Sunday Sermons

At the beginning of the year, we discussed our “recalibrated” core values. These didn’t represent major directional changes for us as a church but merely adding clarity to what we truly value as a church. Throughout the year we will do a deeper dive into each of these values. This week we highlight the value of gospel. We want to be a gospel-centered church and bring the gospel to bear on all of l...

Here we see the beginning of Jesus’s public ministry and the first “sign” that John records Jesus doing. The purpose of the sign is to reveal Jesus’ glory so that the disciples might believe (2:11; See also John 20:30-31). How does wine at a wedding do that?! It’s all about symbolism; Jesus reveals himself here as the true Bridegroom who is going to bring about something new and better than ever f...

John (the author) is still just beginning to introduce us to Jesus by telling us the story of John the Baptist. John the Baptist helped prepare the way for Jesus, both by pointing away from himself and pointing us to who Jesus is (the lamb of God, the Son of God, the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit, etc.). Jesus, in turn, points people to himself, as he confronts our expectations and lays cl...

This week we begin our new series, “Down to Earth” through the first six chapters of John. Here in this introduction, John tells us why we should pay attention to who he is telling us about. John is introducing us to the Word - the One who existed from all eternity past, who created heaven and earth; the One who stepped down from heaven to earth in order to make God known to us. This One came to u...

Every one of us has values that shape the way we make decisions and navigate relationships; they inform what we see as treasure or trash. However, for many of us, they remain invisible or unspoken. As we take this month to recalibrate as a church, we want to think together about the values that shape the kind of people we want to be and the kind of church we want to be. Last week we began with (1)...

Everyone of us has values that shape the way we make decisions and navigate relationships; they inform what we see as treasure or trash. However, for many of us, they remain invisible or unspoken. As we take this month to recalibrate as a church, we want to think together about the values that shape the kind of people we want to be and the kind of church we want to be. Over the course of the next...

As we begin a new year (and a new decade!) we are taking the month of January to “Recalibrate” together as a church. We want to think together about where we are headed both personally as individuals and corporately as a church. After discussing “the one thing” upon which we must focus—that is, to know Christ—we turn to the one activity that rightly follows from knowing Christ: we make him known t...

As we begin a new year (and a new decade!) we are taking the month of January to “Recalibrate” together as a church. We want to think together about where we are headed both personally as individuals and corporately as a church. In order to do that effectively we need to be able to answer the question, “What is the one thing we all need to give ourselves to?” Thankfully, we are not left in the dar...

Message from Pastor Chris Amundson on December 29, 2019

Our Portraits of Grace series concludes with the story of Mary.

This Advent we are looking at the very first Christmas passage in the bible: Jesus’ family tree (Matthew 1:1-17), which highlights five women, whose surprising inclusion in this tree serves to highlight God’s grace. This week we look at the story of Bathsheba.

This Advent we are looking at the very first Christmas passage in the bible: Jesus’ family tree (Matthew 1:1-17), which highlights five women, whose surprising inclusion in this tree serves to highlight God’s grace. This week we look at the story of Ruth, a widow from Moab that entrusts her life to the LORD and pledges her life to care for her mother-in-law who has also been widowed. How will they...

This Advent we are looking at the very first Christmas passage in the bible: Jesus’ family tree (Matthew 1:1-17), which highlights five women, whose surprising inclusion in this tree serves to highlight God’s grace. This week we look at the story of Rahab. She was an outcast in almost every possible way. But God used her in a very surprising way (1) to build strong and courageous faith in his peop...

Sunday officially marked the beginning of the Advent season. This year, we’ll look at an unfamiliar Advent text: the genealogy (family tree) of Jesus that opens the Gospel of Matthew, which contains a very surprising element: five special women used by God to further his unfolding plan of redemption. We begin with the story of Tamar, a woman who risked her life in order to secure justice. God used...

Colossians has taught us what it looks like to be established in Christ. But a rooted and mature faith is not one that only focuses on inward growth, but turns outwardly as well. In this passage, Paul calls the Colossians to a diligence in prayer—both for the protection of their faith as well as for the further reach of the gospel (4:2-4). In this same vein, he instructs them “walk and talk” with...

Through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus we have not only been forgiven of our sins but have been given new resurrection life. Therefore, we do everything in His name (3:17). Last week we saw this applied to marriage & family (3:18-21). This week it extends to our “work” - to whatever it is that we do (3:22-4:1). We are to honor those “over us” by being obedient, hard workers, and tho...

Colossians gives us one of the clearest pictures of the supremacy of Christ in who he is and what he has done (see chapters 1-2). All throughout chapter 3 Paul has been opening our eyes to the implications of Christ’s supremacy for how we live our lives now, culminating in 3:17: we should do everything in the name of the Lord. This week Paul applies that general principle to areas where we spend m...

Throughout Colossians Paul has shown us that in Christ we have become new creations; just as Christ died and was raised to life, so we died to our old selves and have been raised to new spiritual life in the here and now (Col 1:13-14; 1:21-22; 2:13-14; 3:4-5). Last week Paul’s focus was “putting off” the old reality (3:5-11). Here in this passage Paul repeats the theme but focuses on “putting on”...

Last week (Col 3:1-4) Paul urged us to focus on Christ, with whom we have died and have been raised to new life, which Christ himself is holding securely for us in heaven until he returns. Does that mean it doesn’t matter how we live now? Absolutely not. This week (and next) Paul tells us what it looks like to live the life we have in Christ in the here and now. That requires both actively putting...

Colossians 3:1-4 reminds us in this passage of what Christ’s death and resurrection accomplished for us: (1) we died with him, (2) we have been raised with Christ, and (3) our lives are hidden with Christ in God. Since Christ has accomplished these things on our behalf, Paul is urging us to live our whole lives for him—for Christ is our life! He gives us clear instructions for (1) how to pursue ma...

There are many pitfalls that await us on the path to following Christ. In last Sunday’s text, Paul addressed specific obstacles (philosophy, empty deceit, human tradition, etc.) that take our focus away from Christ (2:6-10) while also making the case that Christ is wholly sufficient for us (2:11-15). In this Sunday’s passage (2:16-23), Paul builds upon the previous section by confronting imitation...

To establish our roots down in Christ, so we can grow up in maturity in Christ, because Christ is our life. This is the BIG IDEA of Colossians. In this week’s passage, the primary charge or instruction of the letter is given to us—walk in him. Paul provides clarity about how we are to do this, what the risk is when we’re not doing this, and (most significantly) why we are to do this. The bulk of t...

What is the goal of the Christian life? Having meditated on the person and nature of Christ, Paul shifts gears to discuss how his ministry intersects with those following Christ. That is, he states the function and purpose of his ministry—to those he knew and those he hadn’t met face to face; the purpose or goal was maturity in Christ. For us who are united with Christ, the hope is that we are “en...

The Father has moved believers from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of the beloved Son (1:13). Who is this Son? Over what does he reign? How are we impacted by our dwelling with him? Our passage this week answers these questions.

Following Paul’s greeting and thanksgiving comes his prayer for the Colossian church; this prayer is where our focus will be in this week’s passage.