St James Presbyterian Church

As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.” When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite…

I feel like there is a sermon I’ve been trying to preach all my career. It’s one that keeps nagging me, keeps pushing itself to the front of my mind. It’s the sermon the Spirit seems to have stirred up and put upon my heart as an identifier — Seth, this is the burning of your bones. And it comes to mind…

In between faith and works there lies a tension — a point of integration between what we know and what we do. It’s that space between right belief and right action. The tension has to exist, it has to pull in both directions, to remind us of the positive bind that exists in the Christian journey. One has to have the other. Faith and works, together, bring life. Faith without works, well, it’s dead...

James makes it quite clear, echoing Jesus’ teachings to simply be with the poor, to love our neighbors, to pray for our enemies. The work is right in front of us. We are formed in belief so that we may live belief out in action, an unstained, pure religious action that does not turn a blind eye to the needs of the widow or orphan, but integrates our lives with them, coming close, in love and compa...

Faith produces the ability to hold the doubts and certainties in healthy tension. Faith says, “I’m gonna try.” I don’t know if I can make it (certainty and doubt), but I’m going to endure. Do you doubt? Good. Bless that. Do you hold some things with certainty? Good, also bless that. Today, let us see that our doubts actually lead us right into the space where we can develop faith and seek wisdom....

Jesus’ ministry is inaugurated and framed by acts doing justice with and for the poor, the captive, the hurting, and the oppressed.

Before diving into our preaching text for this morning, I want to pause to offer some clarity on the language in this letter to Ephesians. Cultural and social contexts are so important as we clue in to what God is up to, working in and through the ways of the ancient world to unveil God’s reconciling…

Will the invitation to fight the giants of our lives lead us to retreat or invite our courage? Will we turn towards the struggle in authenticity and humility to be a part of God's liberating work?

The Parable of the Sower (Mk 4:1–9, 13–20; Lk 8:4–8, 11–15) 13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying:…

4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there…

This morning I want to open our Sermon reading by going back to the beginning of the chapter of Hebrews 5 to set the stage for how the lectionary positions the text. The question posed in this text is what does it look like for Christ to be glorified as he fulfills his purpose on earth. What does a priest…

It is God's grace which we receive, freely, as we step deeper into a mature faith in Christ. Grace upon grace frees us to love and serve out of God's abundance.

Jesus invites Nathanael to have his perceptions and skepticism confronted, offering him a way forward to come, see, and participate in God's way of justice.

We wrestle with this difficult text in order to find a meaning for ourselves and a calling to share the good news with others. You and me, we are invited...and that invitation is to be received in obedience and then shared so others can join in too.

Jesus is the year of the Lord’s favor and ushers in a kingdom of forgiveness, freedom, and economic justice.

The God-given rhythm of life dedicating each seventh day of the week to Sabbath rest is also to be observed in a cycle of years. God declares every seventh year to be a sabbatical year of Sabbath-like rest, promising to provide enough resources not only for those observing the sabbatical but also a needed break for the land and laborers who produce. Sabbatical creates healthy community; lack of sa...