Sermons by Tom Harris

Sermons by Tom Harris

Rev. Tom Harris has served as Govans’ Senior Pastor since 2006. >Read Tom’s Biography

Cross in sunlight

The Vision & Power of Christ & Christianity

Christianity and Christ provide us vision and power if we are willing to work for them. Paul invites us to be crucified with Christ so that something greater may rise within us. So we can experience the vision of what we are called to be and have the power to live in that way.
Wall Crumbling

Breaking Down the Barriers

The story of the Apostle Philip meeting the Ethiopian Eunuch on the road is a story of two people breaking down the barriers society has built between them. God is calling us to do the same every day.
Flames

It’s Been on Fire the Whole Time

Christ is always among us. Christ is with us in every person we meet. Our calling is to recognize that our hearts and minds (in fact our heads) are on fire with the presence of God. Our challenge is to recognize this when we are in the moment, so we don’t just look back and say, “Oh, my head was on fire the whole time.”
Bubble

The Rich Man, Lazarus, and Wanda Maximoff

In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, we meet a man who has created a bubble of privilege so impenetrable that even as he suffers for his actions, he cannot see the truth. In this sermon on Luke 16:19-31, Rev. Tom Harris connects the Marvel TV show WandaVision with this parable. In the show, Wanda Maximoff has created a similar bubble of power that blinds her to reality. How do each of us create the same kinds of…
Coin

Seeking to Restore Lost Relationships

In the parable of the lost coin, what has God lost? Not individual people. God knows each of us intimately wherever we are. In this reflection on on Luke 15:8-10, Rev. Tom Harris suggests that God has lost the human community that God created us to be. So when we seek to restore relationships and community, we are working with the energy of God toward the same purpose.
Bible laying on table for sermons

Remember the Lost and Commit to Change

In this passage from Luke 13 we hear two stories about preventable tragedies and the way Jesus challenges us to see them as more than misfortune or punishment of the victims. In our own day, the staggering death toll of COVID-19 was preventable. Pastor Tom invites us to value human life in way that prevents such suffering in the future. The parable of the fig tree that follows these two stories suggests that God may not be infinitely patient with…