JR.'s Sermons

Hopelessness has taken root in our culture. Many of us wonder if life truly has any meaning at all. The Apostle's Creed opens by affirming that God is the creator. This is not a scientific claim, but an insistence that each of us matters, that we all have a purpose.

For many, belief is the beginning of a relationship with God. But many others struggle with knowing what Christians actually believe. Many more have doubts and questions that are not easily quieted. Is belief really a barrier to a relationship with God? Or can we learn to follow as we learn to believe? Can believe be an invitation to a deeper trust in the God who wants to help our unbelief?

How long can you go without breathing? A minute? Two? Five? We can't do much unless we breathe... and Pentecost reminds us that the Spirit is God's breath in us. How can we take time to breathe in God's Spirit so that we have the power to do what God calls us to in this world?

We tend to quit when relationships get hard – that’s because truly intimate, life-changing relationships take a lot of work. How can we embrace the pain of true community for the sake of our own faith, the faith of others in our community, and ultimately, the faith of our world?

In the face of unspeakable evils in the world, how can we respond? Peter challenged early Christians to remain faithful to live out the story of Jesus. How does that make a difference? How can the Jesus story lived out in our lives be a path of resistance? And how does the resurrection make that resistance possible?

If The Force Awakens is criticized for anything, it’s for being too similar to the older Star Wars films. But we’re living in an age of nostalgia. Perhaps because our world is in such turmoil, we crave the familiar stability of old stories. So too, when Peter is helping suffering Christians understand God’s call, he frames their stories in the larger story of what God has been doing since the begi...

Religion far too often is a tool of oppression. People in power often uses biblical texts to justify their oppression. We explore one of these texts in 1 Peter and see that the text was originally meant for liberation. Then we explore how we can hear the text today in a way that calls us to work for justice in our every day lives.

2001 embodies the myth of progress in its iconic opening sequence: technology will ultimately save us. But Peter reminds the early Church that they are saved not by their own efforts, but by what God has done for them through Jesus. The practice of Sabbath teaches us to say no to the god of Progress and rest in the life God invites us to.

Much sci-fi is about the promise of a pain-free life. But Wall-E points out that a pain-free life might not actually lead to our flourishing. Peter opens his letter to suffering Christians by reframing how they understand the pain they’re experiencing. He invites them to see their pain as an invitation into Jesus’ crucifixion. He illustrates how God works through pain to make us whole.

Easter celebrates Jesus' resurrection, his victory over death, and our invitation to new life. But in a world where there's no such thing as a free lunch, how can we trust that God really wants best for us? A classic Twilight Zone episode and a Ke$ha song help us see exactly why the resurrection proves God is good and worthy of our trust!