Sermons

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation (Col 1:15). Jesus the Christ. Christ (literally the ‘anointed one’) has always been the Son of the Father. He has always been part of the very fabric of creation, because everything was made through...

This is such a well-known story. The despised Samaritan is the only one who actually helps the victim. The modern version might have the helper as a recent refugee, or someone on social security with lots of tattoos. The Jewish audience would have been impressed by a...

The kingdom of God is near. Peace be with this house. Luke 10:1-11,16-20 Jesus was journeying to Jerusalem, and the cross, although he was the only one who knew how it would end up. Before they get there, he sends 72 disciples out, in pairs, to the places he was about...

The Book of Revelation is protest literature from the underdogs. It’s written to Christians who are being told their kingdom is nothing compared to the Kingdom of Caesar, and they need to bow down and submit. Caesar’s kingdom is the earthly powers or forces that are...

God as wrestler – someone who chooses to meet us when we are stuck, who chooses to keep grappling with us until something changes inside us for the better. None of us would dream that image up for God, and yet it is in Scripture, and it was Jacob’s lived experience. I...

Jacob is one of the few people in the Bible where we get a good long look at his actions, and his character. He is hardly a great role model, and yet he is shown to us, warts and all. Scripture does not airbrush him into looking good. I find it a great comfort and a...

Rebekah in Genesis 24 is an ultra-competent, confident young woman, ready to accept marriage to Isaac. God had promised Abraham and Sarah land, their own child, and blessings to the whole world through their descendants. Twenty years of not getting pregnant would have...

There are many times when we forget or aren’t ready to hear about the resurrection. Remembering the promise of new life changes things. It changes how we look at events. It changes how we feel about things. It helps us get through grief, despair or crippling anxiety....

Genesis 24 is the longest chapter in Genesis. It explains why - to the great consternation of her family- a competent, beautiful, strong, self-assured young woman steps out to the city well and returns 2 hours later, wearing a gold nose ring and two massive bracelets,...