Pastor Taylor Shippy's Sermons

Pastor Taylor Shippy - 1 Samuel 1:1-28 What do you do when the world around you is always Good Friday but never Easter? This is the world Hannah knew. Hannah found herself living in one of the darkest chapters of ancient Israel's history: the period of the Judges. Where in those days Israel had no king and everyone did whatever seemed right in their own eyes (Judges 21:25). How do you operate...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Luke 15:11-32 What do you think is nothing more and nothing less than the deepest, most desperate desire of God's heart? I believe our story this morning might just hold the answer…

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Mark 16:1-8 Easter Sunday 2025 No one reads —let alone preaches— Mark on Easter. Mark doesn't give us what we want unlike the other three Gospels. Mark just gives us the bare essentials of what happened that day: an empty tomb and a vague promise. And he ends with three terrified women who —at face value— don’t tell a soul! Easter's not supposed to end like that, rig...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - John 19:30 Good Friday 2025

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Psalm 118:1-29; Matthew 21:1-11 Palm Sunday 2025 "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever." How can God’s love endure forever if by the end of the week it ends in a tomb?

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34 It’s not all that surprising to hear someone being crucified feel how David felt in Psalm 22; however, with Jesus... Given who Jesus is… It gives us pause. This is something we never expected Jesus to experience—let alone express. Not Him. Not the LORD’s Anointed One. Not the eternal Son of God. But of all the Bible verses He could have chosen— Of a...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - John 19:28 Friends, I could be wrong, but I believe "I thirst" gives us a glimpse into Jesus truly experiencing what we feel every day— what it means to be human. That Good Friday offers a window into the incarnation of Jesus Christ: the Son of God without ceasing to be God becoming fully human. That is a real man experiencing real human suffering! Better yet, God...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - John 19:26-27 All the Gospels tell us that various women—faithful followers of Jesus throughout His earthly ministry—make the journey from Galilee to Calvary (cf. Matt 27:55-56; Mk 15:40-41; Lk 23:27, 49). However, John is unique in mentioning that among these women, standing near the cross, was Jesus’ mother. This is not a throwaway detail for John. Jesus’ mother has only a...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Luke 23:43 When it comes to this word from the Cross this morning, I fear we run the risk of emphasizing the wrong parts of the sentence. That many of us hear— "Today, you will be with me in Paradise" (Lk 23:43) —and we are conditioned to hear either only the beginning or the end of that sentence. But what if neither of those are the most important parts of what Je...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Luke 23:34 Despite how central and iconic Christ’s crucifixion is to the heartbeat of our faith (cf. 1 Cor 1:18-25), it may be jarring how laissez-faire the Gospel writers are with retelling the specifics of Good Friday (cf. Matt 27:32-44; Mk 15:22-32; Lk 23:26-43; Jn 19:16-26). They don’t dwell on the physical agony of Jesus or depict it in graphic detail; instead, all four...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Luke 9:28-36 Transfiguration Sunday What happened on the Mount of Transfiguration may be one of the most significant events in the life of Jesus that we rarely ever talk about. Three out of the four Gospel writers go out of their way to include this story (cf. Matt 17:1–13; Mk 9:2–13; Lk 9:28-36), which in itself ought to tell us something. Yet, despite its apparent importan...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Mark 2:18-20 This is our final week in our current series looking at the "easy yoke" Jesus offered (cf. Matt 11:28-30). Let's close by highlighting a unique dimension of the easy yoke—one that feels especially appropriate as we enter the upcoming season of Lent. It’s something we see Jesus Himself practice at key moments in His life (cf. Matt 4:2; Lk 4:2). And...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - John 11:1-44 Throughout this season of Epiphany, we have been uncovering the secret of what Jesus called the easy yoke—His yoke (cf. Matt 11:28-30). The secret to a life for those of us who are weary and heavy laden that is truly, genuinely good and life-giving. Today I want us to bravely push us to consider something tricker. Something we might not instinctively connect wit...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - John 13:1-17; Philippians 2:1-11 “Do you understand what I have done to you?” (Jn 13:12). A powerful question. But this moment —Jesus washing the disciples feet— is too important to be misinterpreted or forgotten. But could it also be that Jesus is giving us a clue to the easy yoke? If we believe Jesus somehow holds the clues to living an abundant, fulfilling blessed life… I...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Mark 6:30-34 For so many of us —myself included— our lives feel like a constant barrage of things to do, tasks, responsibilities, obligations—one after another—this endless string of notes played in rapid succession, set to a breakneck tempo, leaving no time to rest, let alone catch our breath. Just a relentless rush that leaves us wondering how in the world it is even possi...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Luke 7:11-17 Splagchnizomai (σπλαγχνίζομαι) A funny sounding, ancient Greek word that is almost always reserved for Jesus. As a matter of fact, splagchnizomai is so rare in the Greek New Testament that it appears only in the Synoptic Gospels (x14 times). And out of the three, Luke uses splagchnizomai the most sparingly—just three times in his entire Gospel (cf. Lk 7:13; 10:3...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Matthew 11:28-30 “Sometimes I dream that he is me… I dream I move, I dream I groove. Like Mike. If I could be like Mike…” What if I told you that this old sports-drink commercial slogan holds the secret to unlocking our text this morning? The secret that all of us who are weary and restless are desperately pining for... The secret that some of us who are disappointed and may...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Nehemiah 2:11-18 Every time I read through the book of Nehemiah, I picture it like reading the memoirs of a storm surveyor. Long after the ‘eye of the storm’ has passed, here’s a man who doesn’t just see and hear about the wreckage, he feels it. And God stirs his heart to respond in light of it! How might Nehemiah's legacy influence how we see and respond to the state of the...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Matthew 2:1-11; Philippians 2:12-16 Christmas Eve 2024

Pastor Taylor Shippy - 1 John 4:7-12 Let’s have fun with a little thought experiment: If He could, not that He would, but what do you think Jesus would ask Santa for Christmas? If God wrote a Letter to Santa, what would he ask for? What would be at the top of God's Christmas list? What do you think God wants for Christmas this year? I don’t think it’s too far-fetched to ask. There could very well...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Luke 1:39-44 The LORD took me to a familiar story in the Gospel of Luke this week—the story of the very first person who jumped for joy because of Christmas. And while I’ve heard of taking candy from a baby, I never imagined I’d be taking pointers from one…

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Isaiah 9:1-2, 6-7; Luke 2:8-15 What I'm discovering is that my understanding of peace is far too narrow then how peace is described in Scripture. Peace is the Bible is this profound, multifaceted reality. A cornucopia of ideals God desires for not only this world but for us: completeness, wholeness, flourishing, abundance, blessedness. What if this kind of peace is what the...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Matthew 11:2-6; Luke 7:18-23 As we light the first candle of Advent, the candle of hope, we're reflecting on how sometimes our circumstances can blind us—not only to God, but also to what He is doing in our lives. We can find ourselves in the darkness. In these moments, in the shadows of faith, we can easily become vulnerable to doubts and fears. But it’s precisely in these...

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Luke 19:11-27 Today is "Christ the King Sunday," the final Sunday before Advent, the last Sunday of the Christian Year, a day set aside to remember where Christ is currently, ruling and reigning, I believe I heard this morning a charge from our king, challenging us to live boldly and publicly and unapologetically as His followers wherever we find ourselves…

Pastor Taylor Shippy - Luke 12:13-21 “Take care!” Jesus says, “Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot” (Lk 12:15). The ‘life’ that Jesus is referring to here is the same life He refers to in the Sermon on the Mount: “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matt 7:14). It’s also t...