Bethel Community Sermons

We kick off our Eastertide season with community testimonies from Monica Tzeng and Eric Chan, who share about how they are encountering God in this season. Monica shares reflections on her experience of walking 22 miles for the Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage, and what it means to hope for a world where Palestinians also have hope. Eric Chan shares about his experience in a Lenten grief group and how he...

Guest preacher, Rev. Riana Shaw Robinson (pastor of Miriam's Song church) preaches for Easter Sunday from Hebrews 12:1-2 and reflects on what it means for Jesus to disregard the shame of the cross. How does the promise of resurrection invite us away from shame and into the reality of God's joy, a joy that no one can steal from us?

Palm Sunday is the day we remember the beginning of Holy Week, the week that leads up to Easter. Jill Gidlund, our Children's Ministries Director, gently hosted us in recounting the story of when Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last time.

Pastor Michael continues our series for Lent, reflecting on Jesus as both the starter and the finisher of our faith. How might remembering Jesus help us to endure in our faith? How might the reality of Jesus' suffering connect us to the presence of God in our own suffering?

Pastor Erina continues our sermon series for Lent by examining what it means to run with perseverance. In the face of suffering and hardship, how might the promise of the race set before us- a good and trustworthy road to follow- both deepen our faith and lead us endurance?

Guest Preacher, Erna Kim Hackett, continues our Lenten series by examining what it means to be surrounded by the "Great cloud of witnesses" and sharing more about her journey to explore, expand, and reclaim the cloud of witnesses around her. Through her sermon and her invitation to build a community altar, she reminds us that the cloud of witnesses is so much more expansive than we could...

Pastor Erina kicks off the season of Lent and shared about our sermon series focused on endurance. She shared about faith in the book of Hebrews as a portal- both to new, unseen worlds and also to our ancestors- while inviting us to consider Lenten practices that might help grow and sustain our faith in this season.

Pastor Michael preaches for Transfiguration Sunday, reflecting on the ways that on the mountaintop, Christ is revealed as one who is loved. How might the simple yet radical truth of Jesus being loved invite us into the reality of our own belovedness? How might knowing we are loved lead us to live and embody God's justice in the world?

Guest preacher, Drew Jackson, shares about the ways Jesus models for us the practice of solitude. When the world presses in on us from all sides, how might the practice of intentionally withdrawing, help remind us of who we are and where we come from? ------ Drew Jackson is a poet, speaker, and public theologian. He is author of God Speaks Through Wombs: Poems on God’s Unexpected Coming and Touch...

Pastor Erina invites us into spiritual rhythms of praise and thanksgiving by reflecting on the words of Psalm 111 and its call toward communal memory. She also shares some highlights of church life from the past year, in preparation of our annual church congregational meeting.

Pastor Erina continues our sermon series for Epiphanytide, preaching from the lectionary text of 1 Samuel 3 and reflecting on the call of Samuel. How might we find hope and encouragement from the promise that God's lamp has not yet burned out? How might we learn to pay attention to a God who is still speaking, even in times when the world feels dark and God feels distant?

Pastor Michael examines the story of Epiphany- the "appearance" of Christ-  by contrasting the intentions of the Magi with the intentions of Herod. He presents the impulses of Herod as an anti-epiphany, focused on the disappearance of Christ through violence and revenge, while presenting the intentions of the Magi to honor and worship King Jesus. As creation tells the story of the nearne...

Jazzy and Erina share creative reflections on the birth of Christ and its textured meanings for us in this present moment. Jazzy shares a "Black Love Letter," written to siblings of Palestine, Congo, and Sudan and wrestling with the reclamation of darkness as the womb of all creation. Pastor Erina shares a poem titled "The Audacity of Birth," juxtaposing the birth story of Chri...

Rev. Lynice Pinkard guest preaches for us from the lectionary, reflecting on Isaiah 61 and its promise of God's comfort coming to hopeless situations, broken bodies, and broken hearts. She reminds us that those who have lost out on everything are the ones called to rebuild, that the ones who've received comfort are invited to comfort.

Pastor Michael kicks off our sermon series by preaching on Isaiah 64, sharing the ways that God remains near to us and claims us, even when we fail and turn away. How might the promise of God's presence and nearness be comfort to us as we rebuild?

Pastor Erina closes out our fall sermon series by looking at the exhortation in Deuteronomy 30 to choose life. In the face of so many forces and impulses moving us toward death and destruction, how might we remember that the choice toward life is not too difficult for us or beyond our reach? How might we choose into this collective call together?

Guest preacher Nichola Torbett continues our fall sermon series by inviting us into God's vision for cities of refuge, found in Numbers 35. How might cities of refuge help break cycles of trauma and violence by offering space for pause and ceasefire? How might we both seek and become cities of refuge as a way to transmute the suffering and violence of our world into love and freedom? Nichola T...

Pastor Michael continues our fall sermon series by preaching on the story of Balaam and Balak and what it means to receive prophetic movements of God from unlikely people and sources. How might this story challenge us to receive the prophets and priests among us today?

Our church Theologian in Residence, Barnabas Lin, continues our fall sermon series on life in the wilderness by reflecting on the risky and courageous witness of the 5 daughters of Zelophehad. How do their testimonies reveal both the limits of the law and the hard work of peace? How might their memory serve as a blessing to us, granting us the persistence, creativity, and vision to keep pursuing t...

As part of our "Community Sunday" gathering (every 5th Sunday of the month), we took time to hear testimonies from Cindy Chan and Carissa Lee, about their current wrestling with faith and where God is showing up in their lives. 

Guest preacher, Rev. Sally Steele, continues our series with a look at Leviticus 25 and the Year of Jubilee. Together we explore this future-facing text that embodies God's call to love and liberation, equity and justice, for our own generation and for generations to come.

Pastor Michael continues our "Still Gotta Live" series with a brief exploration of the Law and Creator's desire for communities and individuals to know God's presence as they seek holistic health. Also, we hear from Carlos Flores who shares about being a local community-based health care provider.

Pastor Erina continues our sermon series and a monthlong reflection on aspects of the Law, by looking at Exodus 23:1-13 and the call toward justice, truth-telling, and dignified treatment of all people, especially the poor and vulnerable. Following her brief sermon are two different testimonies for "Work of the People," with Chris Han and our church accompaniment team sharing about how t...

Pastor Michael continues our fall sermon series by beginning our reflections on the Law. In particular, he examines God's vision for covenant faithfulness in Exodus 22:1-15, inviting us into a truthful telling of history and a rightful understanding of ourselves that allows us to choose into reparations.

Pastor Erina preaches from Exodus 32:1-6 about the events leading up to the building of the golden calf. In the midst of dramatic and even disturbing events that surround this pivotal event in Israel's history, what do we learn about the project of idol making? What invitation might God have for us, as we confront our own tendencies toward idol making in the face of collective trauma and uncer...