Sermon Podcast
-
Abraham On Trial
When scripture says God told Abraham to offer up his son Isaac as a burnt offering, what are we to do with that story? In what way does that awful, horrifying story function as the word of God for the people of God?
-
Call Me Ishmael
What happens when we “jump the gun,” trying to do what God is calling us to do? The story of Ishmael is often regarded as a story of the perils of misguided attempts to do what God wants in the wrong way, but if we look closer, we might find that in the midst of…
-
What’s the Deal with Mission?
Mission can feel like a big, scary word, evoking all sorts of things that might not necessarily be what God has in mind. In this message, you’ll hear a brief, unprofessional history of the idea of mission in the church, and a few ideas that might make the idea of doing mission more accessible.
-
Disernment Part 3: “Individual” Discernment
How do you know what God wants you to do in less-clear, higher-stakes decisions? Is it going to be the opposite of what you want? Or will it more likely align with your own deep desire and longing? In this final message on discernment, we look at Abram’s call to go to Canaan as a…
-
Discernment Part 2: God Is Involved in the Process
In Acts 15, the apostles hold a meeting and listen to stories. Then James quotes scripture and comes to a decision, and that decision is given unanimous support. But wait! In the letter, they say “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit.” How was the Holy Spirit involved?
-
Why Would You Want to Go Back to Pentecost?
There can be a nostalgia in the church for Pentecost, but at its best, a wish for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit is not a wish to go backwards, but rather a wish for change and a future we might not yet even be able to imagine – and one that might offend…
-
Discernment Part 1
Christians have long tried to figure out what God wants us to do in particular situations. Some might describe it as “looking for God’s will.” Presbyterians (and other Christian traditions) call that process of trying to figure out what God might be leading us to do, “Discernment.” In this message, Rev. David Schell shares some…
-
Judgment Day
Plenty of people are afraid of judgment day, but when you look closely at who the judge is, and what God’s judgment looks like in scripture, it might prove more hopeful than fearsome.
-
Too Good Not To Be True
It is difficult to believe good news, but in the case of the resurrection, and so many other things in our lives, it is, to borrow from Beuchner, simply “too good *not* to be true.”
-
Violence or Jesus?
You may have heard that the folks who cheered Jesus on when he came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday thought he was going to defeat Rome, but what if they weren’t wrong because what if that’s not what they thought? What if all they knew were these two things:1. Something is wrong, and2. Jesus can…