Second City Sermons

One of the great stories of healing is the paralyzed man who is brought to Jesus by his friends through the roof. But what Jesus to that man, he says to all of us. "Your sins are forgiven, take up your bed and walk." This isn't just about a paralyzed man, though of course it is about that, this is about the heart of the good news for all of us. Guilt paralyzes, forgiveness makes us walk and makes...

Mark is laying a lot of foundation stones here in chapter 1: Jesus as the long-awaited one, greater than the new Elijah; Jesus as the one blessed by the father and led by the Spirit; the call of Jesus to leave all and follow him; and now the primacy of life lived in devotion to God and what comes out of that. Here, at the end of chapter 1, we have two short stories, both beginning with prayer and...

Jesus is a great moral teacher. He was received as such right from the beginning of his ministry and he has been ever since. And yet, while that is true, it is woefully not enough. Mark tells us a couple times how people were astonished at Jesus teaching but in-between those he heals a man with an unclean spirit. He isn't just a great teacher, he is the one who has power over Satan, sin and death....

Following Jesus demands a radical commitment that transforms every aspect of life. The first disciples demonstrated this by immediately leaving their fishing businesses and family obligations when Jesus called them. While this level of devotion might seem extreme, it reflects the profound value of following Christ. True discipleship requires putting Jesus above all other relationships and possessi...

Mark's gospel is fast. He jumps right into what is central to the good news, the gospel, of Jesus. John the Baptist comes, and he is great, but his whole message is one of preparation for the greater one who would come after, Jesus. And everything John says has to do with this comparison of just how great Jesus is. We also see this through the writer of the gospel, Mark, and the apostle who was be...

There are many overarching themes in the Bible, but one of the great themes is God's commitment to bring us home to himself, to live as we are made to live with creation, with others and with him. Sin moves humanity out East and continues to do so up until the Exile, but in Christ God brings us home to himself.

"Jesus as the Son of David" explores why the New Testament writers were so insistent that Jesus was David's Son. It focuses on the Biblical Theology of God fulfilling his promise to David in Christ. It also pays attention to David's character, as well as the felt experience of David's kingship being empty before Jesus's time.

In a world filled with uncertainties, Abraham's story offers a timeless lesson on faith and trust in God's promises. Faith is not about adhering to rules but trusting in what God has done and He will do. Abraham's journey began with a call from God, marking the start of his relationship with Him. Despite frequent failings, Abraham's faith endured, highlighting God's faithfulness and the fulfillmen...

The story of the Tower of Babel may not be a text that we would think of for Advent, but it tells us again the story that is at the heart of Christian faith. Humankind is in prideful rebellion against God and what we have seen thus far in Genesis is when that is the case there is only violence and harm that is coming. So, God in his grace acts in his commitment to his creation and in love for huma...

The story of Noah reveals profound truths about God's existence, His care for creation, and His unwavering covenant. God's covenant with Noah highlights His intimate and relational promise to sustain the natural order and humanity. Noah’s story also mirrors the creation and fall, foreshadowing our redemption through Jesus Christ.

Noah may seem like an odd story to start advent with, but what is advent but the observation that God remembers his promise to crush the head of the serpent, to deal with sin and that he has done so in Jesus. It is a remembering Christ's first coming and a sitting in the longing for his second. "But God remembered" is at the heart of the Noah story. And that central fact is what distinguishes this...

The Noah and flood story are great stories for children, but they are also great stories for us because they are true. Yet, the story also makes for one of the reasons Christianity isn't believed. A flood of this proportions just seems, well, too supernatural. It's for this same reason that many Christians are set on proving it happened. Yet both of these positions are wanting certitude while the...

Noah and the flood. 3 whole chapters of the first 9 chapters of the Bible. What we've been seeing is that these first chapters of Genesis are laying foundations for how we understand God, others, the world about us and our place in it all. But three chapters about a Christian truth that people find offensive - God as judge. Yet, at the beginning of this story we have three key ideas that we have t...

Genealogies, "accounts", are the chapter headings of Genesis. Even so, their significance can be lost on us. Genesis 5 tells the Genealogy from Adam to Noah in the line of Seth. While it stands as incredibly different then genealogies we would tell (boy they were old!!), it is packed with meaning and encouragement to find life in the offspring to come and in calling on the name of the Lord. It sta...

Cain and Abel. One of the more well-known stories from early in the Bible. It continues the Adam and Eve narrative and it concludes the real beginning of Genesis. Taken with Genesis 3, it tells us very clearly that the progeny of Adam and Eve were in the same sinful state as Adam and Eve after their fall into sin. But it leaves us with a question: will we walk in the way of Cain who defied God's c...

There are 150 Psalms. They cover the gamut of the human condition, but how are we to understand them? What would God have know so that this very broad book can guide our understanding of Him in our lives? See Psalm 1 and its partner Psalm 2.....

There are many ways that one could summarize a good story and there are many ways one could summarize the Bible. Creation, fall, restoration is a good summary. As we have sat in the beginning of Genesis, even in these first few chapters, we've seen the importance of confessing the true God as the creator God and also we have seen his commitment to his creation despite sin and rebellion. In this se...

Right at the end of Genesis 3, after the consequences for sin and rebellion are given to the serpent, Eve and Adam, we have reiterated for us the big ideas of human existence in these origin stories. Eve is named as the mother of the living - a reaffirmation of the "be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth" of Genesis 1. But while the creation mandate has this echo post-sin entering the world,...

Genesis 3 tells of our first parent's rebellion from God and it does this in a way where we can see these dynamics of sin continuing in our lives today. The apple doesn't fall far. Sin is still alluring and it still has massively detrimental effects in our lives together, with God and with creation. But thanks be to God that he promised the seed of the woman who would bruise the head of the serpen...

The main contention of our series in the beginning of Genesis is that these "origin" stories(Genesis means "origin") have ongoing effects and relevance in our lives. We were made to be seen by God and by other people, seen clearly and looked upon lovingly and intimately. Of all things, before sin entered the world, God says that something is not good, and that something was human isolation. Out of...

What are we? What are we as humans? Sometimes we feel and we know that we were made to be more majestic than we experience. We are like a spray-painted dog who looks like a panda, but we haven't been made to be a farce or to be hollow but to be whole. The Bible teaches at the beginning that we are made with love and care and attention, that we were made in the very image of God, and that we were m...

Genesis means "Origins". This Fall we are looking at the first 11 chapters of Genesis and considering how these "Origin" stories come to bear in our lives in an ongoing way. Genesis 1, in indirect poetic confrontation, presents us with a story of creation origins that is far more compelling than any of the myths of the ancient world or the random chance or survivalist beliefs of our modern times....

Coming back from sabbatical, Pastor Peter offers some reflections on our church and how we are to follow Jesus in our time by looking at Jesus' incredible interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well. What Are We About? Well, Jesus is about seeking after the outcast and the sinner and the stranger, so we are to be about delighting in diversity and seeking the stranger. Jesus, somewhat oddly en...

Developing a praying way of life is at the core of the life of a Follower of Jesus. The apostle Paul urged Timothy as he led the early church in Ephesus to first of all, pray all kinds of prayers for all kinds of people. This included even kings and those people in high positions. This was to be done so that the people of God, the everyday people, may lead peaceful, quiet, and godly lives. This is...

Psalm 46 is a call to be still and know God amidst the turmoil around us; mountains quake, seas roar, and nations rage. We are not good at being still, even in the quiet moments. Our tech-inundated world means unceasing noise. And so many of us are burdened by personal conflicts, internal turmoil, tensions, and anxieties within. Yet, it is in stillness that we ‘know’ God, which is the foundation o...