Salt House Sermons

The Gospel of Mark is weird. It has all these demon stories. Jesus is kind of moody (and secretive.) There's like barely even a resurrection at the end. But yet, the gospel writer insists that this story is good news. So what is Mark's take on this Christmas mystery of "God With Us"?

Advent at Salt House: this season, we are going to be looking at how each gospel tells the Christmas story a little differently. And sometimes, we try to harmonize these stories--but not this year! This year, we are going to look at the differences. Because the differences matter! God shows up to all of us in different ways too. So we will look at all the different ways the people of God have come...

Time and time again, the community of Salt House shows up and makes things happen. Whether for an individual or the larger community, this community has faithfulness at it's core. Which is why we can meet these three stewardship engagement goals: 1. Perhaps you're new to Salt House and haven't yet made a financial commitment. We are looking for 5 first time givers to sign up for regular monthly gi...

Smit never locked his door after his children were abducted in 1997. He always had a hope that they’d come home. The agony of loss and the pervasive unknowns about their whereabouts has been a constant companion of Smit’s for nearly 30 years. What he’s learned about grief and gratitude is truly heartbreaking and brings peace beyond words.

One of things we learned from the pandemic is how easy it is for churches to close. But you, Salt House, have risen to the challenge time and time again. Which why we can meet these three stewardship engagement goals: 1. Perhaps you're new to Salt House and haven't yet made a financial commitment. We are looking for 5 first time givers to sign up for regular monthly giving. 2. Maybe you're been gi...

Jacqueline Umubyeyi shares her story of survival during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide against the Tutsi, in her own words. The tragic experiences of her family reflect the profound tumult of the country in crisis; the heroic measures she took to reclaim her life afterwards mirror the country's transformation from a nation in chaos to a people committed to healing. Jacqueline's story is one that's been...

Salt House does some amazing stuff considering the size of our congregation! Would you consider supporting this work? During this season we are looking to meet three engagement goals in our stewardship: 1. Perhaps you're new to Salt House and haven't yet made a financial commitment. We are looking for 5 first time givers to sign up for regular monthly giving. 2. Maybe you're been giving regularly,...

Lindsey grew up in the church and felt called to be a missionary. But over the years something became obvious: queerness and faith seemed incompatible. Listen to Lindsey's story about how Salt House has become a good place for queerness and faith to thrive.

All Saints Sunday reminds us to remember and grieve those loved ones who have died. As we continue our Stories Matter season, we will be practicing what we've learned about Story Telling by looking at the lives of our saints--those who we've loved and lost. We'll talk about the surprising and good things God did through their lives, even in the shattered moments.

We've been studying stories: how to read our own stories, and how to co-author our lives with God. This Sunday, we will dive in and enjoy a service full of stories, as members of our Salt House community will share with us stories of when they encountered fear (how Halloween themed!) And in each of these stories, we will hear how their shalom was shattered, how they searched, and the surprise salv...

The final movement of our story telling arc is the "Surprise of Salvation." This is the gospel! This is that bumper sticker that says "Jesus Saves!" But... it certainly feels more complicated than that. Listen in to see how salvation shows up in the story of Genesis, and how it shows up in your story too! 

The next part of our story model is the "Search for Shalom." This is where we spend much of our stories, and it's frustrating. Searching for shalom often feels like spinning in circles or taking two steps forward and one step backwards. But what is happening in this part of our story? Where is God? And what can we learn in this searching phase?

Our sermon series will continue with The Story of St. Francis of Assisi (Frank as we like to call him.) We'll look for these themes of Shalom and Shattering in his story. as well peek ahead at how Searching and Surprise are part of his story as well. There is nothing more fun than cats and dogs in church on a Sunday... so don't miss it!

The shattering of our stories is tender stuff. There are painful, confusing, traumatic chapters in our narratives--sometimes because of our families, sometimes because of systems--and these wounds can often shape our stories in profound ways. This Sunday, Karen Maher will be our guest preacher to talk about writing your story of shattering.  Karen's life priorities are connecting with family and c...

Knowing our story requires starting at the beginning. Today, Zach Herzog will take us back to the beginning; the creation story found in Genesis, But we are also talking about YOUR beginning. How a story starts informs what we understand about the rest of the story.

What's your story? this Fall at Salt House we want to invite you to become a student of your story and discover what God is doing in and through the pages of your life. Using a theological tool from Dr. Dan Allendar, we'll explore the story-arc of the Bible and how to begin co-authoring our lives instead of being a supporting cast. And that’s why we say, “Stories Matter” here at Salt House. Your s...

Stories matter! This is one of our core values at Salt House and we say it a lot. But what does it mean to be students of our own stories? How do we study and understand what our stories mean and what God is up to in our stories? And, how do we become writers of our stories to live out what God is doing in us? These are the questions we are going to explore in this fall's sermon series. So join us...

Our final sermon from our series on The Beatitudes - Blessed are those who are persecuted. When we live lives that aim to bless like Jesus, we often encounter the opposite of blessing.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God" (Matthew 5:9). We welcome Salt House community member Arlene Smith to the microphone to share about this beloved beatitude.

What does it mean for Jesus to mantle us as ‘blessers’. Storyteller, initiated Elder and fly fisherman Jim Anderson will draw us into Jesus’ sermon on the mount and explore moving from ‘container to content’ in God’s kingdom of love. 

Purity in the Bible is such a complicated concept. And we probably have a lot of baggage around this word. So when Jesus blesses "the pure of heart" what does "purity" mean to Jesus? Join us Sunday for another beatitude, where Pastor Ryan will explore this blessing for the "pure of heart."

Sometimes Jesus uses really vivid language to evoke the senses and draw us in. That's what this next blessing is all about--hunger and thirst. It brings out intense, bodily sensations. But who are the hungry and the thirsty? What blessing is unique to them? How might we live this blessing our lives?

We live in a culture that so values the cerebral, the academic, the thinker... but not so much the feeler. And yet Jesus blesses our tender, squishy, messy emotions. Jesus is a feeler and encourages us to feel too. But where is the blessing in that? How can sadness and grief be good? Let's explore how complicated mourning and comfort are this Sunday. 

Every preacher’s got just one sermon and Jesus isn’t an exception to that rule. This week we hear Jesus’ big idea about what God is up to and what the meek have to do with it? (What in the world IS a ‘Meek’ anyways?!)

What is happiness? What are blessings? What does Jesus have to say about these things? And how does he live them? These are questions we are going to explore this summer in our sermon series on the Beatitudes. Found in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, the Beatitudes give us a list of people who are blessed or happy. And this list isn't what you expect. So join us this summer, in this seaso...