Sermons

When God’s people were exiled in Babylon, he gave them a surprising vision. Rather than withdraw from the surrounding culture in fear, lash out at it with disdain, or simply use it for their own benefit, they were to seek the peace of the city and pray for its flourishing. How might this shape the way we engage with culture and inform our vision as a church?

It’s striking that Christianity introduces itself to the world with a book written by someone despised by religious insiders, someone they considered beyond the reach of God. It’s as though the New Testament begins with an exclamation point of grace. We see this vividly in Jesus’ call to Matthew.

When fear, opposition, or uncertainty shake us, where can we find true stability and safety? In Psalm 27, David points us beyond our circumstances to the one thing that matters most: encountering the beauty of God. As we seek this, we discover a confidence and peace that fear cannot take away, even amid life’s deepest uncertainties.

In search of life’s meaning, Ecclesiastes challenges us to remember God in our strength as well as our weakness, turning to him in our days of joy as well as our days of grief.

Research shows a strong connection between enjoying our work and enjoying life itself. Yet many of us feel disengaged at work and depleted by life. How can we find real worth in our jobs—and practice true rest when the lines between our personal and professional lives are increasingly blurred?

Though we long for permanence and control, life keeps reminding us of our limitations. This poignant passage about time and the full range of human experience invites us to receive life as a precious gift from God—with humility and trust—rather than something we must control and master.

In a world obsessed with achievement, pleasure, productivity, and self-creation, the book of Ecclesiastes speaks with startling honesty about the human condition ‘under the sun.’ It gives voice to questions many of us quietly carry: What’s the point of all our striving? Why does success often leave us unsatisfied? How do we live meaningfully and with real joy in the face of suffering, disappointments, and death?

Habakkuk complains, and God answers. Do we really believe God will answer the cries of our heart?

How far does God’s love go? The story of Hosea is one that helps us scratch the surface of answering that question, and in doing so, offers a picture of the power of God’s pure love.

Isaiah 6 gives us one of the clearest pictures of what it means to encounter God. Isaiah comes face-to-face with the presence and holiness of God. And that encounter led him to recognize his own brokenness, receive the mercy of God, and ultimately be transformed by God.