RUF at William & Mary: Recent Episodes
Ben Robertson
Each Wednesday we meet to sing, hear from the Bible, ask questions and get to know each other. These are the recordings of the sermons from RUF large group.
William & Mary Professors Alexandra Joosse (Public Policy), Justin Stevens (Physics), and Aaron Griffith (Philosophy) discuss how their Christian faith interacts with their academic discipline and answer student questions.
RUF Large Group is for everyone: skeptics, believers, the burned-out, the broken, weird people, normal people, hypocrites, strugglers, doubters, slackers, over-achievers, and everyone in between. RUF is here for you.
The sermons will inform you about the heart of Christianity if you're here to explore your beliefs and will call you back to the center if you're a long-time believer.
Joe is a former RUF minister at Penn State and UAB, now in Greenville, SC. He unpacks what real blessing is and how when we think we're blessed maybe we're not so much, and when we think we're not, maybe we are more than we realized.
Russ Whitfield is lead pastor of Grace Mosaic in Washington DC. This sermon was preached at RUF summer conference in 2017. Russ also serves part time for RUF nationally as the National Coordinator for Cross-Cultural Advancement.
When we talk about "relationships" we usually stick to marriage and dating and all that, but the Bible has a very high view of singleness. Here's a great sermon by Matt Trexler, RUF minister at UCLA.
Abraham is put to the test and passes. Why would God test him this way? What does it mean for us?
Randy began leading the C12 Group Tidewater in 2007 to help leaders renew their minds, hearts, and vision to better serve God in their business. He began his career in finance working on Wall Street for Merrill Lynch, in M&A for Marshall and Co. in Atlanta, and as Chief Financial Officer for IMG Ltd, an Information Services company based in Switzerland. After turning his life to God in mid-career, Randy moved with his wife and children to Philadelphia to earn a Ph.D. and teach business. He taught Entrepreneurship, Business Strategy, and Leadership for the next 20 years at Wharton, Boston College, and Regent University. As a professor, researcher, and consultant his chief passion was helping leaders take the personal and organizational risk of innovation.
A sermon on judgment. Can God being judging and merciful? What are we supposed to do with the idea that God is judge?
Abraham gets to be called Abraham for real from now on. (We technically were supposed to call him just "Abram" up till now, but pretty much nobody does that.)
Leah Shaw, Peter McHenry, and Chris Tucker join RUF to talk about how their faith shapes their vocation and what insights their fields (mathematics, economics, and philosophy) offer to our understanding of the faith, with Q&A from students.
Abraham makes a huge mistake, with horrible consequences, and yet God rescues him and Sarah.
RUF is a campus ministry for the College of William and Mary. Here you can listen to sermons from our weekly Large Group meetings, Tuesdays at 7:30 in McGlothlin 020.
Special guest Peter McHenry, professor of Economics here at W&M, takes a look a what the Bible has to say about how we relate to God and each other through money.
Was Jesus Confused? Why some miracles but not others? Is wrong to pray to do well in school?
Is wealth always deceitful? How do I know if I have Rocky Soil? How should Christians respond to the Las Vegas shooting?
Jesus is a polarizing figure. Here we explore various reactions to Jesus portrayed in the Gospel of Mark and what Jesus offers to us.
Each week at RUF we do Q&A via anonymous texts. If you'd like to text a question text Ben at 757.741.8527
Three episodes from Mark in which the Pharisees missed the point. How does missing the point add undue stress from our lives and keep us from resting? Rest is a gift of God, it's not a burden, it's liberating.
We all want to see justice done in the world, but why? And what should that look like from a Christian perspective? The prophet Micah calls us to justice joined to love and humility.
RUF Intern Jacob Roberts unpacks the Old Testament "offices" of Prophet, Priest, and King from the writings of Zephaniah, points us to Christ, and towards reliance on God rather than self. Listen.
Professor Scott Ickes joins RUF to speak on the topic of perfectionism.Society places a high value on performance, and success-oriented people often have a high intrinsic value on "getting things right" or "knocking it out of the park." While our quest towards excellence has noble roots, the false promises of perfectionism rob us of freedom to take risks and to be ourselves. Through personal narrative and Biblical texts, Kinesiology Professor Scott Ickes will explore the hope for living life outside of the impossible pursuit of doing it perfectly.
God's judgment isn't a popular subject. We don't like the idea of a judging God. Or do we? Do we actually need a God who judges? Can he be both judging and merciful? Listen for a intro to these questions and more, from the oft ignored prophet Obadiah.
The not-so-famous Amos gets in our grill about our inconsistency and false motives in the practice of religion.
a sermon on Joel 2. Locusts are coming to eat everything and this prophet tells God's people to repent.
Oddly, God tells his prophet Hosea to marry "a woman of whoredom." What on earth? Give a listen.