the Cross Orlando

A sermon on the lectionary readings from Isaiah and James, focusing on Isaiah 12:1-6, a song of thanksgiving and praise, and reflecting on how God's word and even his judgment come through the prophets to his people.

A Mother's Day sermon reflecting on mothers' opportunity and responsibility to represent God's love to their children, and on God as a heavenly parent who supplements and heals where earthly parents falter, drawing on Psalm 147 as a song of praise.

A sermon on 1 Peter 2:21-25, on Christ suffering for us and leaving an example to follow, healed by his wounds, and how believers living under God's reign should not be surprised by suffering since suffering does not mean they are doing something wrong.

An introduction to a series on the letters of John (1, 2, and 3 John), noting these short, less-studied epistles and how the aged apostle John repeatedly returns to the simple, deep command to love one another.

An Easter Sunday sermon on the resurrection account in Luke 24, imagining the women coming to Jesus' tomb with burial spices early in the morning and finding it empty, and reflecting on what the resurrection means for us.

A Good Friday message on Psalm 22 and Matthew 27, contrasting the faithlessness of Judas, Pilate, and the crowd, who grasped for control, with Jesus' humble faithfulness as he trusted God even in death on the cross.

A Palm Sunday message walking through Matthew 26, from the woman anointing Jesus with costly perfume through the Last Supper and Gethsemane, presenting faith as believing more is going on than reason and logic can see.

A message on Hebrews 9, explaining the Old Testament tabernacle and sacrificial system and how Christ, as high priest offering his own blood, secures eternal forgiveness that liberates believers to live as they were intended.

A message on John 6's feeding of the five thousand, paired with the manna of Exodus 16, urging listeners to trust that God knows something we do not and to bet on his way at the forks in life.

A Lenten message linking the "finger of God" in the Exodus 8 plagues with Luke 11's casting out of a demon, showing that the God who rescued enslaved Israel will go to any length to rescue people who recognize their need.

A Lenten message on Matthew 15 and the Canaanite woman whose persistent, non-performative, need-based faith Jesus calls great, urging listeners to approach God honestly from a place of brokenness and need.

A Lenten message on 2 Corinthians 5-6, where Paul, working with God in the ministry of reconciliation, urges believers not to receive God's grace in vain but to let the gospel reorder their whole lives, even through hardship.

Ash Wednesday

A message on 1 Corinthians 13, framing Paul's description of love as a plea for the church to bear with and love one another, since love is the enduring bedrock and we all need a place where we are loved.

A message pairing Isaiah 55, where God's word goes out like rain and accomplishes its purpose, with Luke 8's parable of the sower, assuring listeners they are already God's good soil in whom God will grow good things.

A guest speaker reflects on Exodus 17 and God bringing water from the rock, drawing out how God meets us in our present circumstances, withstands our complaints, stays faithful, and is already at work in our tomorrow.

A message pairing Jonah 1 with Matthew 8's calming of the storm, showing that no matter how far one runs from God or how flawed one's faith, God reaches down to rescue and is always ready to respond.

A message on Psalm 67 and its prayer that God's face would shine upon us, illustrated through Mary, Hezekiah, and Abraham, showing how God's favor brings safety, new life, change, and saving power noticed by the nations.

A New Year message pairing Genesis 46 (Jacob going down to Egypt) with Matthew 2 (Joseph fleeing to Egypt), observing that God leads his people on circuitous, unpredictable paths and calling listeners to focus on who they are becoming.

A Christmas Eve message reflecting on Luke 2 and the Advent themes covered through the season, urging listeners to embrace the preposterous truth of the incarnation, drawing on Paul's prayer for the Colossians.

An Advent message on John 1 and the Word becoming flesh, exploring the incarnation's mystery of fully God and fully man, supported by Colossians 1, and inviting listeners to embrace the light of life.

An Advent message from Matthew 1 on the name Emmanuel, "God with us," rooted in Isaiah 7 and King Ahaz's refusal to trust God, calling listeners to courage and trust in God's presence amid life's challenges.

An Advent message from Luke 1 on Gabriel's announcement to Mary, showing how Jesus fulfills the promised throne of David traced through 2 Samuel 7, Jeremiah 23, Isaiah 9 and 16, and Peter's sermon in Acts 2.

An Advent message on why humanity needs a Christ, tracing the Genesis fall that introduced fear, shame, and death, and pointing through Zechariah's and Isaiah's prophecies to the hope of Christ's coming and return.

Continuing the series on the parables of Luke, this sermon examines Luke 18:9-14, the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector who go up to the temple to pray, contrasting self-righteousness with the humble plea for mercy that justifies.