The John Knox Presbyterian Church Podcast

Jimmy McPherson - Matthew 5:8 In this message from Matthew 5:8, we explore one of Jesus' most profound promises by tracing it through the story of Scripture — from Psalm 24's question, "Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?" to Revelation's breathtaking promise that God's people "will see his face." What does it mean to be "pure in heart"? Is Jesus describing moral perfection or something deeper?...

Jimmy McPherson - Matthew 5:7 What does it mean to be merciful? Drawing on Scripture and powerful stories of compassion, this sermon discovers that mercy is far more than kindness or pity — it is the very character of God revealed in Jesus Christ. As recipients of God's steadfast mercy, we are invited to become people who notice, move toward, and lovingly respond to the needs of others, bearing wi...

Uli Chi - Matthew 5:6; Isaiah 61:1-11 Thank you for listening and for supporting the ministry of John Knox Presbyterian Church Seattle. To learn more about our life together and ministry, visit www.johnknox.church .

Zach Daoust - Matthew 5:5 Thank you for listening and for supporting the ministry of John Knox Presbyterian Church Seattle. To learn more about our life together and ministry, visit www.johnknox.church .

Rev. Jimmy McPherson - Matthew 5:4 What could Jesus possibly mean when he says, "Blessed are those who mourn"? In this message from Matthew 5:4, we explore one of the most surprising Beatitudes and discover that Jesus is not glorifying suffering but proclaiming God's presence and promise to those who grieve. Drawing on the biblical vision of God's coming restoration, this sermon considers how fait...

Rev. Jimmy McPherson - Matthew 5:1-3 In this opening message of the House Hunters series, we begin exploring Jesus' Sermon on the Mount by asking both who Jesus is and what kind of life he invites us to build. Drawing on Matthew 5:1–3, we discover Jesus as the new and greater Moses who ascends the mountain to reveal God's vision for human flourishing. Far from celebrating self-sufficiency, Jesus p...

Rev. Jimmy McPherson - Numbers 11:24-30 Moses’ remarkable declaration, “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets,” is a vision of humility, shared leadership, and the wide outpouring of God’s Spirit. Moving from the wilderness of Moses to the church at Pentecost, this message confronts modern temptations toward prestige, control, and spiritual elitism, while calling the church instead toward...

Rev. Jimmy McPherson - Luke 19:1–10 This sermon explores the familiar story of Zacchaeus beyond the children’s song and into the deeper realities of grace, repentance, and communal transformation. Looking at the social stigma surrounding tax collectors, the symbolism of the sycamore tree, and Jesus’ intentional pursuit of the lost, this message reflects on how Christ’s costly grace not only change...

Marc Gronholz - John 9:1–41 Thank you for listening and for supporting the ministry of John Knox Presbyterian Church Seattle. To learn more about our life together and ministry, visit www.johnknox.church .

Rev. Jimmy McPherson - Luke 7:36–50 In Luke 7:36–50 we encounter a story of sin, shame, and surprising grace. Through the contrast between a “respectable” Pharisee and an unnamed woman marked by her past, the message exposes a shared spiritual reality: all are “flat broke” before God, unable to repay the debt of sin. Yet where judgment is expected, Jesus offers something radically different — publ...

David Floyd - Mark 5:1-20 Thank you for listening and for supporting the ministry of John Knox Presbyterian Church Seattle. To learn more about our life together and ministry, visit www.johnknox.church .

Rev. Jimmy McPherson - John 3:1-21 Nicodemus’ nighttime encounter with Jesus reveals how fear keeps us in the dark — guarding our image, avoiding exposure, and holding back from transformation. Rather than condemning, Jesus invites us into new life: a “birth from above” shaped by the renewing work of the Spirit. Drawing on the promises of the prophets and the image of the lifted serpent in the wil...

Marc Gronholz - John 4:1-30 The encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman reveals the deep spiritual thirst at the heart of every human life. As she searches for fulfillment in all the wrong places, Jesus meets her across every barrier—not with condemnation, but with an offer of “living water” that truly satisfies. Her story becomes our story, exposing the ways we try to fill a God-shaped lo...

Rev. Jimmy McPherson - Jonah 2:1-10   On Easter morning, we step into the strange, subversive story of Book of Jonah and discover it’s not just about a prophet and a fish — it’s about mercy we resist and grace we cannot escape. Connecting Jonah’s descent into the deep with Matthew 12, this sermon proclaims the resurrection of Jesus as the ultimate “sign of Jonah” — God entering death itself to bri...

Rev. Jimmy McPherson - John 13:1-17, 31b-35 In this Maundy Thursday homily based on readings from John 13 we enter the unsettling and beautiful moment when Jesus kneels to wash his disciples’ feet, revealing both the depth of his saving love and the shape of the life he calls us to share. What begins as confusion becomes clarity: this act points to the cross, where Christ fully cleanses and claims...

Rev. Jimmy McPherson - Zephaniah 3:14-20   Palm Sunday is marked by the tension of a cheering crowd longing for victory as Jesus rides in on a donkey, revealing a kingship marked by humility, sorrow, and costly love. Drawing on Zephaniah’s turn from judgment to joy, this message moves from a world unraveling under injustice to the startling vision of a God who delights, rejoices, and sings over Go...

Rev. Jimmy McPherson - Zechariah 9:9-12 In this sermon on Zechariah 9:9–12, we explore what it means to wait for God when expectations go unmet and hope feels uncertain. Through the prophet’s surprising vision of a humble king, alongside stories of disappointment, longing, and resilient faith we are invited to see that God’s hope often arrives differently than we imagine, yet no less powerfully. T...

Rev. Jimmy McPherson - Joel 2:12-32 In Joel’s day, a devastating locust swarm stripped the land bare and left the future uncertain. It looked like the end. But through the prophet, God speaks a surprising word: what appears to be the end may actually be the verge of renewal. In this sermon, we explore Joel’s warning about short-sighted living, superficial repentance, and the “Day of the Lord” that...

Rev. Jimmy McPherson - Micah 6:6-8 In this sermon from Micah 6:6–8 in the On the Verge series, we explore the prophet’s call “to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” Speaking into a world where religious activity continued while justice and mercy were neglected, Micah reminds God’s people that what God desires is not more ritual, but lives shaped by faithful love. At th...

Marc Gronholz - Amos 5:18-24 In this message from Amos 5, we explore what it means to stand “on the verge of justice” in a world filled with competing definitions of fairness and righteousness. While Israel longed for the “Day of the Lord” as judgment on their enemies, Amos delivers a sobering warning: God’s justice begins with his own people, especially when worship is empty and the vulnerable ar...

Rev. Jimmy McPherson - Hosea 14:1-9 We love a comeback story — until it slips away at the last second. In this Lenten message, On the Verge of Return, we turn to Hosea 14 and discover that Israel’s greatest failure wasn’t on a field but in the heart: “you have stumbled because of your iniquity.” Through vivid imagery of broken covenant, misplaced trust, and relentless divine love, this sermon expl...

Rev. Jimmy McPherson - 2 Samuel 11:1–5; 1 Corinthians 13:1–13 This sermon contrasts lust and love through David’s abuse of power in 2 Samuel 11 and Paul’s vision of the “more excellent way” in 1 Corinthians 13. It names how desire untethered from love leads to objectification and fracture, while Christ’s self-giving love reorders our hearts and restores dignity. The invitation is not repression bu...

Rev. Jimmy McPherson - Proverbs 23:19–21 ; Galatians 5:16–25 In “Hungry for More”, we explore how in-ordinate consumption — of food, entertainment, distraction, or escape — can quietly leave us absent. The hollow promise of “eat, drink, and be merry” is confronted by the even stronger promise we hear in Scripture’s deeper invitation: not less life, but more. Not denial, but freedom. Not numbing, b...

Rev. Jimmy McPherson - Luke 12:13–21 ; 2 Corinthians 9:6–15 In a culture that equates success with accumulation, this sermon names avarice for what it is: not just a love of money, but a way of life that hollows us out. Drawing on Jesus’ parable of the rich fool and Paul’s vision of joyful generosity, More Than Enough explores how greed trains our fears, tightens our grip, and reshapes our hearts....

Rev. Jimmy McPherson - Matthew 25:14–30 ; Romans 12:9–13 “Wake Up” reframes sloth not as simple laziness but as acedia — a quiet spiritual indifference that scatters our attention and tempts us to disengage from God, others, and our own vocation. Through Jesus’ parable of the talents, it exposes the danger of burying what has been entrusted to us out of fear, distraction, or resignation. Paul’s ex...