Well of Hope Sermons

As we celebrate the ideals and achievements of our country on one hand, many folks are wondering how we also hold remember the failures and missed ideals in the other. How do we remain Christian in a country where Christian Nationalism is so prevalent? When all feels loud, fast, and shallow, we remember that the real work of human dignity, justice, and mercy through Christ, is consistent, persiste...

This week, we find Jesus continuing to teach about what discipleship looks like. More specifically, he has an honest conversation about what it costs. Echoing the words of the prophet Micah, Jesus warns that walking in the way of God—actually showing compassion to those most in need—may cost us something. "Those who lose their life for my sake will find it," Jesus says. So the question for us is t...

The day before this sermon, Well of Hope held a big and audacious fundraiser for New Beginnings, a congregation that meets inside the Denver women's correctional facility. This sermon was a debrief of that experience, but also an encouragement to explore the compassion and call of Jesus, to embrace vulnerability, and to be freed from our fear of failure. This text is a call to be pulled by compass...

We talk in Church a lot about Jesus' Love and His Way being for all people, but if we are honest, there is always someone we wonder about. Matthew the Tax Collector's story should challenge us to include those people as part of the movement of liberation that we might prefer to leave out. As a tax collector and former lackey to the Empire, Matthew's welcome into the movement of Jesus should stretc...

We are baptized into the Trinity (Creator, Son, Holy Spirit) and sent out to teach and make disciples and baptize other into the Trinity. Often times, a brand of "Coopted Christianity" that takes this sending out seriously looks like strands of Christian Nationalism. We rebuke that. Today we remember that we are baptized into community itself, love, and Mercy. That is who God is and how we try to...

Happy Pentecost everyone. In the bright, flashy, chaotic, and loud world we live in, it can feel impossible to believe that the Holy Spirit can still move and make a difference. Where we usually hear from Acts about the Pentecost, John's Gospel offers a pentecost that ties the Holy Spirits work to the quiet and powerful work of healing. Perhaps it is worth paying attention to this year. 

As we prepare for the Jesus Ascension after Easter, we are promised another Advocate. Someone to walk along side us. We kind of zip right over the top of this, but when we stop and think about that, this is a big deal. It means that Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit are all in the business of being with us and caring for us. It's who God is. 

In todays text from John 14 we meet one of the more famous texts in the Bible, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no-one comes to the father except through me." Though this is a kind and pastoral encouragement to Jesus' disciples, it often gets oversimplified to exclude and harm non-christians. Contrary to a lot of simplified teaching on this text, Jesus is showing a whole new way to be in th...

It is Good Shepherd Sunday, a Sunday where we hear about Jesus protecting and caring for us so that we can have life in abundance. Where false shepherds distract, and lead us away from this abundance and love of God and neighbor, Jesus lays down his life so that we can be freed. We call this love Grace. 

Sometimes the troubles of life keep us from seeing that Jesus is walking with us. Jesus not only walks with us, but he also processes these experiences in relationship with us as he did the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Even if we're kept from recognizing Jesus' presence, he never leaves us in this state of unrecognition. Through the taking and breaking of the bread, Jesus' love and care is...

Transfiguration Sunday marks the end of Epiphany. Next week we begin our Lenten Journey with Jesus toward the Cross. It seems fitting that Jesus would leave the disciples a memory or reassurance as they begin this difficult road because we humans are indeed quick to forget. We have these vivid memories of God's presence too and if we let them, they can reassure us when all seems lost.

Following Jesus's Beatitudes in Matthew, we get this text where Jesus calls the crowd the "Salt of the Earth" and the "Light of the World". Which is a good thing; they are a blessing! Salt and light are what they are because of their attributes. Salt is... Salty... Light is Bright... Similarly, the people gathered around Jesus are a blessing just because of who they are. The trick is letting those...

When Jesus comes to proclaim that the Kingdom of Heaven has come near, he is also declaring the end of the Kingdom of Herod, the Kingdom of Rome, and the kingdom of violence, hate, suffering. In the midst of the cruel and evil actions of federal ICE agents in Minnesota this weekend, it is important to remember. Herod's power is shallow. It does not hold us.

In a world that feels like all hell is breaking loose, Jesus invites us to come and see where peace and love prevail. When we come and see, we encounter a Christ that has not abandoned us and are in turn invited to live our lives in a way that reveals Christ in our most dire circumstances to others.

Pastor Asher Vincent joins us today to share about baptism and its guiding promise in the midst of our chaotic and troubling world. Like a lighthouse on the shore guiding ships to safe harbor, our baptism and its promises guide us to love our neighbors and to know God's loving care for us. Even when the light of God feels fogged over and less bright, it remains for us. It does not run away.

On this first Sunday of Epiphany, we see the Wise Magi from far away bringing gifts and following a star to find baby Jesus, the new King of the Jews. With all of their unique qualities and different cultural practices, the magi exemplify great wisdom, leadership, honesty, and power that is a far better example than the leadership shown by Herod. They use their power to point to Jesus and their st...

In this first Sunday of Christmas we encounter a Jesus who is forced to flee. Joseph and Mary, hearing of Herod's murderous plot from an angel, become refugees. They seek Asylum in a foreign place away from their customs and family. They depend on the hospitality of others. It is so important for us to hear stories like this in the Bible because they teach us the power of relationship and vulnerab...

This Christmas Eve as we remember the nativity story, we also remember that God remains. The birth of Christ long ago also means that heaven and God's own self has touched our world. Because of this, Creation, our relationships, and everything we know is sacred and holy. Our God does not stay far off, but comes to stay with us even now. Merry Christmas, Alleluia. 

As the powerful clamor to keep our attention no matter how cruel, loud, and divisive it makes them appear, Joseph shows another kind of power. The power of ordinary, quiet, and courageous Love. In this time of Advent , Joseph models the love that Christ will teach his followers, and the kingdom that is ushered in by an average looking human baby in an out of the way manger. God help us see this qu...

This week we learn that Joy is bigger than individual feelings of contentment and happiness its something of God swirling around us and bubbling up in creation. Like John from behind bars, and Mary in her dangerous place as an unwed pregnant woman, we see the world around us and know it is not as it should be. Despite all going on around us though, it's our sacred right to find Joy. It is a powerf...

In this second week of Advent we meet John the Baptist in the wilderness offering a new way for all people; the curious, the hopeful, the faithful, and those who have lost their way. This baptism is an invitation for change, growth and empowerment in our lives. How will we let the Holy Spirit work that growth in us? What is the hard exterior we need to let go to access the good fruit of God and al...

Our First Week of Advent starts with us being asked to stay attentive to the surprising and unexpected ways God Shows up in our world. Advent happens in the darkest days of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and in that time we search for, anticipate, and wait for the light just around the corner to meet us at Christmas. 

On Christ the King Sunday, we remember that Jesus' power is not like the power of earthly rulers. Earthly rulers seek revenge and Jesus offers forgiveness. Earthly rulers throw $20,000 per plate fundraisers and Jesus eats with sinners and throws the doors open to anyone. Earthly kings sit on thrones far away, Jesus is born in a manger and his throne is the cross. It's a backward beautiful kingdom...

This week we celebrate all the saints that have gone before us and remember that there is a power even greater than the power of death that connects us. We remember our humanity and God's grace that is present for us in both the good times and the hard times. It's that love we receive from one another and from God in all parts of our life that continues to draw us in and reminds us to share the ki...

Happy Reformation Sunday! The week we celebrate Martin Luther's work to reform the Church and Society, pointing us toward God's grace through faith and not our own actions. Today we get a text of Jesus promising freedom by the truth of love and not anything we are able to accomplish on our own. Grace is a release from the spiral of sin and perfectionism we often find ourselves in if only we are ab...