Village Pres Sermons

Rev. Tom Are preaches on the Fourth Great End of the church, "The Preservation of the Truth." This work may be more important these days than in any other time in our lives. Truth is often attacked. It is sometimes ignored. When this occurs, communities are put at risk, because we cannot stay in healthy relationships without truth. Our scripture readings are Exodus 32:1-6 and John 18:33-...

The maintenance of divine worship is the third great end of the church. Worship can seem like an experience, like the satisfaction of sharing a good meal, or the relaxation of taking a walk through a park, or even the rush of riding a roller coaster. But experiences don’t require maintenance. Rev. Tom Are preaches this great end teaches us that worship, even more than an experience, is a practice,...

Today, Rev. Tom Are considers the second great end of the church: “the shelter, nurture and spiritual fellowship of the children of God.” In his last sermon, we were reminded that we belong to God. It follows that belonging to God means we also belong to one another. This great end claims the children of God require shelter, nurture and spiritual friendship. When it comes to faith, our relationshi...

This sermon series title is about church. More specifically, what is the church for? What does the church mean to you? And what should the church mean to the world? The Presbyterian (USA) denomination has some historic statements called the “Great Ends of the Church” that attempt to speak to these questions. In this series, Rev. Tom Are reflects on each of these statements to mine their wisdom for...

We have walked through the letter from James, learning about what matters: listening, actions, words and prayer. In this sermon, we finish the series in James as our youth reflect on wisdom matters. Their experiences over the summer have lent them wisdom they have brought home with them. How have the experiences in your life brought you wisdom? And where might God be working in the midst of that w...

Rev. Dr. Rodger Nishioka concludes the preaching series from the Book of James. We’ve talked together about how listening matters, actions matter and words matter. In this sermon, he talks about how praying matters. James 5:16 reads: The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Rodger believes that. He talks about what that means and why that is so.  Support the show Contact Village Pres...

Growing up many of us may have heard the saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” We know that is not true. Words have tremendous power. They can hurt deeply. They can also heal. James warns us to be careful with our words. Our scripture reading will be James 3:5b-12.  Support the show Contact Village Presbyterian Church villagepres.org communications@villagepre...

Many have come to appreciate James for his practical wisdom and most have come to understand that while we cannot earn our way to God’s grace, faithful followers of Jesus need to not only talk about faith but do it. Our scripture reading is James 2:14-17.  Support the show Contact Village Presbyterian Church villagepres.org communications@villagepres.org 913-262-4200 Have a prayer request?  congre...

Rev. Dr. Rodger Nishioka begins a four-week sermon series titled, "Practical Wisdom from James." Our scripture reading is James 1:17-21. James gives us a practical formula for how we are to live as followers of Jesus: listen first, speak slowly and be even slower to get angry. Support the show Contact Village Presbyterian Church villagepres.org communications@villagepres.org 913-262-4200...

As the parable goes, the bridesmaids had to wait. They had to wait longer than you might expect. Someone once said, “Good things come to those who wait.” But waiting doesn’t guarantee that good things will come. After a while, you begin to wonder if you are really waiting or just wasting the day with no good thing coming. Our scripture reading is Matthew 25:1-13.  Support the show Contact Village...

Change can be hard; everyone knows that. Even if the change is for our benefit, there is a comfort in the ways things have always been. “The devil you know,” as they say. But no one draws closer to God’s promised day by living yesterday all over again. Our scripture reading is Matthew 22:1-14.  Support the show Contact Village Presbyterian Church villagepres.org communications@villagepres.org 913-...

Jesus tells a story where a landowner goes out to hire day-laborers for his vineyard. The issue is the ones he hired at the beginning of the day receive the same wage as the ones hired at the end of the day. Rev. Sally Wright asks what does the story tell us about ourselves? More importantly, what does this story show us about who God is? Our scripture reading is Matthew 20:1-16.  Support the show...

Jesus pointed her out. She was a woman who gave a gift to the temple. It wasn’t much, but she gave all she had. The truth is, the temple was so corrupt, some argued it wasn’t worthy of her gift. But Jesus pointed her out.  Rev. Tom Are preaches those two were a lot alike. Our scripture reading is Mark 12:41-44. Support the show Contact Village Presbyterian Church villagepres.org communications@vil...

We hear another one of Jesus’ stories about farming. Farming is hard work and failure is a frequent reality. This time, the farmer does the best he can, but weeds invade the garden. The problem can’t be fixed. You don’t have to be a farmer to know that some problems can’t be fixed. What do we do when things have gone so wrong we can’t make them right? Rev. Tom Are ponders this question in the next...

In the parable of the mustard seed, Jesus says the tiniest of seeds can become the greatest of trees. Rev. Melanie Hardison preaches it’s easy for us to focus on the transformation of the seed into the tree and to use it as a metaphor for our own lives. But what Jesus is talking about is the realm of God. God doesn’t call us to the work of transformation for transformation’s sake. There is more to...

For Jesus’ first parable, the one about the sower who sows seed like a maniac, he provides an explanation. Those seed-snatching birds are really a metaphor for the evil one, and so on. But if we read with care as we walk through this parable a second time, it becomes clear there is a new point being made. Last week, the story was all about the seed. This week, it’s all about the soil. Rev. Tom Are...

Rev. Tom Are begins a new sermon series on the parables of Jesus titled, "Choose the World You Want to Live In." Whether talking about seeds, weeds, lost sheep, lost sons or how to behave on a wilderness road, his subject matter was always the same. His stories were about the kingdom of God–the promised day of God. In this sermon, he reflects on the sower and the seed, and what it means...

We are, both as Christians and as humans, a story people. We enjoy stories, we learn from stories; but over the past year we have in some ways been unable to hear each other’s stories as often as we might like. Rev. Zach Walker asks why is it a loss when we don’t share stories with each other? And more than that, what are the stories we deem important enough to share? Our scripture reading is Matt...

On the first Sunday we returned to in-person worship, there was much to celebrate. And yet, we also know that the past 14 months have taken their toll. Many have lost loved ones. Others have lost jobs. Others have lost hope. Rev. Tom Are preaches it will be important during these days of struggle that we remember this: the Spirit of God has come to us, to dwell with us, to renew our hope. There is...

Rev. Tom Are points to a touching moment in a Biblical story where forgiveness is involved. The truth is, friendships can’t last long without learning something about forgiveness. None of us gets it right all the time, so if we are going to walk the journey of life with one another, we are going to need to learn how to let some things go. Our scripture readings are Acts 15:36-40 and 2 Timothy 4:9-...

The Gospel of John tells us on the night of the last supper, Jesus took a towel and basin, he knelt down and began to wash the feet of his disciples. It made Peter uncomfortable. It would likely have made us uncomfortable. It was a moment when Jesus shows us what his love for us looks like. It is a love we don’t often feel like we deserve. We might be right about that. But he loves us anyway. Real...

It’s not enough to carry our friends in our hearts; they have to show up on our calendars as well. Jesus taught us something about that when he went to have dinner at Mary and Martha’s house. Rev. Tom Are talks about this in the second sermon in the series “You’ve Got a Friend.” Our scripture reading is Luke 10:38-42.  Support the show Contact Village Presbyterian Church villagepres.org communicat...

Rev. Tom Are starts a new sermon series titled, “You’ve Got a Friend,” reflecting on aspects that encourage meaningful friendships, as well as some barriers to friendship. He begins the series by reflecting on Paul's spiritual advice to "bear one another's burdens." Sometimes we are the strong one; but sometimes we need someone else's strength. Our scripture reading is Gal...

Rev. Dr. Rodger Nishioka preaches on Jesus saying to his followers that new wine deserves new wineskins. He says this to remind the church that we are being made new through the power of Holy Spirit. In these days of the risen Christ, God is indeed making us new, and God is transforming us as Christ’s body to be even more faithful! Our scripture reading is Mark 2:18-22.  Support the show Contact V...

Becoming God’s new creation is no easy task. Rev. Sally Wright preaches what we know is that God is the one who is doing the transforming of all things into God's new heaven and new earth. Our scripture reading is Revelation 21:1-6.  Support the show Contact Village Presbyterian Church villagepres.org communications@villagepres.org 913-262-4200 Have a prayer request?  congregational-care@vill...