Emmaus Road Church | Fort Collins, Colorado

Sermon Scripture: Genesis 28:10-19, NLT Jacob is the patriarch of the Old Testament that is renamed Israel, so it would be difficult to overstate his importance. But, whatever moral credibility Jacob earned later in life, it is certain that he did not begin his life as a person you would want to emulate. Throughout his early life, Jacob was a sly guy. He was the type of person who looked to exploi...

Sermon Scripture: Genesis 22:1-14 (NLT) There are realities that push and pull in this passage. They are the testing of God and the provision of God. A command is given that is in contradiction to a promise that had previously been given (Isaac was the embodiment of God's promise to Abraham for decedents). There is tension between this promise of life and this word of death. To our modern, sophist...

Sermon Scripture: Genesis 14:17-20 (NLT)   In the person of Jesus Christ, God has provided a covenant response to himself. Humanity has been reconciled to God through Christ. The work is done. Death and sin are defeated. Our role is to place our faith in this faithful work of Christ. In doing so, we are trusting the faithful work of Christ on our behalf. Christ has become our high priest, so we pl...

Sermon Scripture: Ephesians 1:3-14, NRSV As we continue to celebrate the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ, we consider the mystery, that God has brought us redemption from our brokenness, and has adopted us into His Kingdom through His Son. Jesus changes us, heals us, makes us better, and enables us to help others to do the same. Join the mystery of God with us and Christ in us!

Sermon Scripture: Colossians 3:12-17, NRSV As we celebrate the birth of our Messiah, Jesus Christ, we consider how, “God With Us,” effects our hearts, minds, and lives. 

With the coming of Christ, there is no need to put together a picture of God based on limited revelation. No longer a need to surmise what God is like. In Jesus we are given the picture of God.  This means that when we celebrate the birth of Christ at Christmas, we are also celebrating his life, death and resurrection. We are remembering that the story of new creation begins with a baby in a mange...

Sermon Scripture: Micah 5:2-5 (NRSV) Bethlehem is place that holds much mystery in our imaginations. The truth is, the ancient city also has modern history, and like so many of our lives, there is both darkness and light to the story. Just as Bethlehem is broken and beautiful, so are our lives. We could look at the mess and turmoil of Bethlehem, the sorrow of Ephrathah and say, "That's me!" We cou...

The LOVE that motivated God to send Jesus into our world is the same LOVE we are called to put into action in our lives, too. Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we...

Sermon Scripture: Zephaniah 3:14-20 (NRSV) Advent is about learning how to live well while we wait for the fullness of God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. We live with hope; anticipating what will be while living with what is. We live with peace; aligning our lives with the peaceful witness and teaching of Christ. And we learn to have joy, rooted in Christ, while we wait. Joy in the...

Long before Mary was pregnant with Jesus, God had promised to send a Savior who would bring redemption and salvation to the world.   The people had been waiting a long time for the Savior and they had endured so much oppression and injustice, pain and sickness, hardships and loss during this time.  But God had been with them in these times and they knew the Savior would come… they could sense the...

Sermon Scripture: Luke 1:68-79 (NRSV)   Peace comes from the Hebrew word “Shalom” which means wholeness or harmony. We can experience this peace in our personal lives through connection with God, ourselves, and others. But we can also think about peace on a broader scale and ask questions like,  “How peace is experienced in the world?”  Shalom in the world points us to things like the end of war,...

Christ is the fulfillment of true peace for the world, and it doesn’t come through violence and war - it comes through his self-sacrificial love on the cross.   When Jesus took on our sin on the cross and responded with forgiveness, the power of sin was defeated! He brought peace, not just for us personally, but he showed us the possibility of peace in our lives together. The kingdom built in God’...

Sermon Scripture: Jeremiah 33:14-16 (NRSV)   As the people of God, we mark time to tell the story of Christ. The liturgical calendar tells the story of salvation in Christ. Keeping these rhythms helps form our identity as the people of God.   Advent is about waiting. It is about longing. During this season we enter into solidarity with our ancient brothers and sisters who waited for the coming of...

This Advent, as we look forward to Christmas, how can we “set all our hope on the grace of Jesus Christ”? As we look around, really open our eyes, we see too much suffering and injustice in the world.  Jesus found the company of tax collectors and sinners more real than that of the pretty and privileged people.  He welcomed and served the poor, the orphaned, the widow, the stranger.  These people...

Sermon Scripture: Revelation 1:4-8 (NRSV) Today is Christ the King Sunday! It marks the final week of the liturgical year before beginning a new year with the start of Advent. It is a time to remind ourselves of our allegiance and to remember again whose we are, we are children of the Creator God, the Living Christ who rules over all the nations. Those who give their allegiance to Christ are rescu...

Sermon Scripture: Genesis 6:5-14 (NRSV) What the Bible does best is serve as an inspired sign that points to Jesus. This means that we can find Jesus in all of the scriptures....even in Genesis.  Today, we are going to find Jesus in the story of Noah. Jesus is the ark who ushers us into new creation. When Noah and his family entered the ark, they were in an old, corrupt world, dominated by violenc...

Sermon Scripture: Genesis 2:4-7; 18-24 (NRSV)   In this series, we are flexing our interpretive muscles as we learn to read the Bible in the light of Christ. The tradition handed down by Jesus to his disciples on the Emmaus Road and picked up by the apostles and the early Church Fathers was to read the Bible with Christ as the interpretive center. This means that we can expect to find Jesus throug...

Sermon Scripture: Hebrews 11:1; 12:1-12 (NRSV)   We often remember someone’s life with fondness, but that doesn't mean their journey was always easy. Those whose lives we consider faithful, may have consider their own lives and faith a struggle! Those whose lives ended in a state of spiritual maturity had to go through a process of growth, maturity, and wrestling to get there.    Like a runner who...

Sermon Scripture: Genesis 1:1-3 (NRSV)   Genesis 1 gives us an account of creation filled with harmony and balance.   This week, as the fall colors are bursting all over our city, take a few moments to take it in. Go on a walk in a natural area. Marvel at the beauty in your own backyard. Worship the Creator by standing in awe of creation. May you be pointed to the Word of God, the Creator, Jesus o...

Sermon Scripture: John 18:33-38  (NRSV)   All of us are subject to some kind of power structure. While this may make us uncomfortable, power structures often serve good purposes. It is also true, however, that power can corrupt. Unchecked power and authority often leads parties, institutions, and persons to seek after their own good rather than the good of others.   What the world needs is a group...

Sermon Scripture: Hebrews 4:12-16 (NRSV)   As Pastor Daniel leads us this week, we take a peak the Broken Signpost of rest. Culture is constantly shaping our faith, often numbing us to the beautiful hope it holds. As we consider how the faith to which we are called flows counter to our culture, we discover the freedom promised to those who swim against the flow.    Hear the good news! Because God...

Sermon Scripture: John 18:33-38 (NRSV) Of all the broken signposts, we would expect truth to be the least broken. But, our relationship with truth isn't quite as straight forward as we might expect.  As with all the signposts, once we have understood truth in light of Christ, we are invited to bear witness to this in the world. We are invited to be ambassadors of truth - not by defending it - but...

Sermon Notes: bit.ly/3kJG59j Sermon Scripture: John 8:31-36 (NRSV) The freedom of personal choice is not the same as freedom given in service of a purpose or goal. There is a difference between freedom from something and freedom for something. Central to the story of God is that God desires both kinds of freedom for humanity. May we know that our inclination toward freedom has always been God-give...

Sermon Scripture: John 11:38-44 (NRSV)   As we consider the resurrection of Lazarus this week, may this quote guide us us.   Our human drive for beauty, for transcendent meaning, turns out to be more than we ever expected. It is God-given: a signpost, designed to lead us back to his presence. Ah, we sigh, be it ends in darkness and horror, with the dust of death covering over the beauty in thick,...

Sermon Scripture: John 15:1-8 (NRSV) In our world, religion is often seen as an old idea, and unnecessary weight to carry. Spirituality, on the other hand, frees us from that weight while also allowing us to pursue the deep questions of life. How might the scriptures help us make sense of all of this?