Sermons

There’s longing that runs through every culture throughout time that can be hard to put into words. We can all see that our world is a broken place and when we’re honest, we know that we ourselves are broken people. The longing we have is for this world and for our lives to be made whole; to be restored. The good news in this Advent season is that we are not longing in vain, but longing for what God has promised he will do. Jesus, our Prince of Peace, is coming to make everything whole.

A theme that transcends time and culture, that works its way into literature, music and fine art is the desire of wanting to go home. Home is that place where we belong, where we’re protected and provided for, where we’re reminded of who we truly are. This week, from the prophet Isaiah, we’ll see that because Jesus is our Everlasting Father, we can look forward to what our hearts long for: going to our true home.

One of the key themes of Advent is waiting. Just like kids have to wait until the glory of Christmas morning, we have to wait for the full glory of our life in Christ. Often waiting is hard, sometimes our waiting is full of grief, pain, and tears because we long for a healing but we’re powerless in our situation. This week we will see what it means for Jesus, our Mighty God, to enter our waiting; and the good news we’ll see is that Jesus our Mighty God will turn our weeping into rejoicing.

Advent is a season of great hope and in days like ours, we need hope. All of us, no matter our background, circumstances, beliefs, long for something to give us rest in our souls and lead us to rejoice in our hearts, because all of us experience what this passage describes as gloom. Often we look at our lives or we look at this world and we ask, “Can anyone lead us out of this mess?!” The good news of advent is “Yes. Jesus, our Wonderful Counselor”.

Recent headlines tell us that new AI technology will soon be creating distortions and copies of reality that we won’t be able to distinguish from the real thing. When it comes to our Christian faith, there have been distortions of reality, attempts to twist and mimic the real thing for centuries. In a new age of deep fakes, how can you and I know the real Jesus? This passage about the people of Berea is one that Christians have long looked to as an example for knowing the truth.

In 1979, Bob Dylan wrote a song with a chorus saying “You’re gonna serve somebody, it might be the devil or it might be the Lord, but you’re gonna serve somebody”. I think he’s right. I think the Bible says Bob Dylan’s right. All of us serve something or someone. This passage will press us to look into our hearts and reflect on what or whom we serve. What King do you serve, because we’re all gonna serve somebody.

One of the biggest problems Christians have is with our memory. Many of us have stories of how Jesus has changed our lives, but for some reason we can so easily forget this happened. In this amazing story from Acts 16, God is going to jog our memory and open our vision to the reality that leads us to worship week after week: Jesus is alive, and Jesus changes lives in any place and at any time, even when we least expect it.

Decision making can be excruciating. For Christians, we often will add to the process the good, but often debilitating question, “What’s God’s will for my life?” How can you and I live with any confidence in our decisions? Even more, how can we live with courage? Not just getting by, but living with purpose and boldness and strength? From these three short stories, we’ll see that the secret lies in not trusting our choices and plans, but trusting in God’s.

In the first half of Acts 15, the major issue was a theological question: “What is required for salvation?” The Church leaders in Jerusalem agreed that all people are saved by grace through faith. The issue that we see in the second part of this chapter centers more on how the Christian life is lived out in a culturally dititle world. With our new identity in Jesus comes a new way of living that seeks to establish and grow God’s Kingdom across all cultures.

The truth and meaning of the entire gospel of Jesus Christ depends on how one responds to the central claim in this passage; the answer to the question: “What makes me right with God?” The gospel is that you and I are made right with God by Jesus’ righteousness, his alone, and it’s a gift given to anyone who will accept, free of charge.