Vessel Sermons

Jesus is the new ‘thing’ God promised so that we could become new creatures in Christ. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 a startlingly beautiful promise is made: if anyone is in Christ they are a new creature. That’s as true for you as it is of anyone who puts their hope and faith in Jesus. God does for us what we could never do for ourselves; he makes us new. Sometimes we don’t feel new. Sometimes we don’t l...

“Behold, I am doing a new thing… I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19 New things can be great and all, but sometimes new things are awkward, difficult and even scary. Sometimes our fear of the unknown is even greater than our fear and frustration with the present, known issues and brokenness. Because of this, there are times we’ll actually settle for the stat...

Maybe the reason we feel overworked and burned out isn’t simply because we’re doing too much, but because we’re ignoring God’s built in rhythm for regular, weekly rest. A study done recently reported that Americans are spending a little over 5 hours a day on their smart phones. You heard that right: 5 hours per day. What’s crazy is that the average American gets under 7 hours a sleep a day. Think...

Life may be messy, but the good news is that the mercy of God is new every single day. Life is messy. We know the good we want to do and often fail to do it. We know the evil we want to avoid and often give into it. Sometimes it feels like we’re caught up in a vicious cycle that we can’t break. But to anyone who has ever felt this hopeless frustration there’s good news: the mercy of God is new eve...

While making changes is good, Jesus didn’t die and rise so we can make behavioral modifications. He conquered death so we could be changed from the inside out in ways far beyond we can accomplish in our own power. In John 3, a secretive meeting between Jesus and a religious leader named Nicodemus is held. While Nicodemus seems to want to ease into the conversation, Jesus cuts straight to the heart...

Let’s not rush into 2020 and forget the powerful things God has done in 2019. We have a tendency to stockpile and store up stuff to the point that we no longer even remember what we have. How many times have we cleaned a room or garage or house only to be surprised by what we found – shocked by what we forgot we had! It happens to all of us with our stuff and if we’re honest, it happens with what...

Hope is contagious. It welcomes others in Christ into joy and freedom. Isaiah 11 offers a beautiful but confusing picture of the hope we have in Christ. The first part of the chapter offers a picture of restoration and peace. The second half however is a bit less desirable. It speaks of violence and plundering and I’m doing so raises a question. How can the text speak of peace and hope and healing...

Luke 1:26-38

Even in our grief there is hope and where there is hope, there is cause for joy. Everywhere you look in the Christmas story, you see people rejoicing. Elizabeth, Zechariah, Mary, shepherds and even an unborn John the Baptist get in on the celebrations. Why not right? Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s is on the way! And yet, as happy and joyful as the Christmas season can be, for many of...

Jesus came as a king, priest, prophet, and temple for real people and real life. The genealogy at the beginning of Matthew is like an escape room. When you first look at it, it seems kind of underwhelming…but then you start looking under things and inside of things and behind things and all of the sudden, you find secrets and codes that unlock more secrets and codes…and you realize that there’s me...

The hope of God has the power to heal and reconcile broken relationships. In Isaiah 11, the prophet begins by painting a powerful picture of what the Coming One of God will one day be like. The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon Him. Truth and justice will flow from Him. He will not judge unfairly, but instead He will strike down the wicked with nothing more than the words of His mouth. It is a pow...

Luke 2:26-38

God’s heart is to fill His church, but to do that, we need to be emptied of our glory and expectations; it’s then that we’ll begin becoming all He dreams us to be. As we come into this story, Solomon and the team have just finished building the temple. It’s stunning, incredible, beautiful…but it’s missing something. Missing everything. It still needs to be filled. And as we get to the climax of th...

When the Church lives into what it is truly meant to be, healing comes and the forces of darkness are put on the defensive. In Matthew 16, the disciples are wrestling with who Jesus truly is and what that means for them. When Peter’s proclamation meets realization about Jesus being the son of God, Jesus commends his understanding, and then charges Peter and the disciples with a mission. When the p...

Becoming the Church means becoming a team, a body, and a family. Throwing a bunch of athletes on a field doesn’t make them a team any more than throwing a bunch of Christians in a room makes them a church. Coming to church is a beautiful and necessary first step, but until we learn what it means to become the Church to one another, we’ll never be able to be the Church we’re supposed to be to a hur...

What if something as simple as coming to church could unlock faith, hope and love in ways we’ve yet to experience? In Hebrews 10, the author paints a beautiful picture of just how thorough and far reaching the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is. What year after year of sacrifice could not accomplish, Jesus did once and for all. Through Christ, we are forgiven and free. But what now? N...