Roseville Covenant Sermons

When William Golding wrote his famous 1954 novel about a group of school boys marooned on a desert island who turn on one another in chaos and violence, he borrowed the book's title from an old biblical demon called, "Be'elzebub" (2 Kings 2:1-3). The name roughly translates to "The Lord of the Flies." There is a moment in the story of Jesus that religious leaders are so outraged at Jesus they call...

One of the challenges with sharing the Good News of Jesus in today's world is that some of our Biblical language about the gospel is foreign to modern ears. For instance, what does it really mean to say, "your sins are forgiven"?  Many struggle to understand what exactly "sin" is or what "forgiveness" means. There is a story early in the book of Mark that helps vividly illustrate the meaning of th...

It seems for many people our idea of Jesus revolves very much around his teachings. We often think of him as a guru, philosopher, or mystic who gives us guidance for better living. This is certainly a significant part of his life and work, but it is far from the only thing Christ came to do. It's been said among the four gospels, Mark's account of Jesus' life is the most "action-packed." Mark fixa...

I recently ran across the book 'Christian Atheist' by Pastor Craig Groeschel on an office bookshelf. I didn't read the book but the tagline piqued my curiosity: 'Believing in God but living like he doesn't exist.' It's always easier to say something than live something. And, with something as all-consuming and counter-cultural as being a disciple of Jesus, it's no wonder we sometimes fall into lif...

I suspect people don't enjoy surprises as much as they used to. We like to know what's coming. I've fallen into this thinking myself. When planning a trip I do extensive advanced research. What is it like where we're going? How long will it take? What should I expect? How should I pack? We might have a preference for things like predictability and control, but there is a Biblical theme that runs a...

When it comes to city life, two members of our family love the buzz and action of the city. Two members of our family do not. While these affinities are largely driven by personality, we find a story on the pages of Genesis that offers a very different commentary on city life.  The story of the tower of Babel in Genesis 11 is a curious turning point in scripture that describes how cities function...

"Life is a miracle!" Sometimes we say these words at the birth of a child, a profound moment of awesome wonder, or a sight of incredible beauty. Yet scripture  tells us it's not just the extraordinary moments of life that are miraculous. Rather, the breath of God sustains each moment of creation; mundane or otherwise (Psalm 104:30). Chapter seven of the book of Genesis tells the story of the great...

After the fall of Saigon in 1975, hundreds of thousands of Southeast Asians fled Vietnam and surrounding countries out of fear for their lives from political retribution. Many of them boarded boats in desperate attempts to cross the seas.  Horrifically, tens of thousands died in the attempt to escape. The term given to these refugees was, "Boat People." Their story has been repeated in refugee cri...

Perhaps the bitter cold days of midwinter are not the best time to read the stories of Genesis 3-11 , they tell a sad story. Fairly quickly in the book of Genesis we read an extended account of humanity's descent into sin and destruction.  Last week we read of the exile from the garden; the beginning of the descent, but unfortunately it was only the beginning. This week we turn to the next generat...

Some of the earliest lessons we learn as toddlers have to do with touching and tasting. Some things are sharp or hot: don't touch! Some things can make you sick or choke: don't put that in your mouth! It can be tempting to read the Bible's story of Eden as a simple lesson about obey rules: don't touch, don't taste (Genesis 3:2). Yet when one reads carefully and closely, we see in the stories of Ge...

One of the reasons I love the book of Genesis is that it tantilizes us with some of the deepest questions of the human heart: Where did we come from? Why are we here? What went wrong? What are we meant for? How will we get back? The first page of Genesis looks at the cosmic scale of God's creative work, climaxing in the creation of humanity in the final verses of the first chapter. The second chap...

Meditations on the Magi, Simeon, Hospitality, and Crossing-Culture. Recorded at the All-Church retreat at Covenant Pines Bible Camp.

This Sunday we look further at the Christmas story and its darker "Second Act" from Matthew 2:1-18. The massacre of the innocents is an important part of the gospel story that reminds us of the sin Jesus came to rescue us from, and his compassion with our suffering as we seek to escape the tyrany of fear and vanity.

A homily for "Lessons and Carols", Luke 2:8-20. Christmas Eve at Roseville Covenant Church 2024.

The story of the Old Testament describes how God’s people demanded a human king only to experience the ache of kings who fell short of righteous rule. The birth of Jesus brought the Messiah who would save people from their sins, and One who would forever rule in justice and righteousness. The Angel Gabriel confirmed this by telling Mary, "He will rule over Jacob's house forever, and there will be...

It's not uncommon to hear someone say, "I believe in God, but organized religion feels oppressive to me." I can sympathize. High on the list of institutional crimes would be the ways religious leaders often fail the people they serve. In recent decades in America we've been living through a reckoning of clergy abuse, congregational exploitation, and moral compromise in churches of every kind. If o...

Despite the increasing commercialization of the holiday in our increasingly unchurched world, most people can still name who's birthday we celebrate on Christmas. His name and the circumstances of his birth are well known. What is less understood is what Jesus was born to do. Theologians have sometimes described Jesus' work in this world as his "Threefold Office". Jesus is a prophet, a priest, and...

Constellations, sunsets, oceans, mountains, forests, flowers, butterflies, orcas, and panthers... the first page of the Bible tells us all these beautiful creations are signs of a beautiful creator. But the first chapter of Genesis is yet to climax. On the sixth day of creation, among the various animals, the Bible zooms in on one animal in particular given a special designation: the human is made...

On the first page of the Bible we read a carefully composed ancient creed that gives us a deep look into what philosophers and theologians call, cosmology, "the order of the universe." Last week Pastor Karina told us about the pre-creation chaos. Genesis 1:2 tells us the uncreated world was "wild and waste," churning waters of disorder. But very quickly in the Biblical story we see the hand of God...

This coming Sunday we will flip our Bibles from its final pages to its first pages - from Revelation to Genesis. It's important for us as the people of God to grasp our story, where we're going but also where we came from.  The book of Genesis offers us the wonderful beginnings of God's story here on earth and our role in it. I can't wait to dive into the deep waters of the first five verses with...

It is a Biblical tradition for Hebrew Prophets to use provocative images to get a reader's attention. John, the author of Revelation is no different. In chapters 17-18 of the book we meet a woman who in the King James Version of the Bible is called, "the Harlot".In modern parlance, she's a prostitute. She is dressed in the most expensive clothes and jewelry, she's intoxicated, and she is saddled o...

If ever there was a book where we are tempted to just flip to how the story ends, Revelation is it!  We have successfully made our way through plenty of challenging terrain in Revelation and have finally come to the edge of the end of John’s vision. My hunch is that if there is one part of the book that we are familiar with, it’s the closing chapters – the proverbial “happy ending.” We love the pa...

In chapters 12-19 of the Book of Revelation we find some of the most fantastical, surreal, and even horrifying images of the Bible. Some of it feels like it comes from the pages of fantasy novels, Manga, Anime, or a Marvel movie (in fact, a few Marvel villains get their names from the Greek New Testament). We meet multi-headed dragons, angelic warriors, mutant beasts, and cosmic armies battling ac...

What do hilarious jokes, heart pounding thrillers, and amazing magic tricks all have in common? Misdirection! The comic, storyteller, or illusionist coaxes you for a moment to think one way so that the surprise of the punchline or the jumpscare has that much more impact when it finally lands. In the heart of the book of Revelation is one of the Bible's great misdirections: the prophet John wonders...

Angels, dragons, beasts, elders, eagles, harlots, martyrs, gems, blood, fire, and brides: reading the final book of the Bible can feel like a fever dream. What doesn't help is how many readers across the centuries have fixated on its evocative images only to miss its deeper messages. Many read Revelation with an interest in predicting the future, but the Revelation of John is as much or more about...