, “What does it look like to […]
Sunday, August 9: Underdogs Judges 6:1–16 Of all the action heroes who you grew up with, saw in movies, read about in books, or even knew personally, who was the greatest? The most powerful, the most compelling, who would be the one you’d call, to use the biblical term, a “Mighty man of valor?” It’s surprising […]
Sunday, August 2: Underdogs Job What makes Job an underdog? Very few people in the whole wide world have experienced more pain and loss than Job did. You might even say that the deck was completely stacked against Job, and yet he survives his trials. If there was one person who had the ability to ask […]
Sunday, July 26: Underdogs Jonah What makes Jonah an underdog? In my opinion, anyone who tries to run from God, gets tossed off a ship in the middle of storm, ends up inside the belly of fish for a three-day timeout, until he is literally barfed up on a beach, qualifies as an underdog. Everyone knows […]
Sunday, July 19: Underdogs Ruth “The providences of God are like Hebrew words: they can only be properly read backwards.” John Flavel Last Sunday we started a new summer study series called, “Underdogs.” An underdog is the opposite of a top dog. In sports, or in a competition, it refers to the team or person expected […]
Sunday, July 12: Underdogs Esther Have you ever felt like you were insignificant in the kingdom of God? Have you ever thought that maybe God is able to do great things through others, but not through you? Have you ever felt like an underdog? This week we are launching into a new sermon series called Underdogs. In it, […]
Sunday, July 5: Family of God 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 Over the past month, we have seen a lot of responses to racism and injustice in America. Some of these responses have been good. Others… not so much. If we agree that racism is a problem or if we agree that injustice is an issue… what then? What is […]
Sunday, June 28: Family of God Week two of our three-week mini-series called “Family of God” continues to explore our responses to the injustices we see in the world, as followers of Jesus. Building off week one’s sermon on the imago Dei, by which humans have all been instilled with dignity, value, and worth, this week […]
Sunday, June 21: Family of God Genesis 1:26-28 In Acts 8, an Ethiopian eunuch is journeying home after worshipping at the temple in Jerusalem. We are not told the specifics of his experience in Jerusalem, but given his ethnicity and status (a eunuch), it probably would not have been good. Gentiles had limited access to worship. […]
Sunday, June 14: Joshua Joshua 24:1-33 Joshua 24 recounts the last words of Joshua to the people of Israel. This is after the many years of battle, through the conquest of Canaan, and through the varying degrees of faithfulness that the Israelites have shown to God. Through it all God has remained steadfast, just, and faithful. […]
Sunday, June 7: Joshua Joshua 13-22 In Genesis 15:18, God makes a promise to a childless old wanderer: “To your offspring I give this land.” That old man would go on to become the father of a great nation, and for over 600 years his descendants would cling to that promise. Land. Rest. In that time, […]
Sunday, May 31: Joshua Joshua 10-13:7 Israel’s decision to start from the instructions of God and to make a covenant with some of the Canaanites has some unexpected consequences this week. Not just for the Israelites, but also for the Gibeonites who have been folded into the family of God. The decision to follow after God […]
Sunday, May 24: Joshua Joshua 9 9“They said to him, “From a very distant country your servants have come, because of the name of the Lord your God. For we have heard a report of him, and all that he did in Egypt, 10 and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were […]
Sunday, May 17: Joshua Joshua 7-8 Two weeks ago, we saw God perform one of his most famous miracles in bringing down the walls of Jericho. From the outside, Jericho looked impenetrable. Fortified walls six feet thick. No one came in. No one went out. But not even that could stop God and He delivered the […]
Happy Mother’s Day! Thank you for all you do! Tune in for our Mother’s Day sermon to learn about how the family came to be and what that means for us today. Great job Gary!
Sunday, May 3: Joshua Joshua 2, 5 and 6 What’s the most famous story in the old testament book of Joshua? If you said anything but the walls of Jericho, you would be wrong! Within the story of Jericho in Joshua chapters 2, 5, and 6 we see a lot of situations that make us raise our […]
Sunday, April 26: Joshua Joshua 3-4 In Joshua 3, Israel arrives at the cusp of the Promised Land for a second time. The first time, recorded in Numbers 13, did not go well. Israel sent spies into the land who brought back a mixed report: the land was good, but also well-fortified and inhabited by giants! […]
Sunday, April 19: Joshua Joshua 1:1-9 Do you know who Jarrett Stidham is? (No cheating with an internet search.) I’ll give you a minute. With Tom Brady departing to play quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jarrett Stidham is currently the starting quarterback for the New England Patriots. I feel bad for that guy! Imagine stepping […]
Sunday, April 12: Easter 2 Peter 1:16-21 I hope you are as excited for Easter as I am! Last week, Jeremiah finished our series on Mark 1–8. The first half of Mark ends with Jesus asking his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” I imagine the disciples were pretty hesitant to speak up, but […]
Sunday, April 5: Son of God Mark 8:22–38 Being a disciple ofJesus would have been the privilege of a lifetime, constantly seeing God at work in the world, following him wherever he went, and regularly having to reconsider what you thought you knew about him. He’s certainly a healer, but who is he willing to heal? […]
Sunday, March 29: Son of God Mark 8:1–21 If Jesus had a go-to meal, it was probably fish and bread. I know some of you are missing your sports statistics, so let me just point out that Jesus has already fed 5,000 men a meal of fishes and loaves, and this week he’ll feed another 4,000. […]
Sunday, March 22: Son of God Mark 7:1–37 How is the social distancing going? As it turns out, this week we will be talking about the importance of washing your hands. Seriously. That’s our text for the week. But it’s not what you think. In Mark 7, Jesus gets into a debate with the Pharisees about […]
Sunday, March 15: Son of God Mark 6:30–52 This week we continue our study series based on the Gospel of Mark. You might remember that right out of the chute, Mark told us what he’s up to: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” For six chapters Mark has been showing […]
Sunday, March 8: Son of God Mark 6:14-29 The life of John the Baptist was anything but normal. In the womb he was jumping for joy for God, and he didn’t let up on that enthusiasm up until the day he was executed. The book of Mark introduces us to John’s death so abruptly that […]
Sunday, March 1: Son of God Mark 6:1–13 In Mark 5, Jesus performs his most amazing miracle yet. The synagogue ruler Jairus tells Jesus that his sweet little girl is dying and begs Jesus to save her. Jesus agrees, but before he reaches the man’s house, the girl passes. Jairus’ servants meet him on the road […]
Sunday, February 23: Son of God Mark 5:21–43 This week we follow Jesus back across the Sea of Galilee, into the town of Capernaum where his ministry began. Having just visited the Gentile country, Jesus has shown that his ministry isn’t limited to the Jewish people, but back on the home field Jesus is quickly met […]
Sunday, February 16: Son of God Mark 5:1–20 In Mark 5:1–20, Jesus and his disciples arrive at other side of the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Gerasenes. As soon as they get off the boat, they are confronted by a hostile figure—a man possessed by the demon Legion. Jesus and the demon(s) battle until Legion […]
Sunday, February 9: Son of God Mark 4:35–41 In Mark 4, Jesus embarks on a journey with his disciples across the Sea of Galilee. In a small fishing boat. In a storm. At night. The trip goes about as well as you fear. The wind roars. The waves crash. The boat starts to take on water. Did I mention it […]
Sunday, February 2: Son of God Mark 4:1–34 Jesus’ teaching ministry in the book of Mark begins with the use of parables. These parables hold deep truths, in seemingly simple stories. Sometimes they’re confusing, and actually, most of the time they’re not easy to understand in the first read-through. So what’s the point of these stories? […]
Sunday, January 19: Son of God Mark 2:13–3:6 Do you have that friend who is an amazing storyteller? The one who, even when you have previously heard the story, makes it dynamic with their energy and enthusiasm? The Gospel of Mark is kind of like that. Mark, with enthusiasm and energy, loves to tell the story of Jesus! […]
Sunday, January 12: Son of God Mark 1:21–2:12 Last week, we looked at the ministry of John the Baptist. John was a strange dude—he ate locusts and honey, wore a garment made of camel hair, and hung out in the wilderness dunking people in the Jordan River. But, as strange as his dress and diet were, […]
Sunday, January 5: Son of God Mark 1:1–20 Happy New Year! New year; new sermon series. This Sunday we are diving into the Gospel of Mark in a series called Son of God. Mark is a story about Jesus. It has all the elements of a good story: setting, characters, plotline, and themes; and the central conflict of the narrative is: Who is Jesus? Now, […]