Sermons from September 2022
Weary of Conflict, Longing for Peace
Psalm 120
Psalm 120 is the first in a collection of psalms (120-134) known as the “Songs of Ascent.” These songs were gathered together to be sung by pilgrims as they went up to Jerusalem three times a year for the great worship festivals of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. These yearly pilgrimages shaped Israel’s identity in the saving acts of God’s grace. “Pilgrim” is an essential aspect of our identity as followers of Jesus. As God’s elect, we are not at home in this world. We are citizens of another world, making our way to a heavenly “city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb 11:10). Psalm 120 gives voice to the pain and alienation we experience as foreigners and exiles in a strange land, juxtaposed with deep longings for God that break us out of our paralysis and launch us on our pilgrimage.
A Friend For The Jesus Way
John 14:15-24
Join us this Sunday, as I share with you about a friend of mine. We have been friends for a few decades now. I try to make time for my friend on a regular basis, and when I do, my friend provides strength and joy and peace and wisdom and comfort to me. The really great thing about this friend is he is always with me and never leaves me. I am of course speaking about the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. He is the friend we have with us on the Jesus Way.
Life Along the Jesus Way
John 14:6-14
Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth and the life, the only way to the Father. I invite you to follow me on my way. I invite you to do life the way I do life, because the way I do life is truth and is life.” So, what can we expect if we choose to follow Jesus on his way? What can we expect along His way to the Father? Join us this Sunday as we explore Jesus’ initial words for what life looks like along his way.
Paying Attention to Jesus
Heb 2:1-4
It’s Labor Day weekend, the traditional end of summer and start of a new school year. But many students have been back in class for two weeks already. We hope that they are learning again how to pay attention in class. Perhaps their teachers have given a pep talk: “You must pay the most careful attention to what you hear else…” An exhortation to listen and a warning of the consequences for not doing so: “…else you’ll fail the test, your GPA will suffer, and you won’t get into your choice of school.” The preacher to the Hebrews does a similar thing. After presenting the excellence of the Son in whom God has spoken, he exhorts and warns: “We must pay most careful attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” Throughout his sermon he urges us to pay attention to Jesus.