the Cross Orlando

Concluding the series on the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, this message traces Jacob from his ladder vision (Genesis 28) to his blessing and burial at Macpella (Genesis 48-49) and Romans 8, arguing that Jacob valued the promise of God above all else, even death.

A Mother's Day sermon continuing the series on the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, turning to Genesis 25:19-34 and the story of Rebecca's twins Esau and Jacob, including Esau trading his birthright for a bowl of stew.

Continuing the Easter series on the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, this message centers on Isaac in Genesis 26, where God forbids him from fleeing the famine to Egypt, showing how God hems in this improbable child of promise and calls us to cast our lot with him.

Continuing the patriarchs series, this message turns to the matriarch Sarah in Genesis 15-17, examining her faithless attempt to secure an heir through Hagar and God's covenant renaming of her as the mother of nations.

Continuing a series on the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, this message traces Abraham's story through Genesis 12-25 and Romans 4, showing how God persistently reminds Abraham of the promise that he would be heir of the world through faith rather than works.

The opening of a series on who God is as "the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," beginning in Genesis 12 with God's call of Abraham, set against the backdrop of creation and humanity's fall.

An Easter Sunday sermon continuing Matthew's Passion account from chapter 27, moving through the torn temple curtain, Jesus' burial by Joseph of Arimathea, and the resurrection, emphasizing our need for a Savior and that Jesus' self-giving service works.

A Palm Sunday / Sunday of the Passion sermon walking through Matthew 27:11 and following, from Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem to his silent trial before Pilate, the choice of Barabbas, and the events leading to the crucifixion.

A Lenten sermon on Hebrews 9:11, tracing the Old Testament priesthood, tabernacle, and sacrificial system to show how Jesus serves as the perfect high priest who restores humanity's broken proximity to God.

A Lenten sermon on Paul's letter to the Galatians, addressing whether followers of Jesus must keep Jewish law and ritual, and affirming that standing with God comes through Christ's rescue from peril rather than rule-keeping or behavior.

A third-Sunday-of-Lent sermon drawing on Psalm 136 and Exodus 8, tracing the Exodus plagues and Red Sea deliverance to show how the God of Israel persistently breaks in to rescue his people from peril and oppression.

A study of Matthew 15:21-28, where Jesus withdraws to Tyre and Sidon and a persistent Canaanite woman pleads for her demon-oppressed daughter, exploring faith, persistence, and how the heart rather than ceremonial rule-keeping defines holiness.

A Lenten sermon on Psalm 118:1-13, examining the psalm's liturgical refrain that the Lord is good and his steadfast love endures forever, and how this bedrock truth of God's goodness sustains faith through any circumstance.

An Ash Wednesday message opening the season of Lent, using Joel 2:12-13's call to return to a gracious God, to consider why salvation must come through death, the parts of us that cannot simply be willed into change, and our need for a Savior.

Concluding the series on the role of the church in the life of Jesus before Lent, this message focuses on Luke 11, where Jesus teaches his disciples the Lord's Prayer, reflecting on the fact that the incarnate God himself prayed and needed what prayer offers.

Continuing the series on the role of the church in the life of Jesus, this message turns to Matthew 16 at Caesarea Philippi, where Jesus asks the disciples who people say he is and Peter confesses him as the Christ, setting up the transfiguration.

Continuing the series on the role of the church in the life of Jesus, this message examines his conflicts with the Pharisees over the Sabbath in Matthew 12, where the disciples pluck grain and Jesus declares himself Lord of the Sabbath, desiring mercy not sacrifice.

Continuing the series on the role of the church in the life of Jesus, this message follows Luke 4 from Jesus's temptation in the desert to his return to the synagogue in Nazareth, noting that worshiping weekly was his custom.

Continuing the series on the role of the church in the life of Jesus, this message turns to Matthew 3 and John the Baptist, setting the scene of first-century Judaism with its 613 laws and the guilt and shame surrounding them.

Continuing the series on the role of the church in the life of Jesus leading toward Lent, this message turns to Luke 2:41-52, the boy Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem, where his family went every year for the festival.

Beginning a new-year series on the role of church in the life of Jesus leading toward Lent, this message starts in Luke 2 with the infant Jesus's circumcision and traces the covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17 to explain circumcision's significance.

The Sunday after Christmas, this message turns to Luke 2:22-38, the presentation of the infant Jesus at the temple and the story of Simeon and Anna, beginning with reflections on Jesus's circumcision and naming as signs of God's initiating covenant love.

A Christmas Eve message retelling the birth of Jesus from Luke 2, with the shepherds and angels, and reflecting on the magi drawn from the east in Matthew, showing how the newborn Christ was relevant to all sorts of people across cultures.

Continuing the Advent series, this message reflects on Romans 16:25-27 and "the mystery kept secret for long ages" now revealed in Christ, exploring questions of how God can be just and good and whether we are left alone, answered in Jesus as Emmanuel, God with us.

Continuing the Advent series, this message focuses on the theme of love, drawing on 1 Thessalonians, a letter of the Apostle Paul to the church he founded in Thessalonica, and the church's hope that the Christ who came once will come again.