Grace Church Audio: Recent Episodes
Joshua Yoder
These are the sermons from Grace Church: An Anglican-Lutheran Shared Ministry in Washington, NC. This church merger is our attempt to live out Jesus' kingdom unity in our city and this podcast is a way for you to listen in to how Jesus is shaping his people across denominational divides.
This episode is the sermon that Pastor Joshua Yoder preached on Sunday February 5, 2023 on Matthew 5:13-20.
This episode is the sermon from Palm Sunday, April 10, 2022. We zero in on Jesus' statement from the cross: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34), trying to understand what Jesus means. Hearing echoes of the devil's temptation in the shouts from the rulers and the soldiers, Jesus knows that more is going on than just an angry mob. And this insight gives us as Jesus' followers tremendous help in learning how to grow in forgiveness toward one another.
This episode is our sermon from Sunday March 27 on Luke 15:11-32. Jesus tells this parable in response to the Pharisees and scribes grumbling that he eats with tax collectors and sinners, and it helps explain why it is that they're grumbling. This parable shows two different ways of being lost; two ways of using their father for their own selfish purposes. One obeys and is filled with pride. The other disobeys and is filled with shame. But both are far from the father. And this sermon will help us see how.
This episode is our sermon from our Ash Wednesday service. In this message, we take a close look at Paul's understanding of the relationship between his "ministry of reconciliation" and the "message of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5) and how this helps shape our own understanding of what it means to testify to Jesus.
This episode is our sermon from Sunday March 20. In this message, we talk about the unique identity of Grace Church, how we understand ourselves in relation to the kingdom of God, and the place that our two distinct denominations play in our ministry.
This episode is the sermon from the first Sunday in Advent, November 28, 2021, on Luke 21:25-33. We'll explore why it is that Advent begins with a look at Jesus' second coming and how we ought to relate with end-of-the-world type language in these passages. This is good news for the church, but we have to understand what Jesus means by what he says.
In this sermon from December 19, 2021, we look at Mary's visit with Elizabeth as told to us in Luke 1:39-56, paying particular attention to how the Lord displays his "might" in contrast to the "mighty" from this world. Highlighting two pregnant women passionately discussing the coming overthrow of every earthly empire is one incredibly powerful way to teach us all that God chooses what is weak in this world to shame the strong.
In this week's sermon from John 18, we'll discuss just what it is Jesus means when he says to Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world." We'll first address what Jesus' does NOT mean by this statement and follow that up by what he DOES mean. And then we'll take a look at how Christians can be faithful citizens of the kingdom of God in the midst of earthly kingdoms.
This week's episode is our sermon from Sunday November 14 on Mark 13:14-23. Jesus is answering his disciples' question regarding when the destruction of their temple will take place. And Jesus' words to them necessarily shape how we need to view the endurance of ALL earthly institutions, including those very close to us.
This sermon is from October 31, 2021 on John 8:31-36. We'll talk about what it means to be Jesus' disciple and not just someone who believes in him and then what it means to bring our whole self to Jesus so that he might truly set us free.
This episode is the sermon preached Sunday October 24, 2021 - Jesus' healing of a blind beggar named Bartimaeus. Jesus asks both James and John as well as Bartimaeus the same question: "What do you want me to do for you?" We'll look at both together to gain a better understanding of what types of attitudes ought to shape followers of Jesus.
In this sermon, we look at Mark 10:2-16, where the Pharisees question Jesus about divorce. We'll see what was behind their question (evidenced by their attempt to "test" Jesus) and what challenges the church still faces today when it comes to interpreting Scripture faithfully. We'll also hear about Jesus' care and concern for vulnerable women and children and why faithful disciples don't go looking for legal loopholes to do the things they want to do.
This sermon was originally preached October 3, 2021.
In this sermon, we focus in on Jesus' words to his disciples from Mark 7:38-50. The temptation for all disciples to see themselves and their way of following Jesus as THE way is something that has plagued the church for centuries. And this temptation is especially prevalent in a shared ministry like the one we've begun.
This sermon was originally preached September 26, 2021.
In this sermon, we'll look at Jesus' words to his disciples about how the cross will not only shape the calling on his life, but also on the lives of his followers. I apply this sermon specifically to our shared ministry and how following Jesus is a challenge that we need to embrace.
In this sermon, we'll look at Jesus' words in John 6 about eating his flesh and drinking his blood as well as his promise that whoever feeds on him has eternal life. We'll contrast what Jesus is offering with the ways human beings tend to "feed" themselves and see how our ways bring about nothing but death.
In this sermon, we'll look at Mark 3:19-35, a passage in which Jesus' biological family and religious family see him as out of his mind and possessed by Beelzebul when they witness the kingdom works that he does. In order to bring the kingdom of God, Jesus will inevitably have to challenge every other "kingdom" people have constructed along the way, including our own personal "kingdoms" as well as any religious ones.
In this sermon, we'll look at Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus: a privileged, educated, wealthy leader in Israel. Contrasting the way Jesus speaks to Nicodemus with the way he treats the Samaritan woman in the next chapter (John 4) sheds some light on how Jesus meets each person where they are and how the gospel challenges them to find their true life in Jesus.
In this Pentecost Sunday sermon, we'll look at Acts 2:1-21 and contrast it with the tower of Babel narrative from Genesis 11. We'll see how reality is reshaped when a name is made for God as opposed to one made for people and how the church should embody this posture in and through our lives today.
In this week's sermon (May 16, 2021), we'll look at Jesus' prayer from John 17, paying particular attention to what Jesus says about how he has made God's name known, and what that means for the disciples Jesus prays for as well.
In this week's sermon (May 9, 2021), we'll look at John 15:9-17 as Jesus continues his teaching on what it means to abide in him. And we'll notice a pattern that is repeated all throughout the Bible: The Father's love for us drives our love for one another. And for the Christian, there cannot be one without the other.
In this week's sermon (May 2, 2021), we'll look at Jesus' words to his disciples from John 15:1-8. We'll talk about what it means to "abide" and why doing so is necessary to our lives as Jesus' followers.
In this week's sermon, we'll look at John 10:11-18 - Jesus' declaration of himself as the good shepherd. We'll compare and contrast the person of Jesus with the "false" shepherds that were harassing the sheep, looking back to both John 9 and Ezekiel 34.
In this sermon, we'll look at an encounter Jesus has with his disciples post-resurrection (Luke 24:36-48). Through this short narrative, we're given massive insights into what life after death will look like for all people, modeled after Jesus himself. We'll also see that because Jesus invites the disciples to recognize him based upon his scars, we too are given the hope that Jesus is in the business of taking our wounds and using them to shape who we are becoming.
In this sermon, we'll look at Jesus' post-resurrection visit and encouragement to the disciples, who had locked themselves in an upper room out of fear of the Jews. Jesus meets us in our places of fear in order to set us free - and this is good news for the world!
In this Easter Sunday sermon, we'll look at just where it is that God chooses to pour out resurrection power: onto Jesus when he went to the cross. Jesus' triumph over death grants new life to all of his followers as well, and we can continue to receive resurrection power through the Holy Spirit wherever our lives (individually and communally) are also shaped by the shame and humiliation of the cross.
In this Good Friday sermon, we'll trace the theme of thorns used throughout Scripture to help us make the most sense of Jesus being forced to wear a "crown" of thorns. I hope this episode encourages you as you celebrate Jesus' death this Good Friday.
In this Palm Sunday sermon, we'll see Jesus ride into Jerusalem on a donkey while receiving exclamations of "Save us!" from the crowds. His way of salvation, though, is not what many people were expecting. When given the choice between Jesus and Barabbas (an insurrectionist), the people choose Barabbas as the one who more fully represents their ideals. The way of God's kingdom, though, is most fully embodied in Jesus - and therefore his kingdom advances when his people embody his life in their own.
In this sermon, we'll look at Genesis 3:8-13. In these verses we'll see how the true Judge deals with disobedience, which will help us see why human beings make such poor judges. In fact, despite the serpent's promise that they "will be like God," taking from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil actually makes people very UNLIKE God.
In this sermon, we take a close look at Genesis 3:1-7, the fall of man. We'll see how the serpent deceives the woman into taking from the forbidden tree, which is how he still tempts mankind today, how deciding good and evil for ourselves is destructive for us and the world, and why we choose to cover our shame with fig leaves of our own making.
In this sermon, we'll wrap up our look at Genesis 2, focusing in specifically on the four relationships that lie at the heart of God's good creation: mankind's relationship with God, with the creation, with one another, and with ourselves. And recognizing these four relationships will best prepare us to understand all that Jesus has come to restore to God's once-good world.
In this sermon, we'll take a close look at what the LORD God tasks the first man with in the garden: to "work it and keep it" (Genesis 2:15). We'll focus in on what this means, why it matters, and how thinking of human beings as God's priests helps us understand Israel's story as well as our own.
In this sermon, we'll look at Genesis 2:7 and see the LORD getting his hands dirty in forming man from the dust of the ground and by breathing into him the breath of life. We'll see how man is intimately connected both to the earth as well as the heavens and the holistic idea of a human being as a "living creature." We'll conclude our time looking at how Jesus himself comes to redeem mankind fully: in spirit, soul, and body.
In this sermon, we'll look at Jesus' idea of true righteousness from Matthew 6, particularly as it relates to our fallen tendency to do our acts of righteousness to be noticed by others. We'll even see the deceptive nature of sin in how we're often tempted toward self-congratulations within our own hearts. At the end, we'll see how Jesus' concern for his own people's righteousness exceeds his concern for righteousness anywhere else.
In this sermon, we spend our time focused in on the word "LORD," the divine name for God. We'll see why this is important and how knowing God as the LORD grounds our understanding of him in his concrete, redemptive actions toward his people, revealed most fully of course in the person of Jesus Christ.
In this week's sermon, we'll look at Genesis 2:1-3, God's Sabbath rest. We'll ask what it means for God to rest and we'll see why and how God's rest is meant to shape our lives as his image-bearers. The message will end with Jesus himself, the One perfectly at rest, and why his offer of rest is good news for the world.
In this sermon, we look at what being made in God's image means for mankind: what our role is, what value God places on human beings, and some of the ways in which our world today does not reflect God's original intent. At the end of the message, we focus in on Jesus himself, "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15), to help us not only understand God but also ourselves.
In this sermon, we start on page 1 of the Bible, discovering what the first several verses teach us about the nature of God himself. The more we know about the God behind creation, particularly his character and intentionality, the better we'll be able to rightly worship and follow him in our own lives.
In this sermon, we'll see how Jesus' conversation with two of his followers on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-27) invites us all to consider whether or not our own reading of the Bible rightly points us to Jesus.
This Sunday (January 10, 2021) we looked at the baptism of Jesus from Mark 1:4-11. We talked about repentance - both what it is and what it accomplishes - and why repentance for Christians requires going back to the very beginning to understand ourselves and our purpose. In the coming weeks, that's just what we'll do: go back to the opening chapters of Genesis to see God's original intention for mankind, which will ultimately prepare us to understand Jesus more fully when he comes.
Introductory thoughts on our new Anglican-Lutheran Shared Ministry and the reason for this podcast.