Haverhill Commons Church

How do we respond to injustice when we're not sure where to begin?

Ah…Leviticus. It’s hard to make sense of it all. It can come across as archaic, even barbaric, an often unrelatable. It can be natural for us to skim through Leviticus or avoid it altogether because it’s hard to interpret. How are we supposed to glean anything from a book that seemingly doesn’t apply to us? Yet the core concern of Leviticus is one we recognize: How can human beings connect with Go...

What if there is a better way to solve conflict than fight or flight? A way for us to “pass the peace” to and from each other. And not just peace in the sense that we often think of it - a peace that resolves conflicts - but a peace that more fully resembles God’s shalom. A peace that establishes wholeness to what was once broken. A peace that restores relationships, and seeks the flourishing of l...

In the letter the Philemon, Paul asks a slave owner to do something that doesn’t make sense by societal norms. But it makes sense in light of the gospel.

We can all feel like imposters - that we’re not the right person, that others are better or more qualified. In this sermon, we look at how the Lord encourages Gideon to step forward even though he doesn't think he’s the right person for job.

As we conclude our series on the book of Ruth, we retell the story of God’s love as we’ve experienced it in our own lives. Each chapter of Ruth is accompanied by art and a LifeStory shared by a member of our community and a song that responds to each theme. Our prayer is that as we sing these songs, hear these passages, and share these stories, we are each reminded of the ways that we have seen Go...

In the story of Ruth, Boaz, a man of wealth and privilege, sacrificed his time, money, and reputation to take care of the Moabite in his field. This is a picture for us of how God uses power. In God’s hands, power is never used to take advantage of someone or gain more power for God. God always uses power for others. Admittedly, the example is pretty extreme. Boaz married Ruth. That’s a giant comm...

You've wrestled and you've prayed and you did the thing. You left your job. You decided you’re going to tell our small group about your addiction. You moved your family across the country. You went through foster care training. You went to counseling. You asked that person out. You got up and you exercised. And now, you're waiting…waiting to see what, if anything, God will do.

What do you do when there’s no easy answer, but you need an answer, a solution, a direction, something, because where you are isn’t working anymore?

Where do we find seeds of hope when our path feels like a long uphill slog, when things aren’t working out, when we feel obscured, neglected, unseen?

We don’t always feel, see, or hear God. Does that mean God's not there?

There are a lot of reasons we end up feeling alone. For some, it’s taking pride in self-reliance. For some, it’s a lack of trust. For some, it’s a trust issue. Trust has eroded in recent years while fears have multiplied. All of that fear can seep into our relationships: we keep others at a distance, we establish boundaries, we reject them before they have a chance to reject us. Plus, the pandemic...

When the resurrected Lord appeared to his disciples, the first thing he said was, “Peace be with you.” The world is full of conflict, internally and external. We’re overwhelmed, we’re exhausted, we’re conflicted, What do we do!? Please Lord tell me…we’m scared to mess this up. We still need the peace that only Jesus can give. Give us peace. We long for peace.

Names aren’t just words or sounds. Names are important. They enable us to make sense of the world. Names are how we talk about things and people. When you want to get someone’s attention, you say their name. When you want to wake someone up, you say their name. In our passage this Easter, we see just how powerful a name can be. Mary is at Jesus’ tomb after his crucifixion, and she is distraught an...

There is a raging battle all around us. The world is full of corruption. Too many violent systems exploit the weakest and most vulnerable, historically children, and women, minorities, and anyone who was different or seen as undesirable. There is a force that makes things harder. That allows and fuels greed. That sows lies and betrayal, that leads to miscommunication and murder.  It’s an enormous...

Have you ever felt like something was too good to be true? So you approach it with skepticism, or try to make evaluate it logically, efficiently, wisely. Some things just have to be known - to be experienced - before we believe it. At first, Jesus seemed too good to be true. But then multides began talking about him. And as the disciples met him, listened to him, and saw him usher in a new Kingdom...

Failure comes in all shapes and sizes. Governments fail. Politicians fail. Banks fail. Churches fail. People fail. And if we dwell on our failures, the narrative shifts in a critical way…it’s not that we failed at a task or assignment…it’s that we ARE a failure. And all of the sudden, we’re in shame territory. Shame anchors us to our worst moments - something we’ve experienced, done, or failed to...

Sometimes feeling pride is a good thing. Authentic pride, experienced in response to a specific event or accomplishment, or felt towards a person or a group that we care about, can lead us to feeling more confident and fulfilled. Feeling pride inspires us to do and be our best. Being proud though, is often where we run into trouble. Being proud leads us to have an inflated self-image. Being proud...

Do you ever feel anxious about gift giving? We want to give amazing gifts, gifts people will love and enjoy. Because when we’re giving gifts, we’re not only thinking about what the other person might like, we’re also aware of what our gifts say about US. If we really want to give someone a gift that they’ll love, we’re much better off simply asking: “How can I show you that I love you?” and listen...

We all want to make good decisions in our lives. And not just good decisions, but the right decisions. So we ask a bunch of questions, and explore, and wonder, and investigate, and research, and talk to friends about it, bring it up with our small group. But when it comes time to actually make the decision and move forward, we often let our fear of making the wrong decision, of ruining our lives o...

Death isn’t something we like to think about very much.  It’s hard. It’s confusing. It reminds us of things we don’t like thinking about and things we don’t like feeling: that we don’t have control. That we are mortal. That our bodies will fail. That we can’t love someone enough to keep them alive. We feel pain. Loss. Helplessness. Anger. So we avoid thinking or talking about it. And yet, when his...

At some points in our lives, most of us will experience what it’s like to be “otherized” - or alienated - because of something about us or something we do that makes us seem different from a group. And being otherized is painful. Yet, most of us have also been responsible for otherizing someone else, because of something we don’t like about them, or because they seem too different from us. This we...

Oftentimes, we are presented with something that is true, but if that truth is confusing, or unexpected, makes us shift our worldview, or challenges our perception of ourselves or the world around us, we decide that it’s easier to keep believing the “truth” we’ve always known, instead of the truth that’s right in front of us. But what happens when the truth right in front of you is Jesus? In our p...