Palms Presbyterian Sermons

Miracles (Part 2) Mark 7:24-30 Sunday, June 1, 2025 A woman who turns to Jesus seeking healing for her ailing daughter is rebuffed by the miracle worker himself, simply because she is a Gentile. The story sets up a striking contrast between the apparent callousness of Jesus and the remarkable persistence of the unnamed woman. Somewhere in the midst of all that tension we find a miracle. Bryant And...

Miracles (Part 1) - Jesus turns water to wine Isaiah 25:6-9 & John 2:1-11 Sunday, May 25, 2025 The very first miracle that Jesus performs is to turn water to wine at a wedding. It doesn't draw attention to the power of God present in Jesus. It doesn't lead people to believe that he is the Messiah. Most people don't even know a miracle has been performed. Nevertheless, it tells us so much about...

Luke 24:13-35 Sunday, May 11, 2025 When Jesus appears to two of his followers after the resurrection, they don't recognize him. They can't see him for who he is because they still see the world through a pre-Easter lens. But as soon as they grasp how the world has changed on Easter, they recognize Jesus and their vision is transformed. Bryant Anderson preaching. Referenced in this sermon: Poem "Ke...

Genesis 2:4b-9, 15-22 Sunday, May 4, 2025 Beverly Dempsey preaching. Visit us at palmschurch.org

Seasoned Saints Sunday celebrates older adults in the life of our church. On this Sunday, Georgia O'Daniel and Barbara Bishop share about people throughout their lives who have helped to deepen their faith and their connection to the church.

Fellow Travelers (Part 7) Matthew 28:1-10 Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025 The first command of Jesus to his followers after rising from the dead is "Go." After spending months, even years, following where Jesus led them, now they are sent ahead of him, onto a new road, into uncharted territory. This is the life of discipleship after Easter: a forward journey into loving service, into faithful witnes...

Fellow Travelers (Part 6) Matthew 7:13-14 & Luke 19:28-40 Palm Sunday, April 13, 2025 When Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey instead of a horse, he signals the kind of journey he is on—and the kind of journey that he calls us to walk. It is a journey characterized by humility and one that leads to the cross. It is a road that few choose to walk, but it is the road that leads to life. Bryant A...

Fellow Travelers (Part 5) Acts 8:26-39 Sunday, April 6, 2025 Philip is sent out on a road through the wilderness—one of many missionary journeys of the early church. But this one is unique because of who Philip meets along that road. This encounter shows us the very core of the good news of God and it demonstrates that even our wilderness journeys can be fruitful and fulfilling. Bryant Anderson pr...

Fellow Travelers (Part 4) 2 Samuel 11:1-17 Sunday, March 30, 2025 Guest preacher Kirt Anderson preaching. Current Series: Fellow Travelers Many important things happen in the Bible on journeys—on the road to somewhere . The life of faith is a life in motion toward the aims of God's kingdom, but it is not an easy journey. During the season of Lent we walk alongside some fellow travelers—those who h...

Fellow Travelers (Part 3) Jonah 1:1-17; 2:10 Sunday, March 23, 2025 God calls Jonah to go to Nineveh, and Jonah goes the other direction. It is not until Jonah confesses to his limitation and failure that he starts to walk the path that God has called him to walk. It is through that act of surrender—a kind of death—that Jonah finds new life—a kind of resurrection. Bryant Anderson preaching. Refere...

Fellow Travelers (Part 2) Genesis 32:22-30 Sunday, March 16, 2025 Jacob is on the road to reunite with his estranged brother, and along the way he encounters a mysterious obstacle: a man appears and wrestles with Jacob until dawn. This unexpected encounter leaves Jacob fundamentally changed—and blessed. Our journey changes us too, and not always in ways that we welcome, but God's blessing often lu...

Fellow Travelers (Part 1) 1 Kings 19:1-13 Sunday, March 9, 2025 Elijah is a prophet on the run, exhausted and lost, yet met by God's quiet presence. Elijah's story invites us to pause, reflect, and seek spiritual direction in the midst of life's distractions. With perseverance, faith, and the power of silence, we are called to embrace the journey itself, discovering meaning not just in the destina...

The God of Old (Part 7) Isaiah 55:10-11 & Luke 9:28-36 Sunday, March 2, 2025 One of the most apparent and consistent attributes of God throughout the Old Testament is that God is very clearly a God who speaks: God speaks directly, God speaks through messengers, and God speaks through the prophets. But as true as that may have been once upon a time, it's hard not to feel that God has fallen sil...

2 Corinthians 4:1-6 & 2 Kings 6:10-23 Sunday, February 23, 2025 This message explores the power of seeing through God's perspective. Using the story of Elisha in 2 Kings 6, Dr. Kennedy unpacks how we can acknowledge life’s challenges, recognize God’s presence in the midst of them, and respond with faith and action. With powerful stories from the Middle East, this message will inspire you to em...

The God of Old (Part 6) Joshua 6:1-5, 15-21 Sunday, February 16, 2025 The Old Testament presents us with images of God that are lovely and loving, and which conform to modern sensibilities quite naturally. But there are other images of God that we find in scripture that challenge our sensibilities and even outright contradict our deep convictions about who God is and how God works. Chief among the...

The God of Old (Part 5) Exodus 20:1-17 & Matthew 22:34-40 Sunday, February 9, 2025 Christians have a complicated relationship with the law: there is no denying its central importance to the Israelite and Jewish tradition which we have inherited, but the New Testament seems to want to set it aside entirely. But the law tells us a great deal about what matters to God and it helps to show the sha...

The God of Old (Part 4) Genesis 12, 13, 15 Sunday, February 2, 2025 Beverly Dempsey preaching. Current Series: The God of Old As Christians we believe that the best way to understand the nature of God is to look at Jesus. But that doesn't mean that Jesus is the only way to know God; we learn a lot about God's character and work through the many stories and writings of the Old Testament. This serie...

The God of Old (Part 3) Genesis 11:1-9 Sunday, January 26, 2025 In the story of the Tower of Babel, God steps in to frustrate human ingenuity and cooperation—or at least that's one way to read the story. Read from a slightly different angle, we get a very early picture of how God relates to the nations of the world. The God of this story is unquestionably sovereign, but the full meaning of this so...

The God of Old (Part 2) Ecclesiastes 8:14-17 & Genesis 4:1-16 Sunday, January 19, 2025 The first episode outside of Eden is a catastrophe: two brothers in contention with one another and a God whose will and actions are hard to decipher. In so many ways, the story of Cain and Abel grapples with challenges that have plagued human existence from the very beginning—challenges that plague us still...

The God of Old (Part 1) Genesis 1:1-5, 26-31 Sunday, January 12, 2025 The very first act of God in the Bible is creation. God takes the chaotic and disordered void and shapes it into something worthy of being called Good, Beautiful. We then learn that we—humanity—are made in the very image of the Creator. What does it mean to bear the image of the one who shines light into darkness and fills the w...

Matthew 2:1-12 Sunday, January 5, 2025 Epiphany is a celebration of God’s revelation through Jesus, emphasizing inclusivity, personal discovery, and the call to embody and share God’s light to build a community reflecting God’s kingdom. Beverly Dempsey preaching.

The Gifts We Bring (Part 4) Luke 2:1-20 Christmas Eve 2024 The magi brought notable and costly gifts to honor the Christ child. The shepherds, on the other hand, have neither the means nor the foresight to bring such gifts to Mary and her new child. So they offer the only thing they can: the gift of their attention. What might it mean for us to give our attention to a God who dwells among us? Brya...

The Gifts We Bring (Part 3) Isaiah 53:1-6 & Philippians 2:4-11 Sunday, December 22, 2024 The third gift that the Magi brought to Jesus was myrrh. Myrrh was an all-purpose spice, used for incense, perfume, and cosmetics, but more importantly: in both Mark's and John's gospels, it is associated with Jesus' death. For this reason, this third gift has traditionally been understood to be a symbol o...

The Gifts We Bring (Part 2) John 14:8-11 Sunday, December 15, 2024 The second gift that the Magi brought to Jesus was Frankincense, a precious spice used in Israel for sacrificial offerings. It is a gift that points us to the divine nature of Jesus. What does it mean that Jesus is the divine Son of God? What does it tell us about Jesus and, more importantly, what does it tell us about God? Bryant...

The Gifts We Bring (Part 1) Luke 1:68-79; 3:1-6 Sunday, December 1, 2024 One gift that the magi brought to the child Jesus was gold. Gold had no place in a home like Mary and Joseph's; it was much too valuable. It is a recognition of the child's royal status—it was a symbolic way to hail Jesus as king. What does it mean to hail Jesus as king today? Bryant Anderson preaching. Current Series: The Gi...