We often want God to change the world around us. But what Jesus is most often up to is changing the world within us. Jesus does want to transform the world, but his method is to send out transformed people to demonstrate what is grace can do. In this sermon from Acts 1:6-14, Pastor Eric challenges us to let Jesus do his saving work in us, so that he can then bring redeeming power to the world through us.
You're Never Alone (May 14, 2023)
As Jesus says farewell to his disciples in John 14:15-21, before his crucifixion and resurrection, he gives them the promise of “another Advocate” to come. In this sermon, Pastor Paige explores what that means, and how the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, enlivens us today both as individual followers of Jesus and as the church, together.
Can You Say That about Jesus? (May 7, 2023)
Jesus says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." These words can be a scandal and an offense in our day and age because they might seem exclusive. In this sermon from John 14:1-14, Pastor Eric challenges those notions and encourages us to find confidence, not in our ideas about Jesus, but in Jesus' own words about himself.
Jesus Lives! (April 9, 2023)
Christ is Risen! The Easter story from Matthew 28:1-10 emphasizes how zealously Jesus’ opponents tried to keep his body sealed away in the tomb. But nothing could stop God’s power to raise his Son up from death to life. In this sermon, Pastor Paige invites listeners to consider times when they’ve felt like their hopes and dreams were blocked by obstacles too big to be overcome. She then shares the good news that because God raised Jesus to new life and allowed him to burst out of the tomb, there is nothing God cannot do. We have received the gift of the forgiveness of sins and eternal life thanks to Jesus’ death and resurrection. Now nothing can come between us and the hopeful future God has planned for us. That’s the great news we have to share with one another and the world. Christ is Risen, indeed! Alleluia!
Can Love Lead to Tombs? (March 26, 2023)
This is a challenging passage. John 11:1-45 tells the amazing story of Lazarus being raised from the dead, an incredibly hopeful account of Jesus' power to raise the dead. But there is a difficult side to it as well. Jesus did not respond immediately when he heard that Lazarus was ill, and so before Jesus came, Lazarus had died. "If you had been here," Lazarus' sisters say, "my brother would not have died." But what if the role of Jesus isn't to keep his people protected from feeling hurt or pain? What if, in fact, he can lead us through the worst we could ever face and give us the gift of new life on the other side? This sermon from Pastor Eric invites you to let Jesus lead you, even into places we might not want to go.