JR.'s Sermons

What does it mean to be a good father? And what do we do if we have bad fathers? In John's Gospel, Jesus teaches us what fatherhood looks like - and why it matters that God is our father, whether we're fathers or not.

Too often, we pit Jesus against God, as though they're playing good cop/bad cop with us. We end up afraid to reach out to God, afraid to pray. But John shows us that Jesus IS God, that he invites us into the interior life of God - a place where perfect love casts out all our fear!

Many of us are afraid to share the good news about Jesus because we don't think our stories are interesting or remarkable. But John's introduction to the Holy Spirit reminds us that what makes our story good news is that God has brought us to life - and that's worth sharing!

We live in a world that teaches us to hide our true selves. Maybe we’re afraid of being seen. Or maybe we’re ashamed of our pasts. Or we got hurt the last time we put ourselves out there. Whatever the reason, we hide. But Jesus comes as the light of the world, to illumine our dark places with the infinite love of God. How does his light transform us?

No one wants to admit it, but we're all really bad at being loved. Our inability to receive love poisons all our relationships. How can we learn to remain in Jesus' love so that we can share love with the world around us? What does it look like to remain in the true vine?

We live in a mechanized world. The buzz words of the day are 'productivity' and 'efficiency'. But we're not machines - we're organic, flesh and blood. Jesus calls us to be not productive, but fruitful. What's the difference? And how can learning to remain connected to the vine of Jesus help us avoid total burn out?

Karl Marx famously claimed that religion was the ‘opiate of the masses’. He meant what we know – religion can be a powerful means of controlling people. This was as true in Jesus’ day as it is in ours. How can we learn to spot religious manipulation? And what tools do we have available to us to learn to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd, Jesus himself?

Why do you follow Jesus? Many of us follow because we want Jesus to change our circumstances, to work a miracle in our jobs, families or bodies. But Jesus’ aim isn’t to improve our lives. Rather, he seeks to invite us into something new. If we look to Jesus simply to prop up the life we already have, we won’t follow him all the way to the Cross.

Does the idea of fighting about religion make you nervous? Of course it does! But we’re so often taught that we have to defend our faith against people who don’t believe. After all, Jesus himself said, “I am the Way”. But what if Jesus’ words weren’t a line in the sand, but an invitation to life? How can we find a better way to engage our non-believing neighbors with vulnerability and love?

Do you ever feel like your calendar is broken? Like you wish you had the power to add hours, days or even weeks to your schedule? When did our lives get so out of control? And who is running our calendars? On this Easter Sunday, we celebrate the God who took control of time by raising Jesus from the dead. How does his resurrection free us to take control of our lives, to live in the freedom Jesus...

John tells us the light of Christ shines in darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. So as Christ's light nears the Cross, why do the various players in the story turn from his light? How do WE turn away from the light today?

What happens when God disappoints us? It happens to every person of faith eventually – we come to realize that God isn’t here to be part of our story, to fit into our agendas. Palm Sunday is a warning sign: that disappointment can lead to us abandoning God (or crucifying him!). How can we learn to let God be God and sweep us up into HIS story – a story of new life and transformation?

When we confront the big evils of the world like racism or school violence, we often feel paralyzed. What can we do in the face of these behemoths it’s easy to label ‘demonic’? It’s counterintuitive, but Jesus calls us to small, consistent acts of faithfulness. His death casts out the evils of the world, so we are called not to be effective but faithful, trusting that his power is at work in our s...

What is the goal of faith? Is it safety? Is it a sense of control? Prestige and position? These were in Nicodemus’ mind when he sought out Jesus. But Jesus’ words to him are confounding: Jesus will become a snake, lifted up for the world to see. How does this image challenge our ideas of who God is and what God wants from us? How can Jesus-the-snake invite us to become more loving, more present in...

Does anyone these days feel like they have margin in their lives? Space in their schedules, in their finances? We tend to live at 100%, with no space to listen for God, no room to engage God’s calling on our lives. How can we make space for God to organize and orient our lives?

We're told to look for the devil in drugs, sex and rock n roll. But if we're to believe Jesus, religion can distract us from God. The only solution to satanic religion is to follow Jesus to the cross.

Living in the wilderness takes extra preparation. So too, if we're going to enter into the season of Lent, we need to prepare. God is going to do something powerful in our midst. Will we be ready for it? Will we be prepared?

Ash Wednesday begins Lent, a season of corporate prayer and fasting. But Jesus instructed us to do those things in private. So how can we do them together?

Most religions have a god who's confined to a mountain - high above the world with special people who can only access the gods on special days. But when God became human in Jesus, God left the mountain once and for all to live among us. This means that Jesus is with us everyday, everywhere we go!

Disagreement is tough - in the church as everywhere else in life. How do we engage people we disagree with - especially when we're so sure we're right? Paul tells the Corinthian church that "right" is the wrong framework. Unless we disagree on a foundation of love, we're headed for disaster. How do we pursue unity above all else?

Knowledge is power, and we can be tempted to hold ourselves above others when we have more understanding or experience. In 1 Corinthians 8, Paul takes a simple question about eating meat and turns it into a discussion of loving community.

What would you do if you learned the world was ending next week? Our answers to that question reveal our ‘happiness gap’ – how far we are from the life we really want. The Corinthian Christians asked Paul whether they should marry given the trials of their culture and the immanent return (they think!) of Jesus. Paul’s advice to them is to be content where they are. Rather than focusing on the gree...

Our culture values personal freedom above all else. We’re not the first to do so – the Corinthians did too. But the Apostle Paul challenges personal freedom as the highest value, observing that when what matters most is my desires, I become a slave to those desires. Instead, Paul insists personal freedom must submit to the law of Love. We belong to each other.

As Epiphany begins, we ask the question, “What does it look like for God to live with us?” Paul’s encounter with the Ephesians in the book of Acts demonstrates that it’s possible to be a Christian but missing out on the life God has called us to. Baptism reminds us that God has not only saved us from our sin, but also saved us for his work of restoration in the world. What does it look like for yo...

Christmas is such an intimate celebration – a time to gather with friends and family – that we often forget the global sweep of the story. But two often-overlooked encounters with the infant Jesus remind us of God’s faithfulness – not only to us, but to the whole world! As we look toward a new year, how can we be filled with hope at what God will do?