Sermons on Spiritual Growth (Page 4)
Stewardships of Virtue and Goodness
We often think about being stewards of material things like money, stuff, or the earth. We also think about being stewards of our time and talent. But, can we also be stewards of goodness and virtue? Pastor Tom uses David’s prayer of repentance as a jumping off point to explore this question.
The Ten Commandments Explained by the Animals
How would the animals explain the Ten Commandments to humans? It seems like humans don’t do a great job following the commandments, so maybe we need to hear them from a different perspective.
Doing Hard Things Together Through Faith
The Crossing of the Red Sea is an archetypal story of communal rebirth. It is a story of a people acting on faith together and being transformed as a result. We can draw strength from this story as we face challenges that we haven’t chosen. We can also be inspired to choose to do hard things together so that we are stronger as a community when larger challenges arrive.
100% Responsibility: What It Is and What It Is Not
In our story today, Joseph is faced with almost impossible choices. He has no good options. Yet, in each situation he makes the best choice he can. Each time he takes 100% responsibility for his decisions, never blaming the unfairness of the situation. What does it mean for us to take 100% responsibility for our choices? And just as important, what does it not mean?
Leading Like a Christian: Claiming a Gospel Vision
How do we lead as Christians in this moment of tumult and transition? Pastor Billy will begin a five-part series on Christian leadership this Sunday to complement Pastor Tom’s summer series on critical social justice concerns. Throughout this series, we’ll use the books of Ezra and Nehemiah from the Hebrew Bible as guides for how we can be faithful leaders in this moment. This Sunday, Pastor Billy will preach on Ezra 1 and 3. You’re invited to read through both…
Living Like the Philippians Dignity, Not Domination
In chapter two of Philippians, Paul and Timothy cite an ancient hymn or poem about Jesus, highlighting Jesus’ humility and obedience (2:5-11). Examining the original language of the hymn, however, allows us to better understand the political context and meaning of the passage; together, we wrestle with the political imagery Paul is invoking. – Pastor Billy’s Sermon from May 29, 2022
The Dangers of Idolatry and How to Avoid Them
Idolatry may sound like an old- fashioned word, but helping people avoid it is one the Bible’s core teachings. Pastor Tom offers an unflinching review of the ways we tend to exchange an unmediated relationship with the indefinable Creator God for relationships with people and things. After looking at how our personal lives and our religious lives tend toward idolatry, he then offers ways we can approach our religious practice that help us avoid the trap of idolatry. – Pastor…
People Change, But You Can’t Change Them
As we ready the story of the Apostle Paul’s radical change (conversion), we will reflect on how to best respond when we feel people we love need to change due to the harm they are doing to themselves or others. There is no simple answer and set of instructions, but it involves setting good boundaries, accepting them for exactly who they are, AND seeing them for who they are called to be.
Unbinding Grief, Unbinding Life: Shouting in Windows and Mirrors
Our Lenten Sermon Series, Unbinding Grief, Unbinding Life continues with Pastor Billy’s sermon, Shouting in Windows and Mirrors. Jesus shouts at Lazarus to come forth in John 11:38-53. This is the first time John uses that verb and then he repeats it throughout the passion narrative to contrast Jesus shouting for life and the crowd shouting for death. How can we read the the Bible as both a window and a mirror (also called descriptive/prescriptive reading) and notice ourselves in…
Pass the Baton
We welcomed the Rev. Michael Lynn Moore to our pulpit for a special joint worship with Knox Presbyterian Church. Rev. Moore is the African-American Associate in the Racial Equity and Women’s Ministry at the Presbyterian Mission Agency and is a former pastor at Knox Presbyterian in Baltimore.
Don’t Look it Up!…Look Up!
What does Wordle have to do with the Gospel? Why are Pharisees like Scrabble? John invites us to resist the temptation to decide what Christ can’t do by looking it up in the Bible. Instead Look up and see Christ loose in the world and imagine what Christ can do.
Keep on Gnawing
In John’s gospel, Jesus tells us repeatedly he is the “bread of life,” but how exactly does that work? This Sunday, Pastor Billy will discuss the great bread chapter of John (chapter 6), Passover, manna, feeding the 5,000, and what Jesus’ invitation to carbo-loaded, full life might mean for us today.