Palms Presbyterian Sermons

Peter: Flawed & Faithful (Part 4) Matthew 26:31-35, 69-75 Sunday, November 24, 2024 Brash Peter is unable to imagine just how profoundly misplaced his self-confidence is. He is sure that he stands taller than all others who claim to follow Jesus—until, that is, he does precisely the thing that he swore he would never do: he denies his teacher and Lord to save his own skin. Peter's famous failu...

Peter: Flawed & Faithful (Part 3) 1 Peter 3:18-22 & Matthew 14:22-33 Sunday, November 17, 2024 Beverly Dempsey preaching. Current Series: Peter: Flawed & Faithful Peter's exploits in the gospel story have greater prominence than those of any other disciple, likely for two reasons. First, Peter became one of the early church's most significant leaders. And second, Peter made a ton of mi...

Peter: Flawed & Faithful (Part 2) Matthew 16:13-23 Sunday, November 10, 2024 In what is perhaps his most important exchange with Jesus, Peter shows himself to be both remarkably insightful (when he rightly names Jesus as Messiah) and stunningly obtuse (when he claims that Jesus shouldn't have to suffer). For Jesus, these two things must go hand-in-hand. We are often like Peter, eager to embrac...

Peter: Flawed & Faithful (Part 1) Matthew 4:18-22 Sunday, November 3, 2024 The story of Peter begins on a boat in the Sea of Galilee. Jesus invites Peter to follow him, and for reasons we can only guess at, Peter leaves his old life behind and follows Jesus into a new one. This new life of Peter's is not a perfect one—there are plenty of missteps ahead for him—but it begins the moment he says...

Leviticus 19:1-2 & Matthew 5:43-48 Sunday, October 27, 2024 Beverly Dempsey preaching. Referenced in this sermon: David Brooks, The Second Mountain (2020)

The Great Ends of the Church (Part 6) Matthew 21:28-32 Sunday, October 20, 2024 The sixth and final great end of the Church is the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world . The kingdom of heaven (or the kingdom of God, depending on which gospel you're reading) is Jesus's preferred way of speaking about what the world will be like when God's work is complete. It will be a topsy-turvy world...

The Great Ends of the Church (Part 5) 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 & 2 Corinthians 4:5-7 Sunday, October 13, 2024 The fourth great end of the Church (the fifth in our series) is the preservation of the truth . This may sound very straightforward, as if the truth is something we possess and must work to protect. But stewardship is a better way to think of this than possession or protection; we have be...

Acts 26:12-23 Sunday, October 6, 2024 For World Communion Sunday, we welcome Pastor Leon Dorleans. Pastor Leon is the founding director of Haiti Outreach Ministries , which works for the physical, educational, and spiritual wellbeing of children in Citie Soleil in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

The Great Ends of the Church (Part 4) Amos 5:21-24 & Luke 4:14-21 Sunday, September 29, 2024 The fourth great end of the Church is "the promotion of social righteousness." Bill Wildey preaching. Current Series: The Great Ends of the Church More than one hundred years ago our denomination adopted a set of six "great ends of the Church," a succinct but comprehensive outline of the Church's purpo...

The Great Ends of the Church (Part 3) Romans 7:14-24 Sunday, September 22, 2024 The third great end of the Church is the maintenance of divine worship . The practice of corporate worship has been the lifeblood of Christian congregations for centuries—it is central to who we are and an elemental component of what we do. Given this central role, it is of paramount importance that we have a clear und...

The Great Ends of the Church (Part 2) John 15:12-17 Sunday, September 15, 2024 The second great end of the Church is the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God. The church is called to be a special kind of community, one that not only holds together through tension and hardship, but one that actively shapes individuals into more faithful and loving followers of the way o...

The Great Ends of the Church (Part 1) Matthew 5:13-16 Sunday, September 8, 2024 The first great end of the Church is the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind . The church is called to proclaim the gospel, to share the good news of God. And we do this not only with what we proclaim, but also in how we proclaim it. Bryant Anderson preaching. Current Series: The Great Ends of the...

Exodus (Part 7) Exodus 14:5-31 Sunday, September 1, 2024 Beverly Dempsey preaching.

Exodus (Part 6) Exodus 13:17-22 & Hebrews 12:1-3 Sunday, August 18, 2024 After ten brutal plagues, Pharaoh finally relents and allows Israel to leave their captivity and travel to the wilderness to worship Yahweh, the God of their ancestors. God goes in front of them by day as a pillar of cloud and by night as a pillar of fire, not only to show them the way, but also to ensure that they do not...

Exodus (Part 5) Exodus 8:16-32 Sunday, August 11, 2024 One of the best-known elements of the exodus story is also one of the least understood: the plagues. They make for good cinema, but they raise some important and troubling questions. Most notably, they force us to ask why God needed to resort to inflicting such indiscriminate suffering in order to achieve Israel's emancipation. The whole episo...

Exodus (Part 4) Exodus 5:1-9; 6:1-9 Sunday, August 4, 2024 Things get worse for the Israelites in captivity before they get better. Moses, in doing what God commands him to do, angers Pharaoh and brings deeper misery upon the people. And in their misery, the Israelites struggle to believe that God is good and is working to bring about their freedom. We also struggle to see God's goodness in the mi...

Exodus (Part 3) Exodus 3:1-15 Sunday, July 28, 2024 Craig Davies preaching.

Exodus (Part 2) Exodus 3:1-10 Sunday, July 21, 2024 In the midst of tending sheep and minding his own business, Moses is drawn away from his day-to-day concerns and into the presence of the living God. There in God's presence Moses is called to be an agent of God's work in the world—a call he might have missed entirely if he hadn't been attentive enough to notice the holy amid the ordinary. Bryant...

Exodus (Part 1) Exodus 1:6-14 & Romans 6:15-18 Sunday, July 14, 2024 The story of the exodus begins with the enslavement of the Hebrew people in Egypt. For generations the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived in the shadow of Pharaoh's power, forced to give their labor and their lives in service of the glory of their oppressor. Their captivity becomes the setting for God's liberating...

Misquoted (Part 5) 2 Corinthians 5:15-21 & Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 Sunday, July 7, 2024 Beverly Dempsey preaching.

Misquoted (Part 4) Isaiah 55:6-13 & Romans 10:8b-15a Sunday, June 30, 2024 We can pack a lot of understanding – and misunderstanding into otherwise benign words. Take the conjunctions if and unless. One is the beginning of a hypothesis; the other is the launch of a threat. With this week’s message, we will reflect upon a too-often misquoted scripture verse that has frequently been bridled by a...

Misquoted (Part 3) Isaiah 43:1-3a & Jeremiah 29:11 Sunday, June 16, 2024 Things don't always go according to plan. Or, at least, things don't always go according to our plans. But we often assume that God must have a bigger plan into which all the unpredictabilities and disappointments of our lives fit like pieces of a puzzle. There is, however, a danger in thinking that everything that happen...

Misquoted (Part 2) Isaiah 55:1-9 Sunday, June 9, 2024 The prophet Isaiah reminds us that God's ways are higher than our ways, and God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts. This is self-evidently true. However, this truth has often been used to short-circuit honest and faithful attempts to reach a deeper understanding of the nature and work of God. These words are not meant to close down reflect...

Misquoted (Part 1) John 14:12-14 Sunday, June 2, 2024 Jesus says, "If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it." That sounds like a pretty clear, concrete promise. But how many times have we asked for something and not received it? Have we been praying wrong, without sufficient faith, or is there something deeper going on when we bring our needs to God? Bryant Anderson preaching. Reference...

John 3:16-22 Sunday, May 26, 2024 Nearly all of the nation’s population believes that there is a God. However, many people wonder if there is a God who cares. How can members of the body of Christ show God’s care through our acts of love for one another? Beverly Dempsey preaching.