Sermons by Steve Zeisler

Sermons by Steve Zeisler

The Priority of Prayer

James 5:13-20 The longing to be known and loved is universal, going back to the banishment of our first parents from Eden. But surely we live in an especially lonely time. Social media offers us innumerable opportunities for connection which have mostly resulted in deformed ‘communities’, and ‘friendships’ without content. The church, God’s plan for human belonging, is seen by many (too often with good reason) as unwelcoming and self-important. We turn to scripture for a better word. The final verses of James contain practical instruction on healthy church life – describing believers who pray with and for one another, are honest about sin and suffering, and sing praises from the heart.

A Tent in a Promised Land

Hebrews 11:8-16 The most intractable problems in Silicon Valley have to do with housing. Concerns about homelessness, a volatile rental market, unaffordable starter homes, and $60 million mansions dominate headlines. The housing unsettledness of our time and place is not unique, however, and the most important considerations are not economic. We have been created to live in God’s presence, our lasting home is in a heavenly city he has prepared for us. Hebrews tells us that, by faith, Abraham ‘lived in a tent in the promised land’ as he looked forward to the promised city – teaching us faith lessons to begin a new year.