Sonoma Avenue Sermons

After all of the planning and scheming, Jesus found himself in the custody of the Jewish authorities. It was time for them to present their case against him. There was just one problem: There was no case. In his Gospel, John does not tell us about how Jesus went before the Sanhedrin and was accused of claiming to be God. John gives us a conversation between Jesus and one man, Annas, the power behi...

Jesus was experiencing the longest two days of his life. He had spent all evening in a room with his closest friends, trying to prepare them for his coming death. When Jesus had said all he could, he and his disciples went to a garden, where a group of Jewish authorities and Roman soldiers would soon arrive to arrest him. They were going to show Jesus who was really in charge of God's people, but...

Anyone who knows the story of the arrest, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus knows what happened in the garden to kick this cycle off. Jesus went by himself to pray that God would come up with a different plan. He didn't want to go through the suffering of the cross, but he would if God willed it. His sweat turned to drops of blood. An angel appeared to give him comfort and strength. This is an...

Joy and sorrow are two emotions that don't seem like they can exist in the same space. Sorrow surely takes away the power of joy; joy must cancel our sorrow. And yet, Jesus said this is not the case. The lives of the disciples were about to be wrecked by the cross. Sorrow does not begin to cover what they will feel when Jesus is led off to die. They will mourn. They will despair. But this sorrow,...

The Long night of Jesus' arrest continues in John 16. Things were going to be rough for the disciples in the coming days. Even post-resurrection things were not going to be easy. Jesus had already promised the Spirit, but he was not done telling them about all that the Spirit would do. Join us as we continue to explore why the Spirit is such a crucial part of God's plan.

On the night of Jesus' arrest, he told his disciples things they needed to know. He encouraged them, reminded them what it means to follow him, told them to love each other, and promised the Holy Spirit as a helper and guide. He also told them that they would be hated. Join us as we explore how the world sees God, and how God sees them in return.

Jesus knew that he would be leaving the disciples. The cross, his resurrection and ascension were just around the corner and his followers were not ready. What would they do when Jesus was no longer there to guide them? How would these followers, who have struggled to understand what was going on, be the mouthpiece for Christianity. God had a plan. He gave his disciples something that would be jus...

It is Thursday of the last week, and Jesus had just had dinner with his disciples. He knows that the cross is just around the corner, but the disciples do not. Jesus wants them to stay strong in spite of the chaos that is on their way so he told them some important things that could be an anchor for them in the storm. Join us as we listen in on what Jesus really wanted his disciples to know.

Every four years we have a presidential election. Every four years we collective decide that people can say, do, accuse and insinuate to their heart's content. Friendships have been broken, families have hurt one another, neighbors have fought agains one another. It is an ugly time. What concerns me the most is that Jesus has been put into the middle of this mess. We have spoken for him, declared...

Is betrayal, denial and failure a necessary part of the gospel story? Join us as we look at encounters between Jesus and two very different disciples: Judas and Peter.

What would Jesus do? We have asked that question so many times that it became a catch phrase within the Christian community. There are a lot of ways that we cannot be like Jesus. We can't heal the sick, give sight to the blind, or tell the lame to walk. We can tell the lame to walk but it would not have the desired effect. Jesus is the almighty son of God, and we are far from that. But, there is a...

When Jesus entered Jerusalem on the last week of his life, he was ushered in as king. Shouts of Hosanna rang out from everyone there to celebrate Jesus and his great power. Jesus knew that those people crowning him as king, didn't know what was coming. They did not know about the cross and the resurrection. Jesus tried to explain it to them, but God was doing something so outrageous that the world...

Throughout the gospel of John we have seen those who encountered Jesus wrestle with who he is. While some big things are still yet to happen in the second half of the gospel, it is small moment at the beginning of chapter twelve that sets the stage. One person saw Jesus for who he was. One person, through great sacrifice and humility, fully acknowledged Jesus and anointed him as the lamb of God.

In John chapter eleven, Jesus found himself in a weird place. He had just found out that his friend Lazarus was sick. He knew Lazarus would die and that he would raise Lazarus from the dead. He told his disciples, but they didn't think he could do anything about the situation. It was the same with Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus. So there Jesus was, surrounded by people who loved him and b...

Many of the people that encountered Jesus during his time on earth, could not decide what to do with him. Was the messiah or was he demon possessed? He was surrounded by those who loved him and by those who wanted him to disappear. Jesus wanted everyone to understand that he was not here to hurt people or to lead them away from their God. Instead, he was one who was sent by God to take care of, pr...

Jesus performs a lot of miracles throughout the gospels, but few are as amazing as the healing of the blind man in John chapter nine. It is dramatic in nature, and puts the man in the center of an argument between Jesus and the religious leaders. Join us as we explore what it meant for Jesus to heal a man born blind, and how it sets the table for a major confrontation.

Jesus was a divisive figure as he walked this earth teaching, healing and challenging the people of God. While we may look back and think that everyone should have understood and believed in Jesus, the most common reaction to his interaction in John is confusion. Through his words, Jesus would not let those around him walk a middle ground. There was no middle ground. He was either the Messiah, or...

While the teachings of Jesus in the gospels are powerful, we learn just as much by studying the interactions he had with those he encountered. We read about Jesus telling others about the love of God, but we see the truth of God's love in how Jesus extended it to the rejected, unloved, used and judged. Join us as we study one of the most dramatic displays of love in the gospels; a true demonstrati...

Jesus' interactions with people in the Gospel of John follow a pattern. What most often happens is that Jesus does or says something that the religious leaders don't like and it leads to a confrontation. What is the confrontation usually about? It involves the religious leaders arguing with the Son of God on God's behalf. That's right. They are protecting their God from Jesus. Join us as we invest...

Join us as we celebrate mothers, and the Family that God has given us in the church. By looking at the story of Ruth and Naomi, we see how sometimes our most meaningful family relationships that we have don't come from the family we were born into.

While Jesus was an excellent communicator, the message he preached was not an easy one to understand. Trying to explain the things of God to people who have a limited point of view is challenging. When Jesus talked about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, things went from challenging to downright weird. Join us as we explore what it means for Jesus to be the "bread of life".

Jesus had power unlike anything the world has ever seen. Those who followed him expected him to use his power in certain ways, to benefit certain people. Those expectation came from the way that people normally use power in this world. What they found was that Jesus used his power in very unexpected ways. Join us as we explore some of the amazing works of Jesus.

John follows the conversation between the teacher Nicodemus and Jesus from chapter three, with another conversation between Jesus and an unnamed Samaritan woman in chapter four. While the two conversations may seem unrelated, they are tied together by the words that Jesus spoke. If you want to know what John 3:16 means, chapter four gives you the answer.

In John three we get to eavesdrop on a one-of-a-kind conversation between Jesus and one of Israel's teachers. Nicodemus wanted to know what God was doing through Jesus. Jesus needed to let him know that his ideas about God needed to change if he was going to catch on. Join us as we look at this crucial conversation.

I have a strange easter message for you. The story of Jesus' death and resurrection do not make sense. There are so many elements to the story that violate what we know to be true in this world. This might seem like bad news for those who believe in Jesus. It is just the opposite. Join us as we talk about the completely nonsensical story of Jesus changes the world.