University Lutheran: Recent Episodes
University Lutheran, Tallahassee
A multigenerational Jesus Centered Community of Scripture, Faith, and Grace located on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL
We continue with our "Who is He?" sermon series, looking at who Jesus is in our storms and chaos.
We begin our sermon series "Who is He?" about who Jesus is and what He reveals, looking at the feeding of the 5000 and what that tells us about Jesus and ourselves.
We end our short series on Romans 8 talking about how God has promised that all things will work out in His plan for us, and how that gives us hope in our days that are filled with stuggle.
We begin our sermon series "A Life of Faith" by talking about what we should owe God, but what He wants from us instead of owing him.
We talk about how we carry our sins and strivings around with us, and how that is actually not what God wants us to do.
We talk about what "real life" is and how we can go "all in" to this real life because we have been baptized into it.
We begin our new discipleship series "All In" talking about Matthew's call to be Jesus' disciple.
We finish up the Easter season talking about the glory that Christ is transforming us into.
We continue our Easter "Reanimated" series looking at 1 Peter and how we are reanimated to be a people who are connected by Christ our cornerstone.
We begin our "Reanimated" sermon series talking about baptismal regeneration and the gift of the Holy Spirit in Easter
Please considering a review on your podcasting platform. It could help us stay on your platform.
We begin our Holy Week experience with the opening of a new series about the songs of Holy Week, today looking at "All Glory, Laud, and Honor"
We finish off our "Into the Deep" series with Jesus meeting us in the most vulnerable place we have, our deaths.
We talk about how our sins can make us lonely and how Jesus meets us in our loneliness.
We talk about faith and how God calls us to think and do unusual things as we go into the deep to find Christ there.
We begin our Lenten series "Into the Deep" asking what it means to be a human, and what Jesus does for us.
We finish off Epiphany and our RSVP series with Transfiguration Sunday and asking what God's glory is good for.
We talk about being salt and light, and our invitation into a life that Jesus has spoken over us.
We talk about the Kingdom and we are invited into, how we can sometimes wonder if we want to be in it, and how Jesus makes it all worth it.
We talk together about how Jesus came to save all people, and how we should be a reflection of His light to the people around us.
We talk about the question "Do you believe it?" and what we do with the claim that Jesus is the Lamb of God, no matter who we are.
We start off a new sermon series called "RSVP" in which we consider the Epiphany reality that Jesus has come to prepare a place for us in His Kingdom through our baptisms.
We celebrate the 1st Sunday after Christmas, talking about who Jesus was born to be for us.
Merry Christmas! We talk about the upside down world we live in and how Jesus sets it right.
We conclude our Advent series, "Advent in Babylon" by asking where Jesus is, even in our moment of exile.
We celebrate the 3rd Sunday in Advent asking "Are we there yet?" and talking about the milestones that we can see along our way into the Resurrection.
A multigenerational Jesus Centered Community of Scripture, Faith, and Grace located on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL
We start our "Advent in Babylon" sermon series, considering how our practice of Advent is paralleled by the people Israel in exile in Babylon.
We talk about names and baptism with the 22nd Sunday after Pentecost and the Baptism of Sarah Ore.
What are you preoccupied with? What is God preoccupied with? We talk about four difficult Bible readings and the big picture that they encourage us to see.
We talk about what it means to be called to humility, and how Jesus shows us His humility in saving us from our sins.
We talk a little about how Jesus encourages us to take the "narrow door" and what it means to do that in our lives.
We talk about Instagram and what we settle for instead of seeing the big picture of what God has to offer us.
We talk about Colossians 3 and getting rid of the sins that get in the way of who we are redeemed to be in Christ.
We consider the stories of Paul, Peter, and our own stories as we consider what Christ has done for us.
In the finale of this podcast, Pastor Jay and Andrew Cheyne discuss how to read the bible with respect to observations and application: what the text says and how it applies to our life.
Pastor Jay and Andrew Cheyne discuss another element of reading the bible, literary context, and take a look at how literary context affects reading the book of James.
We talk about Psalm 85, the Sons of Korah, and what it means to be saved by a God who saves even the sons and daughters of rebels.
Pastor Jay and Andrew Cheyne discuss how reading with better knowledge of historical context can help enrich our understanding of God's word, taking a look at the historical context of Jonah.
We talk about this mysterious word "selah," what it means and how it applies to our Lent.
Pastor Jay and Andrew Cheyne talk introduce the idea of how to read the Bible and how a few things might help you read the Bible better.
We finish off Epiphany and our "Surprise!" sermon series with the celebration of Transfiguration and some talk about Moses and us.
We talk about the story of Joseph and his brothers and talk about how it points us forward to Jesus.
We spend some time talking about the promises that try to motivate us, and the greatest promise that we have - the Resurrection!
We continue our "Surprise!' series by looking at the surprise of God calling us and how our vocations are God's way of calling us.
We talk about a bunch of surprises as we celebrate the presentation of Jesus in the temple.
We talk about how God surprises us with good news even in the midst of our awareness of our own sins.
We continue our Epiphany season with our sermon series, "Surprise!" looking at the surprises that we have in Scripture.
We start off our Epiphany celebration with considering the Baptism of our Lord and what it means for us.
We talk about wisdom and Solomon's early lack of it until God steps in, and how that gives us hope in our sinful days.
We finish up Advent with the prophet Micah telling us about a coming hero and what a hero is like
We're almost done with John! Today we look at the important chapters of John 19 and 20 as we look at both Jesus' Crucifixion and His Resurrection!
We continue walking through Advent together in the light of the Old Testament Minor Prophets. Today we talk about God's "follow up" on the people of Judah in the minor prophet Malachi.
We continue walking through John together as we look at Jesus' "High Priestly Prayer" and His arrest and trials.
We start off Advent talking about the prophet Amos and the completion that Jesus brings.
We continue after the Passover meal and get to listen in to Jesus' conversation with His disciples as they go to the garden of Gethsemane together.
We finish up our "Centered" sermon series and our "A Jesus Centered Community" annual focus with a Christ the King Sunday where we talk about what it means to have a King who is Christ.
Apologies for the first time we uploaded this with LUKE 13 and 14. This is the corrected episode.
We talk about how we are centered in Jesus even when times are tough, and are called to hold fast to Him.
We continue walking through John together, getting to the point of Jesus entering into Jerusalem triumphantly after a BIG happening in the city of Bethany.
We spend some time talking about values, especially what the world values vs what the Kingdom of God values.
We talk some about Jesus being the Good Shepherd as He heals a blind man and then continues His argument with the religious rulers of Jerusalem.
We talk about the word "catholic" and what it means, and how it challenges us to see the Church in a bigger way.
We talk about the impression we leave with people, but how having that as our motivation might not be helpful.
We talk about how we are gifts to others and others are gifts to us, all saved together by Jesus.
We're almost there! Only 24 chapters in Luke and we begin hearing about Jesus' passion in Luke today!
We continue with our journey through Luke, seeing Jesus now as He comes to Jerusalem and stumps the religious authorities there.
We conclude our "Toxic Misunderstandings" series talking about how anxiety plays a role in our lives as Christians, but it may not be the one that you think.
We continue walking through the Gospel of Luke as we get into chapters 17 and 18 of Luke's Gospel where Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God and how it isn't what a lot of people think it should be.
We continue our Toxic Misunderstandings series looking into a misunderstanding about good things that we do and what defiles us.
We start talking about the misunderstandings we have about God and how getting clear helps us.
We continue with our next two chapters of Luke, looking at Jesus doing some healings and mixing it up with the Pharisees.
We finish off our "Center Story" series as we talk about how Jesus is a the center of the wisdom that we receive from God.
We continue to walk through the Gospels, 2 chapters at a time, looking today at Luke 11 and 12
We talk about how we tend to hide away sometimes, but then find out that God has given us His Son so that we may hide in Him.
We talk about what we really need and how Christ is at the center of what we really need.
We continue through our "Center Story" sermon series as we discuss how big God is and how we see His bigness.
We continue to walk through the Gospel of Luke with chapters 5 and 6. Thank you so much for being a part of this experience with us!
We begin our sermon series called "Center Story" talking about the Ephesians and how Paul is reveling on that they are a church, and how we can revel at who God has brought together in the Church today.
We are starting off a new Gospel with the Gospel according to Luke, reading Luke chapters 1 and 2.
We talk about the relief that the disciples feel when Jesus calms the storm, and we talk about that same feeling in our lives.
We finish up the Gospel of Mark with chapters 15 and 16, as well as some special discussion about how to consider the ending of Mark's Gospel
We begin to talk about Jesus' passion in Mark and discuss how He is preparing His disciples.
We talk about rest and Sabbath and how those things are made for us by a God who loves us and sent His Son to us.
We continue into the middle of Mark with some interesting things that Mark hasn't done before in his writing style.
We talk about how many friends we have and how Christ is the best friend we could possibly have.
We continue on the second week of reading Mark together as a community with Mark 3 and 4 looking at the rising action of Jesus' story together.
We start a new Gospel! Starting today with the Gospel according to Mark we consider how Mark's pacing and other things give us a new picture of who Jesus is
We talk about what makes a good shepherd, a good coach, and what makes Jesus just pain good.
We celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus and the Baptism and confirmation of Kyle Beckstrom
We are finishing up our first Gospel! Today we look at the last chapters of Matthew and consider the final moments of Jesus as well as His Resurrection and great commission!
We celebrate Easter together celebrating the "ecstasy" of the Resurrection of our Lord!
We consider together how Good Friday is different from other nights in which we gather.
We continue reading the Gospel of Matthew two chapters at a time, this time with some pretty challenging readings at the end of Matthew's Gospel.
The word "Hosanna" means "Save now!" and the people of Jerusalem were crying out that phrase because of Psalm 118. We take a look at the word and how we can still cry out "Hosanna" to God today.
We continue our journey through Matthew, two chapters at a time, looking at Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the issues that come about when He visits
We talk about St Patrick, or maybe just Patrick, and what it means to be a saint for whom Jesus died.
We continue our journey through the Gospel of Matthew, 2 weeks at a time, with Matthew 19 and 20 as Jesus turns toward Jerusalem and teaches.
We talk about how God gives us a different perspective through looking at His Son, Jesus Christ.
We continue reading Matthew together, today looking at Jesus' Transfiguration through to His speaking to the disciples about forgiveness.
We continue to take the Gospel of Matthew, two chapters at a time, with commentary at the end of the reading.
We continue our Lent series "Refocused" as we talk about how we can get focused on Jesus being the answer to God's promises to us.
This week we get the big famous stories from Jesus including some of His best known parables and best known miracles as He continues to teach the people around Judea
This week we get the big famous stories from Jesus including some of His best known parables and best known miracles as He continues to teach the people around Judea
We talk about how we refocus ourselves in Lent from a focus on ourselves to a focus on Jesus and who He is, specifically this Sunday that He is our sacrifice.
We begin our fast of Lent together as we talk about how we might sometimes get things wrong when we think about ourselves and God.
We finish our "Together with Jesus" series with Transfiguration and we ask the question "What does it prove?" that Jesus was Transfigured before His disciples.
We fixed our earlier recording that had some issues. Here's the Together with Jesus for Matthew, Chapters 11 and 12
We continue our "Together with Jesus" series as we consider what it means to go with Jesus as He goes.
We read Matthew 7 and 8, spending some time at the end to talk about what this means for us as Christians who are hearing God's Word together.
Join us as we talk about Matthew 5 and 6 and look at the bulk of Jesus' most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount
Join us as we talk about how God coming into our lives causes us to sacrifice no matter how we respond, and how knowing that we can sacrifice knowing that He will give us new life.
We continue our exploration of the Gospels, two chapters at a time with Matthew 3 and 4 talking about Jesus' early ministry leading up to the Sermon on the Mount.
We talk about how Samuel and Nathanael found what (and Who) to listen for in their encounters with God.
Our first Together with Jesus podcast! PJ reads Matthew 1 and 2 to you and spends some time in the "after party" talking about the readings.
We finish up our Advent celebration talking about how God is with us even in the moments that feel like gaps.
We continue talking about how we are making space for Jesus by talking about how God makes space in our lives with the only person who can lift our burdens - Jesus.
We talk about how Jesus makes room in our hearts by His commands that lead us to make more room for Him.
We finish the Church Year and our sermon series with the parable of the sheep and goats from Matthew 25
We talk about the parable of the talents and try to find the Gospel in the midst of it, seeking it in some surprising places.
We celebrate All Saints considering how we are a part of the great multitude of God's people that He has saved through Christ.
We talk about reformation, confirmation, and how we are given renewal through Word and Sacrament.
We begin talking about our "RE" (Reformation) series by talking about how the Reformation said that we all belong and that we are all given the joy of rendering unto God what is God's
We conclude our sermon series on the letter to the Philippians talking about what we do while we wait for our day to be with Jesus.
We talk together about the trophies that exist in our lives and how they tie us to our pasts, but how the gift that we have in Jesus ties us to something different - our future.
We talk about how our lives can feel incomplete sometimes, and how we wrestle with this sense of incompletion until we are made complete by God on the last day.
We talk about what Paul reflected on at the end of his life and what we will be able to reflect on at the end of our lives, the forgiveness of our sins and our inclusion into God's Kingdom.
We talk about how we may secretly question if people really should be forgiven and how Jesus forgives us over and over again.
We continue talking about being Ambassadors of God's Kingdom as we talk about the rules that we follow and why.
We continue our "Ambassadors" series talking about the culture of our Baptized nation, the Church, and how we are called to give witness of the culture we come from.
We begin our "Ambassadors" series talking about our allegiance and Christ's allegiance toward us.
We talk about how and why Jesus healed the Syrophoenician woman's daughter in Matthew 15.
We talk about the parable of the Weeds and the song "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" together as we unpack how God is faithful to us in the midst of our "why's".
We talk a little bit about the parable of the Sower through the hymn "God Himself is Present"
We talk about how the integrity of certain Bible characters shine in our weary world, why those stories are so rare, and what they tell us about ourselves and about Jesus.
We talk about our fidelity to God's design for humanity, and what happens when we find that we are not as faithful to our encoding as we should be. God brings us grace and returns us to a picture of the love and grace that He has created in us as His images and image bearers.
We consider the unfair systems in our world and consider how Jesus has treated us unfairly….and how His unfair treatment of us is actually a good thing.
We talk about the sins that haunt us still and how God can use even those to display His patience with us and with all people who find themselves in sin.
A multigenerational Jesus Centered Community of Scripture, Faith, and Grace located on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL
We consider the Ascension of our Lord and its implications for our witness to go beyond where we live to the ends of the earth.
Lydia was a powerful woman in her day who converted to Christianity and opened the door for others to become Christians. How might the stories of others be changed by the people that we witness to? Acts 16: 9-15 | Psalm 67 | Revelation 21: 9-14, 21-27 | John 16: 23-33
Peter shocks the church of his day with a report of something unthinkable and we consider how God's grace still continues to challenge our categories. Acts 11: 1-18 | Psalm 148 | Revelation 21: 1-7 | John 16: 12-22
We celebrate "Good Shepherd Sunday" (the 4th Sunday of Easter) by talking about a lifetime full of witness and how our whole lives are to be lives of witness to Christ and His care for us. Acts 20: 17-35 | Psalm 23 | Revelation 7: 9- 17 | John 10: 22-30
We celebrate Palm and Passion Sunday, beginning Holy Week as we talk about how Jesus was broken so that we could be raised imperishable.
Deuteronomy 32: 36-39 | Psalm 31: 9-16 | Philippians 2: 5-11 | Luke 23
We finish our "Measuring UP" series looking at the parable of the Wicked Tenants and what it tells us about the character of God. Isaiah 43: 16-21 | Psalm 126 | Philippians 3: 4-14 | Luke 20: 9-20
We continue to use the ancient "collect" form of prayer as a guide to measure God's compassion for us.
Isaiah 12 | Psalm 32 | 2 Corinthians 5: 16-21 | Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32
Join us this Sunday as we talk about what repentance is like and how we are called to repent in the present moment Ezekiel 33: 7-20 | Psalm 85 | 1 Corinthians 10: 1-13 | Luke 13: 1-9
We talk about having a God who warns us so that we can flee evil and run to Him in times of trouble.
We continue our Lent experience with a new way to consider the word of God as we look into His faithfulness.
We begin our Lenten experience by talking about how wearing the ash cross is like wearing a mask.
We continue our short "What are we waiting for?" series talking about our Resurrected bodies and God's promises for us.
Genesis 45: 3-15 | Psalm 103: 1-13 | 1 Cor 15: 21-26, 35-42 | Luke 6: 27-38
We start off our "What are we waiting for?" series with that same question as we take a look at what Paul is saying to the Corinthians of his day but also to us through the power of the Holy Spirit.
We continue our "Life Together" sermon series talking about love and what it has to do with our life together.
Jeremiah 1: 4-10 | Psalm 71: 1-6 | 1 Corinthians 12: 31 - 13: 13 | Luke 4: 31-44
We continue our "Life Together" sermon series talking about the Body of Christ, confirming the faith of David Wetherington, and celebrating our newest members. Nehemiah 8: 1-10 | Psalm 19: 7-14 | 1 Corinthians 12: 12-31 | Luke 4: 16-30
We continue our "Life Together" sermon series by looking at how God solves our problems of need by supplying us with gifts that bring us together. Isaiah 62: 1-5 | Psalm 128 | 1 Corinthians 12: 1-11 | John 2: 1-11
We begin a new sermon series called "Life Together" as we consider how we have been planted together in the Church to receive the growth of the Spirit in our lives.
Isaiah 43: 1-7 | Psalm 29 | Romans 6: 1-11 | Luke 3: 15-22
O Bethlehem Ephratha! We talk about the prophecy of Micah that a Savior will be born in the humble town of Bethlehem, the royal city of David. Micah 5: 2-5 | Psalm 80: 1-7 | Hebrews 10: 5-10 | Luke 1: 39-56
We continue looking at the prophetic writings of the Old Testament and what they tell us about the birth of Christ - this week we look at the book of Zephaniah.
Zephaniah 3: 14-20 | Psalm 85 | Philippians 4: 4-7 | Luke 7: 18-28
Rev. Dennis Meeker shares God's word with us from his experiences as a missionary in Kenya. Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 | Psalm 93 | Revelation 1:4-8 | Mark 13: 24-36
DING! We talk about what it is like to be assured by Christ in the midst of a world where we are guaranteed to make wrong choices ourselves.
Daniel 12: 1-3 | Psalm 16 | Hebrews 10: 19-25 | Mark 13: 1-13
We talk about the "Kingdom to Come" in the Resurrection that all of creation yearns for. Revelation 7: 9-17 | Psalm 149 | 1 John 3: 1-3 | Matthew 5: 1-12
We talk about how God's Kingdom is a kingdom at hand that calls us to repent and believe the Gospel Habakkuk 2: 1-4 | Psalm 46 | Romans 3: 19-28 | Mark 1: 14-15
We consider how God's Kingdom is a kingdom that comes to our rescue and to rescue the world. Jeremiah 31: 7-9 | Psalm 126 | Hebrews 7: 23-28 | Mark 10: 46-52
We talk about how we can know who is a part of God's kingdom and how we can simultaneously say that it is impossible for us but that nothing is impossible for God, including our salvation.
We continue our "Thy Kingdom Come" series by talking about generosity and how the reign of God in our lives creates generous hearts in us. Amos 5: 6-7, 10-15 | Psalm 90: 12-17 | Hebrews 3: 12-19 | Mark 10: 17-22
We begin our "Thy Kingdom Come" series by considering how sin brings disharmony and how God's reign reestablishes harmony among us. Genesis 2: 18-25 | Psalm 128 | Hebrews 2: 1-4 | Mark 10: 2-16
When we have hope, we don't worry about other people as much as we are concerned about ourselves. Hopeful people don't ignore others, but we recognize that we can change ourselves and we cannot necessarily change others. Numbers 11: 4-6, 10-16, 24-29 | Psalm 104:27-35 | James 5: 13-20 | Mark 9: 38-50
When we have hope, we don't just rely on ourselves and our own ideas, but we seek the wisdom of those who can guide us. Jeremiah 11: 18-20 | Psalm 54 | James 3: 13 - 4 : 10 | Mark 9:30-37
We talk about the action of prayer, which many time is an action of stopping ourselves and checking in with God for His will and His grace to speak into our lives. Isaiah 50: 4-10 | Psalm 116: 1-9 | James 3: 1-12 | Mark 9: 14-29
We continue our "Hope Does" series by looking at the way that hope creates great expectations in us of what God is able to do in our lives and in the lives of others. Isaiah 35: 4-7 | Psalm 146 | James 2: 1-18 | Mark 7: 24-37
We continue our "Hope Does" series by examining how sin tries to complexify our lives and how our hope keeps our lives simple. Deuteronomy 4: 1-2, 6-9 | Psalm 119: 129-136 | Ephesians 6: 10-20 | Mark 7: 14-23
We start our "Hope Does" series by exploring how hope rejects legalism, not only because legalism is not good, but because of how antithetical legalism is to the hope that we are given in Jesus Christ. Isaiah 29: 11-19 | Psalm 14 | Ephesians 5: 22-33 | Mark 7: 1-13
We finish up our conversation about the Bread of Life discourse in John with the disciples showing that believing in Jesus is not easy or obvious, but that Jesus does have the words of eternal life. Proverbs 9: 1-10 | Psalm 34: 11-22 | Ephesians 5: 6-21 | John 6: 51-69
We continue with part two of our "Fed by Life" series on the Bread of Life discourse, talking about how the people around Jesus started to take offense and push away from Him. We consider the pain of when that happens to us as well as what comfort we can find in Jesus. 1 Kings 19: 1-8 | Psalm 34: 1-8 | Ephesians 4: 17 - 5: 2 | John 6: 35-51
We begin our "Fed by Life" sermon series about the Bread of Life discourse "setting the table" and talking about the issues presented to us in the Bread of Life discourse and how Jesus shows us a deeper understanding of our need.
Exodus 16: 2-15 | Psalm 145: 10-21 | Ephesians 4: 1-16 | John 6: 22-35
We finish up our "Signs of Hope" sermon series with the sign of the Rainbow from just after Noah and the great flood, as we apply that to our own lives. Genesis 9: 8-17 | Psalm 136: 1-9 | Ephesians 3: 14-21 | Mark 6: 45-56
We look at Jesus' miracle of feeding the 5,000 and consider how this meal is a sign of hope for us as we consider how God provides for us and uses our gifts to provide for others. Jeremiah 23: 1-6 | Psalm 23 | Ephesians 2: 11-22 | Mark 6: 30-44
We start our "Signs of Hope" sermon series with the sign of the plumb line from Amos 7 and considering how it gives us hope when God shows us right from wrong. Amos 7: 7-15 | Psalm 85 | Ephesians 1: 3-14 | Mark 6: 14-29
We finish up our “Seasons of Hope” talking both about when we are sent and when we receive those who have been sent by God to us. Ezekiel 2: 1-5 | Psalm 123 | 2 Corinthians 12: 1-10 | Mark 6: 1-13
We continue our "Seasons of Hope" talking about the seasons of healing where we recognize not only what we have been healed from, but how God brings healing into our lives through His Son. Lamentations 3: 22-33 | Psalm 30 | 2 Corinthians 8: 1-9 & 13-15 | Mark 5: 21-43
We begin our "Seasons of Hope" series by talking about those seasons of life in which we are terrified and how even in the midst of those seasons, we still can find hope in Christ.
We finish up our short "Listening for Hope" series considering the sound of God as He walked in the garden of Eden and as He walks in our lives. Also, we bring Naomi into the church through the waters of Holy Baptism. - Genesis 3: 8-21 | Psalm 130 | 2 Corinthians 4: 13 - 5: 1 | Mark 3: 20-35
We consider the sound of the angels that approached Isaiah in His vision of the heavenly temple, and consider how these angels bring both the terror of the holiness of God as well as the good news of our redemption . - Isaiah 6: 1-8 | Psalm 29 | Acts 2: 22-36 | John 3: 1-17
We start our "Listening for Hope" series on this Pentecost Sunday with the Sound of Rattling, talking about how the sound of the bones rattling and God's command to Ezekiel give us hope for our current day. - Ezekiel 37: 1-14 | Psalm 139: 1-16 | Acts 2: 1-21 | John 15: 26-27; 16: 4-15
We finish off the Easter season talking about the confidence that we have as people who have been saved by the Risen and Living Lord Jesus Christ . - Acts 1: 6-26 | Psalm 1 | 1 John 5: 9-15 | John 17: 11-19
We take some time to talk about our unity as Christians, which comes from the fact that we have all been forgiven by Christ, and how that forms in us hopes for deepening our unity with God and one another, and hopes for what the world will look like because of our united action and community. - Acts 10: 34-48 | Psalm 98 | 1 John 5: 1-8 | John 15: 9-17
We continue to talk about the things that form our hope, this Sunday talking about how our Baptisms form abiding hope in our connection with God - Acts 8: 26-40 | Psalm 150 | 1 John 4 | John 15: 1-8
It's Good Shepherd Sunday and we talk about our Good Shepherd who lays down His life for us- Acts 4: 1-12 | Psalm 23 | 1 John 3: 16-24 | John 10: 11-18
We continue to think about how the Cross shapes our hopes, especially in terms of how Jesus reveals what we will be. - Acts 3: 11-21 | Psalm 4 | 1 John 3: 1-7 | Luke 24: 36-49
We begin our "A Cross Shaped Hope" series by considering our hopes that relate to restoration. - Acts 4: 32-35 | Psalm 148 | 1 John 1: 1 to 2: 2 | John 20: 19-31
We celebrate the end of Holy Week and the beginning of the Easter season with an acknowledgement that Jesus changes our hopes to something beyond ourselves. - Isaiah 25: 6-9 | Psalm 16 | 1 Corinthians 15: 1-11 | Mark 16: 1-8
We continue our Holy Week by commemorating the death of Jesus on Good Friday with a service of shadows called Tenebrae.
We begin our Holy Week by considering how Jesus was much more than anyone could have hoped for from a King. - Zechariah 9: 9-12 | Psalm 118: 19-29 | Philippians 2: 5-11 | Mark 14: 1 - 15: 47
We end our "Hopes and Fears" series addressing the fear of insignificance. - Jeremiah 31: 31-34 | Psalm 119: 9-16 | Hebrews 5: 1-10 | Mark 10: 35-45
We talk about perhaps one of our greatest fears, the fear of death, but also the hope that is found in the midst of that fear - Numbers 21: 4-9 | Psalm 107: 1-9 | Ephesians 2: 1-10 | John 3: 14-21
We talk about the fear of failure as we look at the 10 Commandments, the Law of God, and Jesus holding a whip - Exodus 20: 1-17 | Psalm 19 | 1 Corinthians 1: 18-31 | John 2: 13-25
We talk about the fear of change as we examine the stories of Abraham and Peter and how we have a hope of security even in the midst of a world that changes all the time - Genesis 17: 1-7 | Psalm 22: 23-31 | Romans 5: 1-11 | Mark 8: 27-38
We begin our "Hopes and Fears" sermon series with the Fear of Sacrifice which leads to the Hope of Provision -
Genesis 22: 1-18 | Psalm 25: 1-10 | James 1: 12-18 | Mark 1: 9-15
We begin our observation of the season of Lent with Ash Wednesday talking about our fear of separation.
Joel 2: 12-19 | Psalm 51: 1-19 | 2 Corinthians 5: 20 - 6: 10 | Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-21
We finish our "Stories of Hope" series by considering the hope of Elisha - 2 Kings 2: 1-12 | Psalm 150: 1-6 | 2 Corinthians 3: 12-13, 4: 1-6 | Mark 9:2-9
We continue our "Stories of Hope" series with Paul and his hope for the Gospel to be shared with all people - Isaiah 40: 21-31 | Psalm 147: 1-11 | 1 Corinthians 9: 16-27 | Mark 1: 29-39
We continue our "Stories of Hope" series with Moses and his hope in God's word - Deuteronomy 18: 15-20 | Psalm 11 | 1 Corinthians 8 | Mark 1: 21-28
We continue our "Stories of Hope" series by looking into the hope that Jonah had to share with the Ninevites - Jonah 3: 1-5, 10 | Psalm 62 | 1 Corinthians 7: 29-31 | Mark 1: 14-20
We continue our "Stories of Hope" series by looking into the hope that Samuel had, and how we can hope to hear the Word of God ourselves. - 1 Samuel 3: 1-10 | Psalm 139: 1-10 | 1 Corinthians 6: 12-20 | John 1: 43-51
We start our "Stories of Hope" Epiphany sermon series by looking at the hope held by John the Baptist. - Genesis 1: 1-5 | Psalm 29 | Romans 6: 1-11 | Mark 1: 4-11
Merry Christmas! It is still Christmas and we're taking a look at the way of wisdom that Jesus begins for us to walk in. - 1 Kings 3: 4-15 | Psalm 119: 97-104 | Ephesians 1: 3-14 | Luke 2: 40-52
Merry Christmas! It's the first Sunday of Christmas and we're talking about how our beautiful Christ makes His Church beautiful! - Isaiah 61: 10 - 62: 3 | Psalm 111 | Galatians 4: 4-7 | Luke 2: 22-40
We consider the ugliness of the surroundings of Jesus' birth and prophecies, but how His arrival is one of the most beautiful moments of human history. - Isaiah 9: 2-7 | Psalm 96 | Titus 2: 11-14 | Luke 2: 1-20
We consider our own homes and where God comes to dwell. – 2 Samuel 7: 1-11, 16 | Psalm 89: 1-5, 19-29 | Romans 16: 25-27 | Luke 1: 26-38
We look at the world around us and how it reflects our need for a Savior – Isaiah 61: 1-4, 8-11 | Psalm 126 | 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-24 | John 1: 6-8, 19-28
We take a look at our sins and the idea of repentance, not as a guilt trip, but as a way for us to consider what it means for us to be Christians - Isaiah 40: 1-11 | Psalm 85 | 2 Peter 3: 8-14 | Mark 1: 1-8
Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? Why or why not? We start off our "Ugly Christmas, Beautiful Christ" Advent sermon series with investigating the darkness around us so that we can clearly see the light of Christ. - Isaiah 64: 1-9 | Psalm 80: 1-7 | 1 Corinthians 1: 3-9 | Mark 13: 24-37
We finish our "Entrusted" series and the "Follow Me" focus year by talking about how we approaching things in a radically different way because of Christ. - Ezekiel 34: 11-16, 20-24 | Psalm 95: 1-7 | 1 Corinthians 15: 20-28 | Matthew 25: 31-46
We continue our "Entrusted" series talking about what God gives us and how we use what He gives us.
Zephaniah 1: 7-16 | Psalm 90: 1-12 | 1 Thessalonians 5: 1-11 | Matthew 25: 14-30
We start our "Entrusted" series talking about being entrusted with knowledge. Amos 5: 18-24 | Psalm 70 | 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18 | Matthew 25: 1-13
We finish our short "Outlaws" series with All Saints Sunday, imagining the day that we cease being outlaws and begin being citizens.
Revelation 7: 9-17 | Psalm 149 | 1 John 3: 1-3 | Matthew 5: 1-12
We continue our "Outlaws" series talking about how Lutheran was an outlaw, and because of that, how Lutherans could be outlaws as well. - Revelation 14: 6-7 | Psalm 46 | Romans 3: 19-28 | Matthew 11: 12-19
We start our "Outlaws" series by considering the greatest, and probably most counterintuitive outlaw of the them all: God.
Isaiah 45: 1-7 | Psalm 96 | 1 Thessalonians 1: 1-10 | Matthew 22: 15-22
Does God charge a cover? - We talk about how we are invited to a great feast by God in the parable of the Wedding Feast - Isaiah 25: 6-9 | Psalm 23 | Philippians 4:4-13 | Matthew 22: 1-14
Are you waiting for results? - We look at Jesus' parable of the Wicked Tenants and consider what it is that God is expecting of us. Isaiah 5: 1-7 | Psalm 80: 7-19 | Philippians 3: 4-14 | Matthew 21: 33-46
Have you changed your mind? - We talk about the parable of the Two Sons and what we might learn as we follow the story that Jesus tells. Ezekiel 18: 1-4, 25-32 | Psalm 25: 1-10 | Philippians 2: 1-4, 14-18 | Matthew 21: 23-32
Is God going to do you dirty? - We look at the parable of the Workers of the Vineyard as we continue our "Follow the Story" sermon series about Jesus' parables. Isaiah 55: 6-9 | Psalm 27: 1-9 | Philippians 1: 12-14, 19-30 | Matthew 20:1-16
What are you capable of? - We start a new sermon series called "Follow the Story" as we look into the parables of Jesus. Genesis 50: 15-21 | Psalm 103: 1-12 | Romans 14: 1-12 | Matthew 18: 21-35
Are you asking the wrong question? We finish up our “God of the Goofs” series with the disciples asking the wrong question about what it means to be in the Kingdom of heaven. Ezekiel 33: 7-9 | Psalm 32: 1-7 | Romans 13: 1-10 | Matthew 18: 1-20
Are you yelling at Jesus? Jeremiah 15: 15-21 | Psalm 26 | Romans 12: 9-21 | Matthew 16: 21-28
What is Jesus' nickname for you? Simon's nickname was the Rock. Saul's was something like "little guy". What's Jesus' nickname for you? Isaiah 51: 1-6 | Psalm 138 | Romans 11: 33 - 12: 8 | Matthew 16: 13-20
Who have you failed to include? - We talk a little bit about who we fail to include into the kingdom of God, why we fail to include them, and how God sets our mistakes right. Isaiah 56: 1, 6-8 | Psalm 67 | Romans 11 | Matthew 15: 21-28
We start our series "God of the Goofs" by talking about Peter and his failed "water walk" and finds Jesus rescuing him - something showing him, and us, who Jesus really is.
We talk about hunger and how we are both fed and given the responsibility to feed others with the gifts of God's Kingdom.
What are you worth? We talk about your worth to God and how our worth is always based in what Christ has done for us.
We celebrate our first reopening Sunday with an appropriate talk about the Parable of the Weeds of the Field.
We talk about how our language ties us to things, and how we are tied to the Law and to the Gospel as Christians.
We consider what it means to be God's people, His royal priesthood, His holy nation, His beloved disciples - even when we don't get everything done on our to-do list
What is your favorite cliche? We talk about the cliches of the Christian faith and of our sinful lives and how Jesus brings comfort through all of those things.
We talk about what it is that makes us feel really alive and how Jesus, the Good Shepherd, brings us real life as He puts His own on the line for us.
We talk about what fears we're responding to and how they help us to understand responding to God.
Join us as we answer the question "What do you feel exiled from?" and how the Gospel is good news for us in our times of exile.
We are Easter people. And while this doesn't "feel like" Easter, that doesn't matter. Easter is a fact. Easter is a movement. Easter conquers. Christ has risen! He has Risen Indeed! Alleluia!
We continue our series about who we are in relation to certain Biblical characters, in relation to our fellow disciples, and in relation to Jesus. Today we talk about Lazarus and how his entombment shows us our own (during quarantine and out), and how Jesus calls us out into true life.
We talk about Jesus healing the man born blind in John 9 and how we might be looking at the world a little differently now, and how Jesus' work in our lives helps us see the world differently.
We talk about how Jesus walked into a situation that was normally marked by "social distancing" but that He disregarded the anxiety and connected with the woman at the well.
We start the Sundays of Lent and a new sermon series called "In Relation To" where we examine the non-disciple characters in Matthew's Gospel and look at what they tell us about being disciples, starting today with the big bad guy himself, Satan
Readings for Ash Wednesday 2020: Joel 2:12–19;Psalm 51;2 Corinthians 5:20–6:10;Matthew 6:1–21
What is the hardest thing to give up? We explore that question as it relates to Lent, spiritual practices, and our own tendencies to try to justify ourselves.
We talk about how Jesus ramps up the Law and how that is good news for us because it means that we can only get salvation from Him and not from our works.
We talk about how Jesus is the "product" of Christianity and how we are called to give our lives for Him.
The readings for the fourth week after the Epiphany in Year A: Micah 6:1–8; Psalm 15; 1 Corinthians 1:18–31; Matthew 5:1–12
We continue with our Epiphany series, Made (for Discipleship) as we talk about the "contagion" of the Gospel.
The weekly readings for the 3rd Sunday after Epiphany in year A: Isaiah 9:1–4; Psalm 27:1–9; 1 Corinthians 1:10–18; Matthew 4:12–25
We start off our MADE sermon series talking about how we are made to Behold Jesus and to celebrate the relationship we have with Him, how He invites us to "Come and see" Him and where He is.
The readings for the week beginning with Baptism of our Lord - Isaiah 42:1–9; Psalm 29; Romans 6:1–11; Matthew 3:13–17
The readings for Christmas 2 A - 1 Kings 3:4–15; Psalm 119:97–104; Ephesians 1:3–14; Luke 2:40–52
We talk about the greatest villain of Christmas, Herod the Great, and how his sin is the same sin that lives in us, but how we are offered sanctuary for the sake of Jesus.
The readings for the First Sunday after Christmas in Year A. Isaiah 63:7–14; Psalm 111; Galatians 4:4–7; Matthew 2:13–23
We finish up Advent by talking about Joseph and how Jesus is the ultimate Christmas character.
A multigenerational Jesus Centered Community of Scripture, Faith, and Grace located on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL
We celebrate the 3rd Sunday of Advent and look at the connection between excitement and patience as we wait for Christmas and the return of Jesus in the Resurrection.
Every year at University Lutheran, we host a German language Christmas service. This is the sermon from that service.
The weekly readings for the week of Advent 3 in year A: Isaiah 35; Psalm 146; James 5:7–11; Matthew 11:2–15
We talk about the role of our imaginations in our following Jesus and how even our imaginations can fail us when we are thinking about the good things that God gives us.
We kick off our annual focus, Follow Me, talking about how exciting it is to hear God in Jesus call us into discipleship.
We begin a new church year with readings for the 1st Sunday in Advent: Isaiah 2:1–5; Psalm 122; Romans 13:8–14; and Matthew 21:1–11
We finish the Church year and celebrate the confirmation of Molly by considering ends and beginnings and how we understand those things as Christians.
Weekly readings for the last Sunday in the Church year, aka Christ the King Sunday, year C. Readings are: Malachi 3:13–18; Psalm 46; Colossians 1:13–20; and Luke 23:27–43
We talk about the "small" subject of the meaning of life and begin to wrap up our Annual Focus year in which we have been talking about the big idea of "vocation".
The weekly readings for the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost are: Malachi 4; Psalm 98; 2 Thessalonians 3:1–13; Luke 21:1*–36 (Normally this reading starts on vs 5)
Today we talk about the readings for the day which are all about our connection with God and how we sometimes try to ignore His call to our own detriment.
The readings for the 22nd week after Pentecost are: Exodus 3:1–15; Psalm 148; 2 Thessalonians 2; and Luke 20:27–40
We talk about the legalisms that we put on ourselves when we think about what makes us good or bad, and how Jesus sets us free from this legalism by declaring us all worthy for heaven.
This week beginning Nov 3 is the celebration of All Saints. The readings are Revelation 7:(2-8) 9–17; Psalm 149; 1 John 3:1–3; and Matthew 5:1–12
We celebrate Reformation Day and 40 years of University Lutheran's building talking about audacious belief in God's promises, where that belief led Peter and where it leads us.
Weekly Bible Readings for the week of the Celebration of the Reformation: Revelation 14:6–7; Psalm 46; Romans 3:19–28; John 8:31–36
A multigenerational Jesus Centered Community of Scripture, Faith, and Grace located on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL
The Weekly Bible readings for the 19th week after Pentecost in year C: Genesis 32:22–30; Psalm 121; 2 Timothy 3:14–4:5; Luke 18:1–8
We talk about miracles in this sermon, and we have some choices to make as to what we think might be miraculous - giving thanks or faithfulness.
A multigenerational Jesus Centered Community of Scripture, Faith, and Grace located on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL
We attempt to try to talk about the hidden Gospel in a text that is filled with Jesus telling us who we should be and how submissive we should be, but we find that we are because He was first.
*oops - our last weekly reading had the wrong Gospel lesson. It is fixed. Readings: Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4, Psalm 62, 2 Timothy 1:1-14, Luke 17:1-10
We talk about God's character of transparency and clarity. God gives us what we need to know clearly, so that we can speak with clarity about His Law, but more importantly, with clarity about His Gospel.
We're trying something new, publishing the readings that we read on Sunday before we get to them so that you can either be prepared or listen to them during that week.
We worry about what is fair because we think that we are fair, but in reality, Jesus shows us that we are all the recipients of unfair wealth being given to us out of His gracious life.
We talk about the character of a God who seeks out the lost and how that really makes for a different kind of faith that we have together as Christians when compared with other ways of looking at the world - we get excited about redemption.
We talk about integrity and how we are called to integrity, but how Jesus' integrity covers us even when ours is lacking.
We open up our next sermon series, “The Character in our Calling” by talking about the time when Jesus points out the judgmentalism of the Pharisees.
We wrap up our "Valued" sermon series talking about the hardest thing we could do, and how the hardest thing we can do is follow Jesus on the narrow way, but that He makes it accessible to us, and personalizes it to us.
We talk about why Jesus seems to be excited about something that seems horrible to us, the division of families, but when we look deeper, we see that Jesus is showing us something deeper than even our family lives.
We talk about value, what is valuable to us, and how we work out the parable of the Rich Fool.
We talk about what was happening when Jesus gave His disciples His Words of prayer, the Lord's Prayer, and what those words mean for us today.
Sermon Scripture:
Luke 11:1–13
Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say:
“Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”
And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (ESV)
We continue our “valued” series by taking a look at the story of the Good Samaritan, but almost ignoring the Samaritan character and focusing on the character who is really important to Jesus, the young lawyer.
We continue our "Valued" series on discipleship by considering the singleminded discipleship that we are called to while considering the singleminded salvation that Jesus won for us.
We kick off our "Valued" sermon series by talking about the first (but not last) step in our discipleship as we consider the sins and the evil that we need God to remove from our lives just as Jesus expelled demons from people.
A multigenerational Jesus Centered Community of Scripture, Faith, and Grace located on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL
We finish our “Call and Response” series by talking about how we can read Numbers 11 perhaps a little differently and how that might give us some insight into the Pentecost event.
We continue our Call and Response series by looking at the call to discipleship and how we respond to God's call by becoming little Matthiases ourselves.
We talk about patience and letting the Holy Spirit be the Holy Spirit and not getting in His way.
We talk a little bit about love, about the economy of love that is present with God and with us, and how we should think in terms of generosity instead of in terms of scarcity
We talk about the pressure that arises when we start to consider our own personal missions, but also the relief that in that all of those things have been given to us by a God who loves us and will be our shepherd.
We all have those moments of surprise, both good and bad. But those moments are moments that make us think about who we are and where God might be leading us.
We talk about the Resurrection and our call to be witnesses to the work of the living Christ in our lives.
We celebrate Easter Sunday today talking about Jesus’ vocation of Prophet and how Christianity is a future oriented faith.
We talk about how Jesus is the true King, and acknowledging Him as true king doesn't mean that we try to be kings ourselves, but loyal subjects.
We talk about risk. We are called by God to risk our lives because He risked His life (and lost it!) on us.
We talk about the parable of the prodigal son and how it is interesting where God won't let us talk anymore.
We continue our "REDIAL" series talking about when God calls us again talking a little bit about St. Patrick and a lot about how God calls to us again so that we can repent and be gathered to Him.
We start off our Lent series "REDIAL" by talking about who we rely upon, and how the story of Jesus' temptation is really the story of Jesus' reliance.
We finish out Missio Dei sermon series with the Sunday of Transfiguration and talking about who Moses was and what that has to do with us and our sense of who we are in God’s kingdom.
We talk about Black Mirror and forgiveness, and how our connection with the Resurrection does some pretty strange things in our lives.
We continue talking about the Mission of God by talking about how we can check for the Resurrection power at work in our lives and why we shouldn't cut that power off.
We talk about ownership and how we own the forgiveness of our sin, our vocations, and our place in the Kingdom of God.
We continue talking about God's mission and our vocations, addressing how we continue to mature in terms of our faith.
We talk about how God has included us into His family, into His mission, and how He does that despite our sins of omission and the things that we don't do - forgiving them and renewing us.
We talk about our expectations and God's expectations and how those things come together in our readings, especially the reading that we have from the Gospel of John where Jesus turns water into wine.
What do you have trouble seeing around? That's the big question that we talk about today as we look at the story of Jesus' baptism from the Gospel of Luke and all of the things that needed clarity, and how our lives can benefit from God's clarity as well as we think about our vocations.
We finish up the Christmas season and our "Christmas Calling" series talking about Simeon, waiting, and how the promise of the Resurrection changes our waiting.
It's Christmas Eve! But does it really "feel like" Christmas to us? We talk about the desperation and desolation that can happen, and how to identify a good place to say "this is Christmas."
We talk about what it means for us to be honored by God in the sacrifice of His Son, and how His honor beats back our shame.
Pink Candle Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent, also called Gaudete Sunday is a Sunday that is all about joy - so we talk about the joy that we are given by Christ, what gets in the way of our joy, and our Baptisms.
We move into the second sermon of our "Christmas Calling" series talking about vocation and how John the Baptist clarifies the vocations of the people around him, how our vocations are clarified, and how Jesus' vocation was ultimately clear - saving us from sin.
We kick off both our Annual Focus (Called by the Gospel) and our Advent sermon series (Christmas Calling) with a sermon that really looks at a small line from Jeremiah 33 - "This is the name by which it shall be called, 'The Lord is our Righteousness'" and how that relates to our vocations.
We finish up not only our "Communion of Saints" series but the entire "We are the Body" annual focus with a repeated Gospel reading from Mark where we talk about being God's household, and how being in the house is good news.
We count down to the 2nd to last Sunday of the Church year and start looking beyond our own lives to heaven and the Resurrection by asking ourselves some tough questions about our expectations for the afterlife and what God promises us.
We talk about the widows of 1 Kings and Mark 12 and what it means for us to be forgiven and renewed by a Jesus whose forgiveness for us is everlasting.
In the second sermon in our "Communion of Saints" series about the 3rd article of the Creed and the Holy Spirit's work in the Church - we talk about All Saints Day and comforting and our mourning with our experience of the beatitudes.
We end our "In One Body" series by talking about the armor of God in Ephesians 6, and end talking about something that most people seem to miss in the reading.
We continue our "In One Body" series by talking about a reading from Ephesians that is considered offensive to many people, but we dive into it and look at what it means for us to be Christians, husbands, wives, and single persons.
Today we talked about wisdom and advice, and how God's best piece of advice isn't advice at all, but is the wisdom of the Cross that says "you are forgiven".
We talk about what it means to be a part of the Body by talking about how it is like theft when we don't function as our place in the Body.
We talk about the Ascension, what God has given us in terms of responsibilities to serve others in the Church, and how it is a clear sign of His love for us that He trusts us with His Church.
We continue our “In One Body” series, a walk through Ephesians, by talking about how we are all placed in the same family by God, and how that is a present tense reality for us.
Hatfields, McCoys, Noles, Gators, Canes, Republicans, Democrats, etc etc. We separate ourselves in all sorts of ways, but the amazing thing about the Gospel is how being covered in the Blood of Jesus means that we're all together - at least in terms of our sins and forgiveness.
Today we start a new series based on the book of Ephesians called "In One Body" by looking at the pronouns and the communal nature of the Body of Christ that Paul is pointing churches to, both in early and later history.
"We pay a lot of attention to our failure," but do we pay attention to sin and righteousness? We talk about Jesus' "failure" to do a great work in His hometown and how winning and losing, succeeding and failing, is not the same as righteousness and sin.
We talk transcendence vs immanence and how God brings us a world that is both transcendent and immanent through the gift of Holy Baptism.
This Sunday the readings are about the Sabbath, but Sabbath is really just resting in God's Word. We talk about how we find our rest in God's Word, a part of that Word being our Baptisms, and PJ explains what he used to do with pastors that went a little long.
We kick off our series "My Name is Baptized" with the celebration of Holy Trinity, which of course means the Athanasian Creed. We talk about fine china and our Baptisms, ownership and inheritance.
We finish up our "signs of life" series talking about a first grade desk, the Holy Spirit, and growth.
We continue our "Signs of Life" series talking about something....maybe not so dignified, but important nonetheless.
A multigenerational Jesus Centered Community of Scripture, Faith, and Grace located on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL
We continue our series on the "Signs of Life" by talking about movement and how Jesus as our good shepherd moves us for our good.
We talk about the strange way that the Easter story is told in Mark, and how it maybe isn’t so strange after all.
We start our Holy Week series, the Heart, with Palm/Passion Sunday and the invitation to join Jesus this Holy Week as we consider what the "heart" of the Body of Christ is, the story of His suffering, death, and resurrection.
We end our "Wounded" series by talking about the wound of service/sacrifice and how we are given the opportunity and the position to serve others.
We talk about the "wound" of living counterculturally as Jesus' Body in the world in this 3rd week of Lent and our Lenten series "Wounded".
We continue our "Wounded" series with talking about the wound of being misunderstood by the world around us.
What is your biggest temptation? We start our Wounded series and we talk about what our biggest temptation really is - and that is to see ourselves as alone, not as unified together with the Body of Christ.
It is Transfiguration Sunday, so we talk about what that experience is like for the disciples, and how every Sunday is a "little Transfiguration" for all of us
We talk about how Jesus was always moving forward and how that should be a mark of His Church, always moving forward by His invitation
We celebrate Eleanor Anne's baptism while talking about how baptism works and how it relates to God's prophetic word.
Today we talk about our apprehensions in speaking to people about our faith, especially our apprehension of failure, and how Jesus has us covered even in that.
We continue our "Genome" series talking about the attributes of Jesus, that He knows us, and that as such, we can be set free to know other people.
We start off our "Genome" series with a question about who we are when we're Baptized and why Jesus' Baptism matters.
We talk about the commands to rejoice, to pray, and to give thanks – and how those are impossible for us without Christ.
We talked about Advent and what it means for us to repent, in addition to confessing our sins and believing in God's forgiveness.
We start off the season of Advent and a new Annual Focus year ("We are the Body") with a talk about what it means for us to "swap bodies" with Jesus and become the Body of Christ, the Church.
We end the church year by talking about Matthew 25 and how we are called to be the Body of Christ, and why that's a very good thing.
We talk today about the somewhat confusing parable of the talents and ask the question if God wants us to be prepared.
We celebrate(?) the 500th anniversary of the Reformation by talking about our freedom in Christ, and what it means to be people whose hearts are shaped by that freedom.
We talk about the greatest commandment, rule breaking, and what it means to be a Christian.
We talk about the parable of the wedding banquet and who the mysterious guest is who gets kicked out of the party.
We talk about our status as people who rent, but not own our bodies, but that God owns our bodies and even gave His Son for them.
Do you really want to get even? Or do you want to get ahead? How does God’s Word and Sacrament deal with us at a level that is the same for all of us?
What are we owed? That's the question that we're tackling, today, and how what we are owed might be distinct from what we owe God.
Today in our series about Law and Gospel, we talk about how we apply Law and Gospel to ourselves, and how to take the Law and Gospel we find it Scripture and make it our own.
We start off our LawGospel sermon series by talking about what makes us good and righteous.
Today we talk about the obvious fact that we are not in the Resurrection yet with an eye towards how great that day that Jesus Christ has won for us on the cross.
Where do you look when you get in trouble? Do you look up? Do you look down? What does where you look tell you about what you're looking for? We talk today about Peter walking on the water and the meaning of the blue field in Luther's Rose symbol.
We talk about the inestimable value of Christ's salvation won for us on the Cross which gives us joy like no other thing can.
We talk about how God rescues our hearts from the salt and brine of the sinful world, and what the "heart" in Luther's Seal is all about.
Today we start a new sermon series called the Rose about the most enduring symbol of the Lutheran faith. At the center of this Rose, and at the center of our faith, you will find the Cross.
This classic "University Lutheran question" gets at the notion of what Jesus is getting at when He calls His disciples "little children".
We talk about who we can trust, the "Treatise Against the Power and Primacy of the Pope" and how Jesus is ultimately more trustworthy than even we ourselves are.
We continue our Concordia series talking about those times when we encounter failure and how to see God working in the midst of those things.
We continue our "Concordia" series about the Book of Concord talking about the Augsburg Confession, Exodus 19, and what it means to "subscribe".
We begin our sermon series, Concordia, about the Book of Concord and the fundamental beliefs of Lutherans by talking about the three ecumenical creeds at what it means to be "catholic" along with all other people who are baptized into Christ's name.
We talk about our final mark of the Church, the Word, and how it is the thing that drives all of what we do as Church - both corporately and individually.
Pastor Jay talks about the somewhat awkward topic of his own job and how the Office of the Holy Ministry (of pastor) is a mark of the Church.
We talk about worship, God, and David Foster Wallace - the danger of being the center of your own universe.
We continue to talk about the marks of the Church, especially today with the confirmation of Kirstie, we look to the mark of the Lord’s Supper.
We talk about the second mark of the Church, the Baptized people, and how it takes people to make a church.
We start a sermon series about the Seven Marks of the Church with the mark of suffering, or "possession of the holy cross".
It's Easter! And we're talking about being Sinner/Saints and what a Resurrected Jesus has to do about this duality that we have in our lives.
We talk about the word Hosanna and how it engages us in the paradox of Holy Week, which is the same paradox of Sinner and Saint.
We finish our "Theology of the Cross" series with the final thesis of the theology of the cross, which is all about how God creates what He loves, as opposed to how we can only love what we can experience - and somehow, pizza comes up.
We talk about Jesus and the blind man who was healed, but mostly about how Jesus goes beyond the categories and equations that we try to fit Him into.
Today we baptized little Isaac and talked about how we can sometimes get confused about subjects and objects in our understanding of God - hint hint, the subject is always Jesus.
When God asks us to have faith in something, He is telling us that whatever that is, that we should consider it as already done. We talk about how this applies to our life of faith and the time of our lives.
We start off our series about the Theology of the Cross talking about the ways that we try to attain righteousness, or becoming a good person, and how that can't be about our religion or our irreligion, but about a third way called the Gospel.
Pastor Ken Chitwood from First Lutheran in Gainesville FL ends our “echoes” sermon series on the catechism by talking about transfiguration and the table of duties found in Martin Luther’s Small Catechism.
What are we eating? We’re normally so conscious of what we put in our mouths, that it only makes sense to wonder about what is “in” communion. We take a look at what God’s Word tells us about what is present in this meal – as well as what the meal takes away.
Today at University Lutheran we’re continuing our series on the 6 basics of Christianity (the 6 chief parts of the Small Catechism), and we also confirmed the faith of Josiah Miller. We talked about what God wants us to give Him, particularly how God wants us to give Him our sins so that He might forgive them.
It's Super Bowl Sunday! It's also the 5th Sunday after Epiphany and we're talking about Baptism at University Lutheran. Today we talk about Baptism and the concept of "remembering your Baptism" and why it might be better to say "remember that you have been Baptized."
When we think about all of the things that God could listen to, it's amazing that He promises to listen to our prayers. We talk about the grace that God shows us in the promise to hear us, and the grace that He shows us in giving us
The Disney corporation is famous for putting “Easter eggs” – things hidden to create joy in those who find them – in their animated movies. Today Pastor Jay talks about an “Easter egg” that he found in Exodus 3, and how the story of God contained in the Creed and in Scripture is the best Easter egg of all.
Today we talked about the 10 commandments and what it means to have 10 commandments. We couched that especially in the understanding of what it means to be commanded to Baptize Taylor Andrew Jordan, who was Baptized right after the sermon in the worship service.
You’ll hear about Pastor Jay’s past as a “Party Captain” and what that taught him about management and what that learning taught him about who God is and what it means to have a God who gives us commands – both the commands found in the 10 commandments and the command to Baptize Taylor Andrew
Catching up with posting some older sermons - We celebrate Pastor Jay's second daughter's baptism along with the celebration of Baptism of Our Lord - and we start a new series talking about this book called a catechism.
A multigenerational Jesus Centered Community of Scripture, Faith, and Grace located on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL
A multigenerational Jesus Centered Community of Scripture, Faith, and Grace located on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL
A multigenerational Jesus Centered Community of Scripture, Faith, and Grace located on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL
A multigenerational Jesus Centered Community of Scripture, Faith, and Grace located on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL
About the 12th Sunday After Pentecost: We begin our exploration into Vintage Faith with the stories of the first human beings and how their stories led to them choosing God when it wasn’t popular to do so. Nonetheless, the people in the Genesis account followed in faith and lived according to God’s design and plan.
About the 6th Sunday after Pentecost: There is a predominant theme of discipleship and calling in these readings. Twice we hear the story of the demands of following as a disciple, first in 1 Kings and then in Luke. The Psalm gives us words to consider as we offer ourselves as disciples to God. Paul in Galatians outlines how we are to walk by the Spirit in the midst of our discipleship.
About the fifth Sunday after Pentecost: The readings for this Sunday all include an element of God’s saving work. He promises that He will save some out of the judgment in Isaiah 65, the Psalmist in Psalm 3 cries out for God to arise and save, and in Luke 8, we read a story of a man who is saved from demons. This all ties with the salvation that we have in faith that Paul is speaking about in Galatians 3.
About 4th Sunday after Pentecost: Sin plays a big role in the theme of this day's readings, but so does forgiveness. The readings show that no matter the sin, the solution is always the same - the justifying work of Jesus Christ, not the Law which cannot utterly defeat sin, but only justification.
About Third Sunday after Pentecost - There is no escaping the theme of death vs life when reading these readings this week. We are called to look at the death that our sin deserves, but also to the life which Christ offers us through the justification of our souls by His suffering and death. We are called to consider that our natural lives are worth nothing, but that our lives that are found in Christ are worth everything because of the surpassing worth of His sacrifice for us.
About the Fifth Sunday of Easter: God's Kingdom is revealed in a New Heaven and a New Earth in the book of Revelation. It is described as a New Jerusalem coming down out of the heavens, where God's dwelling place is with man. This New Jerusalem is a place where there is no separation along the usual sinful lines that we are so used to in this world. In this New Jerusalem there shall be no bigotry, no racism, no cruelty. Instead, the reign of the Lamb will be one of Love, and we will know it by its revelation of the quality of love that Jesus tells His disciples about
About the Fourth Sunday of Easter: The fourth Sunday of Easter is often called "Good Shepherd Sunday" because the readings traditionally center around the image of Jesus as a shepherd. Even in the book of Revelation, Jesus is pictured as a shepherd - here a sort of ironic shepherd, a Lamb who is a shepherd. The least of the flock, the young lamb, is pictured here as leading a great multitude of all of God's people in the last days. The realities of living in a sinful world are pictured all around those who are the flock of the Lamb, but the message of hope is clear - the realities of a sinful world will end, but the reign of the Lamb-Shepherd will not.
About the Third Sunday of Easter: The readings this week revolve around the idea of worthiness. In the reading from the book of Revelation, we see that it is only the Lamb, who is Jesus, that is found worthy. No others are worthy of the responsibility and action of heaven. Because we learn that it is "only the Lamb", we may be struck to the heart because we are excluded. We are not the Lamb. Yet the Lamb seeks to include us, as He shows in Acts 9 and John 21 with the inclusion and restoration of Peter and Paul, whose story might be sung using the words of Psalm 30.
About Easter Sunday: Alleluias return to the sanctuary of University Lutheran as we consider emptiness again, but this time joyously, as we consider the empty tomb of our Lord whom death could not hold. Together with Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women and disciples, we consider the mystery of the question of the angels: "Why do you look for the living among the dead?"
Throughout the lectionary readings this week, we see hints of Jesus' crucifixion and how we are called to lose our lives in His life. As Jesus was persecuted, we are given the command to give of ourselves in love as well.
Sometimes culture views the Christian God of judgment, and while this is true about God's fairness, it neglects God's love and restoration of the human being. As we consider the God whom Jesus portrays as the father in the story of the prodigal, we consider a God who has given grace and forgiveness.
The readings this week are about repentance, and so it makes sense that we talk about how we are called to something greater than simple songs in our worship, but how we are turned around by God in our repentance.
The Word of God is something that is central to all of these readings, and as we see in the readings, the prophetic Word of God often causes sinners to reject it when they hear it. As we consider the use of Word in worship, from the readings to the other places where God's Word shows up in our worship, we thank God that He sends us His Word and makes us His friends.
This week's readings all tell us something about the concept of worship, which kicks off our Lenten series about what worship is and how we worship. We see that throughout time - from the Israelites worshiping in Deuteronomy to Paul's understanding of the Word being near - that God works in and through worship to make us His people. God brings Himself and blesses us on earth in the worship service
The “celebration” of Ash Wednesday is actually the beginning of a fast, the fast of Lent. Throughout the Bible, God’s faithful people would memorialize a time when they saw that they had to turn around and repent (the word “repent” literally means to turn around). It was a time of recognizing where one had lost their way and needed to get back to God. Of course, we don’t get back to God, God gets back to us by giving us His Son to die on the Cross for our sins. This Ash Wednesday and all of Lent are about repenting, turning around and seeing that Jesus and His Cross are right there to forgive us of our sins.
About the 4th Sunday after Epiphany: In this Sunday's Gospel from the lectionary we have another incidence of Jesus performing miracles, but here it is specifically His healing and demon-casting miracles that are highlighted. We consider what it means for Jesus to be not only the healer of the body, but also his divinity that has made the body and sustains it.
About the 3rd Sunday after Epiphany: This could be also be called "the Sunday of the Law", but in it, we see how Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law of God, and how He has inaugurated new commandments that are in sync with God's commands to Israel.
About the First Sunday after Christmas - The first Sunday after Christmas is one in which we continue our celebration of Christ's birth and appearing, noting especially the hope that His arrival brings to us and to all people.
About Christmas Eve - We will be using the more traditional "Midnight" Christmas Eve readings even though our celebration will be at 7pm. Christmas Eve is a time to remember the tender grace that was born to mankind in Jesus Christ, a grace that makes its first appearance to us here but that has implications for our entire lives even into eternity.
About this Sunday: Micah prophesies the coming of Jesus saying that "He shall be their peace". All of these readings give us a sense of peace as we wait, a calm that washes over us as we await the Savior who shall come and finally bring peace to this war-torn earth. This peace is the product of our waiting and the outgrowth of our patience. We need not be filled with things and trinkets because of our anxiety. Rather, we can live our lives with contentment.
About this Sunday: We cheer together when we are filled with the expectation and hope of something good. We do not even need to see it - we can cheer in expectation. That is what this Sunday of Advent is all about, about the cheer of faith that waits but still rejoices. It is about the absolute certainty that celebrates what hasn't happened yet.
Every year University Lutheran puts on a German language Christmas service. The liturgy, readings, and hymns are in German, but the sermon is in English. This year, the sermon's major illustration was the original story of the Nutcracker - a German story by a man named Hoffman. The sermon is based on Hebrews, Chapter 1.
About this Sunday: Our Baptisms were the first steps of our journeys to heaven, but we experience the length of the journey as we go through life. This Sunday of Advent, we look at the wisdom of knowing that the journey is not instantaneous, but that we are called to journey well as we go through life. We look forward to our arrival, but we also enjoy being on the journey of our pilgrimage toward the Resurrection.
About this Sunday: The season of Advent is a season of waiting - its discipline and wisdom. The discipline and wisdom of waiting begins with the feeling of the VOID, the feeling of emptiness that we try to fill up with all sorts of short term solutions. This Sunday we will talk about what we do in the midst of the void of Jesus being physically with us (outside of the Lord's Supper), and how the wait for Him to come into our world is something that moves us to cherish and look expectantly to His coming all the more.
About this Sunday: The season of Advent is a season of waiting - its discipline and wisdom. The discipline and wisdom of waiting begins with the feeling of the VOID, the feeling of emptiness that we try to fill up with all sorts of short term solutions. This Sunday we will talk about what we do in the midst of the void of Jesus being physically with us (outside of the Lord's Supper), and how the wait for Him to come into our world is something that moves us to cherish and look expectantly to His coming all the more.
About this Sunday: Our last Sunday in the series "Gift of the Lamb" and the second to last Sunday in the church year. During it, we begin to turn our "Advent eyes" to the dawning of the day of Jesus' returning when we will see the Lamb upon the Throne and how we are to live our lives until that time.
About this Sunday: The readings for this Sunday lead us to consider what it is like to be prayed for and how intercession works. As we consider the intercession of the prophet, and even the intercession of the widow, our eyes are turned to our High Priest who makes intercession for us in both sacrifice and prayer.
About this Sunday: Like our Reformation Sunday, this celebration of All Saints continues with the readings for the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost. Again, the readings fit the celebration of the specific day, even if they were not tailored to do so. In this Sunday we look at the covenants of God - the Old Covenant renewed at Sinai, and the New Covenant found in the person and work of Jesus. As we remember those who have passed on before us, we remember how their lives have been hidden in Christ and His covenantal faithfulness towards us.
About this Sunday: While this Sunday is Reformation Day, we are using the readings from the 22nd Sunday after Pentecost in order to keep with the theme of the Lamb. The readings, however, are very good readings for the celebration of the Reformation - especially since the Priesthood of Jesus figured heavily into the original Reformation arguments of Jesus. As we look at these readings, we see Jesus restoring (reforming) His Church from its blindness through reminding us of His priesthood and centrality.
About this Sunday: The Sabbath or "rest of God" is something that figures prominently into the theme of Hebrews. This Sunday is our opportunity to see this theme brought before our eyes. This rest is something that we are called to remember at the heart of our lives, rather than chasing after our vanities, we are reminded to find time to sit and rest and know that God is present and active in our lives.
About this Sunday: This week we see sharp contrast between the believer and the unbeliever. As we look at the Hebrews reading, we consider the stern warning to not associate ourselves with those who would rebel against God. In not associating with the rebels, those who have sold out their share with God for other things, we look to those with whom we ARE called to have fellowship with and how we attempt to have that fellowship grow stronger.
About this Sunday - This opening Sunday of our series begins with our contemplation of who Jesus is for us - family. The writer of the book of Hebrews makes the case that we are something special because Jesus came to have our flesh and blood, something that the angels cannot claim. We are special not because of our works, but because of our relation to the Lamb, who is our heavenly Brother.
About this Sunday: Our "Selfie" series comes to a close with an affirmation of who we are as God's people. When we take the picture of ourselves, we see God in the midst of that picture, working on us and making us who we are becoming.
About this Sunday: Our third Sunday of the "Selfie" is one that encourages us to look around at the way that the world operates, and separate ourselves from that picture. We are encouraged to be different and to live in a way that separates who we are from the background of the pictures that we are a part of.
About this Sunday: Our second Sunday of the "Selfie" sermon series is about seeing ourselves in the lens of possibility. All of the readings point to the realm of possibility, even including the father of the mute boy who says "I believe, help my unbelief". During this Sunday we will be talking about the gift that God gives us to be able to do things in His power and with His Word.
There is something emboldening and celebratory about the gathering of a sports team or even a military unit that knows that it is going to win a contest. It is this sense of celebration that we are invited to take into "the lockerroom" of our faith as we don the armor of God to fight in a contest that He has already won in Jesus Christ. We are invited not to take on abstract pieces of armor, or abstract rules from Deuteronomy, but rather, these pieces of armor point to the totality of what Paul has been talking about our taking on from the very beginning of this book - the person of Jesus Christ who is given to us as a Gift, so that we might celebrate by Being this Gift for others.
This section of Ephesians 5 is wildly unpopular among many brides. The notion of submission in a marriage is a stumbling block that it is very hard for us to overcome, the clear reason for this is that like in Mark 7, "submission" is so often couched in the external "law" of submission that has nothing to do with this verse. Instead, this verse seeks to show a wonderful relationship between two lovers: Christ and His Bride the Church. We transition to talking about how we "Celebrate Gifts Given" in this sermon and discuss how we can celebrate those who submit to us, and those who sacrifice for us - and how we can see a picture of Christ and His Church through these actions of others.
It can be hard to live our lives in a way that reflects Christ. This was no less true when Paul was writing to the Ephesians than it is today. Paul's letter here shifts the focus of how we live in community with one another (gifting one another with community) as the Church to how we live in the community of our everyday lives which are mixed with believers and non-believers. As we consider Paul's words, we consider their wisdom and how we might use them to "walk not as unwise, but as wise" in order to bring light from Christ to "arise the sleeper from the dead".
There are many whom we can give ourselves to as gifts, and we can give of ourselves in many different ways – but the “Gifting” of living in Church community with one another is a distinct kind of gift that we can share with our Brothers and Sisters in Christ. We can share in a counter-cultural community that seeks to give grace instead of punish wrongdoing, but also provides wisdom for living together in community. In this new life, we are fed and nourished by the Body of Christ, those who are around us together, living out His life for one another
Missionary to Kenya, Rev. Dennis Meeker shares his sermon about what God is doing in all congregations in the world in His power. Visit Rev. Meeker’s site, 4kenyaskids
God’s gift of Communion or the Lord’s Supper is a particularly powerful gift, as it unites us with the “breadth and length and height and depth” of the love of Christ that we may find our root in Him. This gift is a miraculous gift – every bit as miraculous as walking on water or sending a flood, and like the rainbow in the sky, is a sign of God’s covenant faithfulness with His people, encouraging us to believe His Word.
We continue our “ReGifted” series with a consideration of our Baptisms, looking at what it means to be granted access to the Trinity in one Spirit, as well as to be united with brothers and sisters in Christ through this sacrament. We were once far off, but God has granted to us His gift of inclusion so that we might be included in His sheepfold and shepherded by Jesus Christ. The other readings have an overt “Shepherding” theme, which leads us to consider how we are being shepherded in our Baptisms today.
God's love for us never ceases, but there are times at which we might question the compassion of God when we see the suffering of people around us. Jeremiah wrote the book of Lamentation as he was watching his people being carried off into exile, but he was still able to have hope in God's provision for his people. As we see Alexa and Wyatt baptized this morning, we reflect on the hope that we have for their lives, and how God will show them compassion - even in those times when they will suffer in their lives
Job asks God for an answer, and when God gives Job the answer, we may wonder if Job regretted ever asking the question. At times it may feel to us that God has not really answered our questions in the way which we would like them to be answered. We want small answers, but God gives us big ones. God gives us answers that cause us to ask new questions and marvel at the new world in which we live, as the disciples must have when they saw Jesus calm the storm.
As we enter into the Sundays after Pentecost, our attention within the series shifts to the Epistle lesson, specifically when St. Paul talks about the "Spirit of Faith" who gives us faith. This is especially contrasted with the Gospel reading and its threats against the "blasphemy of the Holy Spirit".
We continue our conversation about the Holy Spirit, especially in the Spirit's relationship to the Father and the Son, and how that relationship helps us to understand our relationship with the Trinity ourselves. We are born into the kingdom of God by the work of the Holy Spirit, especially through the new birth offered us in Baptism.
About Easter 7/Matthias – Matthias is our last disciple in “Cameo”, and we know the least about him. Nevertheless, his story is not without meaning for us. Matthias is the ultimate cameo as his story gives the ultimate in witness of Jesus Christ, that the Church is not built upon the foundation of the disciples ultimately, but upon the foundation of Jesus Christ.
About Easter 6/John – John is the disciple who is known as “the beloved” and possibly the last living disciple out of the Twelve. As we consider John from his first letter, we consider what it is to “overcome the world” as one of Jesus’ disciples.
About Easter 2/Thomas - Thomas is a conflicted disciple. We first hear him ready to give his life for Jesus in the story of Lazarus, but when we catch up with him in John 20, he is unwilling to even muster the faith and belief to accept Jesus' Resurrection. As we look to Thomas' story, we find our own story of conflicted faith in the presence of a hard-to-swallow Resurrection from the dead, and we see the larger picture of the Risen Jesus.
About Easter: Our celebration of Easter begins with the Psalmists’ words “Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous!” and continues with the themes of steadfast love from Good Friday, proclaiming that we shall not die but we shall 118horizweblive! As we recount the story of Jesus’ passion anew in Psalm 118, we do so with special emphasis on the celebration of our new lives.
About Palm Sunday: Palm Sunday is now concurrent with the celebration of the Sunday of the Passion (these used to be two separate liturgical celebrations). As such, the story is not only of Jesus' triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, but is also concerned with the entire Passion (Suffering) of Jesus. We open the series in the middle of Psalm 118 where the Psalmist proclaims "Open to me the gates of righteousness that I may enter through them," and we can imagine Jesus going through those gates of Jerusalem in order to enter into the Temple. The Psalm takes us through a dramatic foretelling of Jesus' Passion from the entrance to the "Binding of the sacrifice" upon the cross
About the Fifth Sunday in Lent: We approach the end of our fast with humility, and considering the humility of Jesus, who connected the status of the least with the status of the greatest in His suffering the death of a thief and traitor upon the cross. We are given the gift of seeking to be least and humiliating ourselves, and in this, finding the blessing of God as we walk in the shoes of the Son.
About the Fourth Sunday in Lent: This Sunday is a rare time when the theme verse for the annual focus (Ephesians 2:8-10) coincides with the Epistle reading. As we look at the context of the theme verse of our annual focus, we see that Paul is encouraging us to look at our new lives in Jesus Christ as gifts – that we are made dead to sins and alive in Him. The gift of new life given to us is one that simply does not come without the death of Baptism and Repentance. As the Psalmist says, precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His saints.
About the Second Sunday in Lent: Most of us would say that we understand the “New Covenant” of the New Testament books and how Jesus saves us, but often we find that we are uninterested in the Old Covenant given to Abraham and how that forms and shapes our rejoicing. As we look to Jesus Christ as the “AND” who brings together these two covenants in Himself, we learn not to despise the Old
About the First Sunday in Lent: As we gather on Sunday, some have been with us as we declared the fast on Wednesday, but many have not. We re-tell the sense of duality that we embraced on Wednesday, describing Christ as the “AND” who connects our Lent with Easter, and today especially our sacrifice with His provision. As we look to the story of the binding of Isaac, we consider how Abraham’s sacrifice was not necessarily of his son, but of His will and control, and how we are given the gift of sacrifice so that we too might see God’s provision.
About Ash Wednesday: We begin Lent by declaring the fast before the feast of Easter, but even in this season of Lent, we find joy. We find renewal in the declaration that we are dust and to dust we shall return. As Paul says: We are sorrowful and always rejoicing, poor and making others rich, having nothing yet having everything. It is the AND that describes our life in Christ, it is Christ who connects our suffering with His Glory, and our fast with His feast.
The Gospel of the "Because He" series comes to a zenith here in the Transfiguration. As we see Jesus glorified and having conversations with Elijah and Moses, we know that we too will be glorified with Him and will have conversations with all of the saints in glory forevermore.
About this Sunday: While the notation in the Gospel reading is almost easy to skip over, the role of Jesus' life of prayer cannot be underestimated or detached from Jesus' ministries of healing and preaching. Likewise, we are called to pray "in His Name" meaning praying in His identity and character.
About this Sunday: It may shock us that the same authority that Jesus used to cast out the demon in this Gospel reading is the authority that confers to us in our Baptisms. When we are His disciples we are called to live out His authority. This means that we are called to speak with authority when we speak in His identity and through His Word.
About this Sunday: Jesus followed the will of the Father, and because of that, we are called to follow Him in order to do the Father’s will. We continue to talk about what it means for us to be disciples of Jesus Christ and how that cannot mean anything but being set in a community where we both receive and give discipleship in Jesus Christ
This Sunday is the first Sunday in Epiphany that we consider Jesus' call to discipleship. Normally we think about Jesus' action of calling the disciples as calling us to discipleship, but if we take seriously the idea that we have Jesus' identity in our Baptisms, we also need to take seriously the audacious responsibility that we have to call others to discipleship. We are called to be disciples who make disciples.
The last Sunday before Christmas is here, and now it is undeniable that it will come. As the reality of Christmas day comes nearer, our hope seems to become more "fact" as we see what God is doing in our lives. Faith, that trust that we have in Jesus, tells us that His coming and our salvation is "a sure thing".
The third Sunday in Advent is traditionally a jubilant Sunday, noted by the presence of the color pink. This week is also close enough to Christmas day that it starts to “really feel like” Christmas. Christmas movies are starting to pop up on television and the messages of Christmas coming near seem more insistent. This week the proclamation of our hope in Christmas is the key theme throughout the readings. We celebrate the coming of Christmas as the message of Christmas begins to ring clearer and clearer in our heads.
The texts for this Sunday give us a sense of preparation by cleaning. John the Baptists plays a key role as being the “Voice who cries” – and when He is calling people to repent, He is calling them to clean-ness of life. Cleaning is a concept that seems to fit our sinful lives in much the same way that it does our messy desks, dirty dishes, and unkempt rooms. We would love for things to be cleaned, but we fear what it will take.
The first Sunday in Advent is a sort of “alarm clock” that rings the bells that it is time for us to prepare for the coming of gift – or if we are found ill prepared, the gift might pass us by. Thinking about this question vocationally, we are given new tasks within our vocations all of the time – and if we are unprepared for their coming, we can appear inept and/or watch an opportunity fly past us.
God has redeemed us and has given us gifts, and the parable of the sheep and goats shows us that there is a way to mishandle these gifts. God’s people are marked by lives of generosity that are not always conscious of their generosity. However, Jesus is clearly calling us to be mindful of our generosity and sense of gifting to others in our Finances, Intellects, Physical presence, Relationships, and Spirituality. Our lives of generosity show how generously we receive His gifts.
Last week we talked about having the capital that we need, this week, we talk about the growth of that capital in our lives. In our culture, we are used to spending our capital, but not necessarily used to the ideas that surround the investment of our capital. We’ll talk about investing our Finances, Intellects, Physical time and body, Relationships, and Spiritual lives in order to show growth before Jesus returns, and how investing these things is actually more fun than hiding them away because of our fears.
Do you have what you need in the areas of Financial, Intellectual, Physical, Relational, and Spiritual capital? Or have you allowed your gifts to burn down to the nub? How do we show ourselves as ready for the Bridegrooms return, even if we don’t feel like we have all that we need right now? What does God have to give us and how does He give His capitals of love?
Do you have what you need in the areas of Financial, Intellectual, Physical, Relational, and Spiritual capital? Or have you allowed your gifts to burn down to the nub? How do we show ourselves as ready for the Bridegrooms return, even if we don't feel like we have all that we need right now? What does God have to give us and how does He give His capitals of love?
Starting with the Gospel reading and Jesus’ statement that wisdom is justified by her children, we examine what the wisdom of the Reformation was. In Romans, we find that this wisdom is the full justification of the human being with God through nothing but God’s own grace. We revel together in this wisdom and continue to stand in this tradition of the Reformation some almost 500 years later.
Some love songs are just about our praise to our beloved. Love songs that describe the attributes of the beloved are often this way. We hear “the way your blue eyes sparkle” and we think of the way that our lover’s green eyes sparkle. Pslam 96 engages in this kind of love song showing attributes of the God whom we worship and praise.
A multigenerational Jesus Centered Community of Scripture, Faith, and Grace located on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL
It’s hard to get around the familiarity we all have with Psalm 23 and view it in a new light, but that the first lines of the Psalm, “…I shall not want…” reveal a similarity to love songs that talk about how the sun and the moon rise and set and the lover may be oblivious to these things if his/her lover is (or is not) around. The Psalm also has a feeling of”no matter what happens, as long as you’re with me, everything is ok.”
Pslam 25 cries out to God with the tenor of a lover who fails to know how to show his/her love to the Beloved. David cries, "make me to know Your ways, O Lord" with the same feeling as someone who feels inadequate to their love. So often, when we don't know how to show our love, we show it in inappropriate or at least non-specific terms which result in actually hurting the object of our love. That is the same thing with God - we cry out "How do we show our love to You?" and He responds, "Love my Church, Love your Neighbors".
Psalm 27 is about declaring that God is “the one for me”, a theme found in many different love songs. In these love songs, often the author of the love song sings about how he or she looked to others, but in the end, it was about “the one for me”. Jesus is our “the one for me”.
A multigenerational Jesus Centered Community of Scripture, Faith, and Grace located on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL
A multigenerational Jesus Centered Community of Scripture, Faith, and Grace located on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL
As we enter into Lent, we enter into it considering our own mortality that comes through our fall into sin, and how that fall has made us utterly afraid of death - but needlessly because we have a Savior who took death for us.
Who do people see? "And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only"
Who is the hardest person to forgive? A man who kills 5 children and wounds 5 more? That person in your neighborhood or work? No, it's yourself. In fact, it's impossible to forgive yourself. Thank God you don't have to.
Do you believe everything that you say you do? Do your actions reflect those beliefs, or do they betray your sinful heart? Check out how Jesus believes, what He believes, and how He shows that on the cross
We're talking today about commitment and being ready to die to self as Simeon was, and how that works with knowing a Savior who died and was Resurrected.
Are you willing to show the holiness that you were Baptized into? Today we take a pondering look at how we like to "hide it under a bushel"...
Are you looking for a leader? What does it mean to look for a leader in our culture and what does that tell us about our worship of Jesus?
Are you looking for change in the wrong places? Many of us are waiting for change, but not sure where the good changes in our life actually come from.
tipsforJesus is a huge hashtag, but what do hashtags and other symbols have to do with the Gospel?
We start our series "Waiting for Love" talking about how we are invited into a loving relationship with Jesus
Commitment Sunday is here and we're talking about committing to seeing God's love at work in our lives, following like Peter followed in the forgiveness of Jesus Christ
God wants to show the world His love through us, but too often we're not willing to let His love shine, but regardless, Jesus brings His light to bear in our hearts and lives.
How much do you love God and how do you engage with Him to find out how much He loves you?
We start off our I Love U sermon series about our annual focus talking about Reformation Day and love and Lutherans
How are your manners? Part of having manners is saying thank you at the right places for the right things. How are your manners with God?
Who does the dishes in your house? Hear some rules about doing the dishes in PJ's house that apply to the Gospel reading and what Jesus' Kingdom is like
God is telling you to pay attention to His Scripture, the promise in His Word that will give You eternal life
Do you forgive big or little sins? Which is easier? Jesus' parable about the dishonest manager, or the shrewd manager, helps us get a grip on why that question maybe isn't all that helpful.
What does the way the church behaves have to do with who God is and who significantly He sees us?
God has come to us and given us the ability to live, not through choosing life for ourselves, but because He chose life for us.
What thing do you hope for that would make you be able to recognize all of God's other blessings? Do you really need that? We talk about that in this sermon
Solomon finds a real hope in eating, drinking, and finding enjoyment in his toil - so can we through understanding better what Jesus did for us.
God is the only one who gets to grade what we do - but the people at Galatia needed to hear that and so do we - otherwise we might forget about the grade that God gives us through His love
Is it better to be bad? Sometimes we think that it is, but we end up regretting our decisions and needing the forgiveness of the One who made a good decision for us - going to the Cross
Who would you call for bail money? PJ tells a story about bail money which leads us to think about how we are a part of the family of God
Paul talks about his credentials with the Galatians, credentials that eventually come down to his having faith in God
Is there an impostor in church? Yes, you - and that's very good news, in fact, it's Gospel.
We can't know everything about the Trinity, but when do we know "enough" to step out in faith?
What does it mean to be confirmed? And how do we see a confirmation of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives? We see it be remembering Jesus and His grace.
How "weighty" is your mother's love? However weighty it might be, it is still just a fraction of how weighty the love of Jesus is for you.
How do you know you're sick? Jesus comes to heal those who are sick - both those who know they are sick and those who don't yet.
The Elders at University Lutheran lead worship service because they care - they care about God and they care about God's people
We say "the Body of Christ" but do we really mean it when we say that? We get to know Jesus by knowing the people that He is forgiving and renewing.
Would you want Jesus as your roommate or neighbor? Do you think He will be a great neighbor in the Resurrection?
What might Jesus look like today? Like communion? Like Baptism? Like the Word? Like YOU?!?!
We conclude our "we reject" series by looking at the broken promises of Lent and our broken Savior who paid for us
Our sins are deep in our memories, they're recent events for us - and it is easy for us to slip into those memories. But one day Jesus will come and bring us to a place where our memories of sin will fade and go away.
Guilt is a horrible motivator and really has nothing to do with being a sanctified child of God - we see how God operates without guilt in the story of the "prodigal son"
We continue talking about rejecting sin with Ezekiel, who points out the sin of Israel, and how that works in our lives.
Sometimes we think that we would prefer a nice sounding lie to a truth that leaves us somewhat uncomfortable - but Jesus is truth no matter how we take Him
Why do we attempt to reject sin? Is it for ourselves? No, because Jesus has already saved us - but we do it for others.
Where Jesus is going after the Transfiguration is where we should go, and where we are going is where Jesus should be.
What does Jesus have to do with evil? It's one of those questions that often leaves us philosophically unbalanced - but what we find is that Jesus does have authority over evil, and that it should give us comfort to know that.
Would you throw Jesus off a cliff? You would hope your answer would be "no", but don't be too quick to say that. We're all sinners like those Nazarenes who needed to hear about the Messiah who was coming to save them.
What is a miracle? Who is it about? Looking at John 2 and Jesus' first miracle, we find that miracles focus on Jesus more than they focus on us, although we receive the benefit.
Does it really matter if we recognize that Jesus is the Son of God? It does! We examine how we try to get away from that claim in our sin, and how recognizing Jesus' divinity actually gives us hope for eternity
The stuff that PJ wears on Sunday morning means stuff for him and for other people. Learn what he's communicating by what he wears
Paul talks about "layering" ourselves with the clothes of grace and righteousness that we receive from Christ who clothed us with Himself
When are you due? It's a common question that pregnant women get, but should it be a common question for all Christians?
What is your story? Is it a story of expectations? Is it like the story of Luke or Anna? Seeing or wanting to see Jesus more clearly?
Who was the virgin of Isaiah 7 and what does her story tell us about our God who is with us?
Advent is the beginning of the new church year, and we wonder together what God might bring for church
What does you nationality have to do with who your leader is and vice versa? If Jesus is our leader, are we His nation?
We finish off the BUILT series with pledge Sunday as people consider seeing God's building work in their lives.
When we talk about good works and spiritual sacrifices - often we're not sure what to do - but the key is just to find the next step to take
It's Reformation Day! And the beginning of our annual focus for 2012-2013 "Built". It's going to be exciting, and very Lutheran!
Do you need to do chores for God to love you? No, of course not, He loves you regardless and we show that we love Him by loving others.
Being legalistic is like being really obsessed with a puzzle. Thankfully, we don't have to worry about the puzzle, but about the big picture of Jesus' love and will and forgiveness for us
Are you a legalist? Well, maybe answering some questions about divorce might reveal something, or maybe how you treat kids. That's how it happened with people around Jesus
What your words say about your sinful condition speaks volumes, but what Jesus says about you speaks even louder and stronger
We begin to take a look at the letter of James and how we are able to understand our works and our faith together.
When we think of the armor of God, sometimes we imagine it's about something within us, not something that is given to us from the outside
Do you need coffee in order to wake up? Of course not, but sometimes we get too dependent on stuff.
Are you faking it? Or are you living out the reality of the future given to you by God?
How would you make an impression of Jesus? What does the way that you would act like Jesus tell you about who He is and who you are?
We talk about vocation and the Church and what it means for us to be gifts to the world as Christ was a gift to us.
Are you praying for the Church? Paul shows the Ephesians that they should be praying for the Church.
Gators and Seminoles, Cubs and Cardinals - sometimes we're divided, but in Church, we're always on the same team, Team Jesus
Paul shows us that Jesus takes a circumcision like event upon Himself as He is crucified so that we are put at peace with one another.
When you join this church, you get the building, but you also get forgiveness and the people in it!
We start our "Church Being" series, an expository series on the book of Ephesians and what it tells us about being the Church.
Our mobile devices are so much a part of us, we don't turn them off, but keep on charging them up. What if that were a metaphor for our Christian lives?
The Holy Spirit is the power in your life that shines through you because God created you to shine and Jesus fixed you so that you could take the Holy Spirit's shine
The "Sunday School Answer" isn't always just a dodge, it really is the greatest answer!
Are you a sinner? It's an easy question to answer if you only answer this question - are you hiding something?
Who do you think you are? When we ask ourselves "who we think we are?" it's a moment to pause and reflect and remember that we are the sons and daughters and heirs of the Triune God.
What is God's name? What is yours? God gives us His name, the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in baptism.
When we hear the question "who do you think you are?" It should cause us to pause and think about it - and then respond to the world that we are the children and heirs of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
What do Memorial Day and Pentecost have in common? Decorating the tomb of the one/One we love.
Do yo need the Holy Spirit to get you to breathe? To fill you with His "Continuous Positive Airway Pressure"?
Does Mom love you? Does she love JUST you? Of course not, she loves other people just like the Holy Spirit loves all sorts of people and brings them to the Gospel
Do you qualify for the grace of Jesus Christ? Actually, He qualifies to take your disqualifications.
What are you celebrating? Are you really treating Easter like a 7 week celebration? And yes, I reference doing keg stands...
What does it mean to have faith? What are you called to do by Jesus? How does your faith interact with your calling?
Would Jesus share His Dum Dums with us? He would, and He would ask you to share them with someone else. Why is that good news?
What are you willing to share? The early disciples shared everything. Could we maybe even out do them? How much has Jesus shared with you?
Are you vulnerable before God? before people? Jesus was, and that makes this Holy Week an experience of His vulnerability for us.
We're afraid to be naked in front of people, afraid to be ashamed and vulnerable - but Jesus has clothed us in His righteousness.
What does your story and the cross have to do with the story of the Israelites and the snakes?
What do St. Patrick's day pinches and our sinful lives have in common? How does Jesus save us?
Do you need a commitment device in order to keep your promises? God speaks our language of commitment devices and gives us signs of His faithfulness
Do you own the mission of God? Does it show in how you work in that mission? Jesus gives His disciples a mission to own.
Hiroo Onada didn't stop fighting WWII until 1974. Mary surrendered to the news of the annunciation right away. Are you fighting against God's good news in your life?
Should we be able to laugh in church? Tell jokes? Rejoice? YES! We can rejoice in God no matter what because He has given us forgiveness.
I've got good news and bad news, which do you want first? It all depends on a few things - but we can't ever get away from having bad news in our lives. Still, God gives us the good news of His Son forgiving us.
Does getting ready for something important take some time? It sure does. That is why Jesus takes His time in coming back, to give us time to get ready for His important coming.
What do weddings and Jesus' coming back have in common? A lot, especially the part about waiting...
We consider Micah 5:2, the shortest of the traditional Christmas readings, at our early Christmas service with German songs and liturgy...and we think about what a Christmas Pickle has to do with all of that.
How does your morning routine get you ready for the day? The season of Advent is like the "morning routine" of the church - getting us ready in hope for the rest of the church year.
Advent is like an alarm clock counting down to the point when Jesus comes to judge the whole world - which would be a bad thing except that we know the right defense.
We end our Transformed by the Cross series with pledging ourselves to see the Transformation of our lives in 3 specific areas: Personal, Relational, and Missional.
Is Jesus going to Transform you this year? Will it make you look different? It might, but even if it doesn't, you'll still be Transformed by Him.
The 3rd sermon in our series about being Transformed by the Cross, this one, about being Transformed Relationally - being transformed by seeing God's love in those we go to church with
Abiding in the truth will set you free - but how do you abide in that truth? And will it transform your life?
The first in a 5 week long series about Transformation at University Lutheran. We are transformed by Jesus' love for the Father and for us.
How many times do you follow God's commandments? How many commandments does He have? How do those commandments change you?
Is the Christian life supposed to be "Easy"? How do we go wrong in chasing after the ease?
Are you terrified of the justice of God? What is terrifying about God? What is terrifying about justice? And what calms our terror?
When is God like tech support? How do we come to God and when do we come to God looking for His advice and instructions?
How is Peter's Confession like getting the right pronunciation of Jesus' name? Is that what faith is like?
How much would it take to feed 5000 people? Can you see yourself doing that? Can you see Jesus doing it?
It's tough to be a plant - most of the time you don't make it. But if you do, you have a great and amazing life of purpose and joy.
Does your father love you? Why? Love isn't explainable, it's just there, like the Trinity
Is the story of Pentecost a good "Ghost Story"? Does the Holy Ghost make for a good "ghost story"?
Where is Jesus now? What is He doing? Jesus is found in all sorts of places in our lives, just like Flat Stanley is found in a lot of places.
What comes next after Jesus ascends to the right hand of God the Father? What makes us say "what now", and how do we answer that question before Jesus returns?
Can Pink Jesus tell you when the end of the world will come? Can you trust anyone except the real Jesus?
Can Pink Jesus tell you when the end of the world will come? Can you trust anyone except the real Jesus?
The rapture didn't happen, but what did it teach us about what we're sure of? How do we act like Thomas and Philip concerning Jesus' promises?
The rapture didn't happen, but what did it teach us about what we're sure of? How do we act like Thomas and Philip concerning Jesus' promises?
Do you want to twiddle your thumbs forever? No? So what do you think "abundant life" is all about?
Do you think "broken"? Do you assume this world is supposed to break, die, and decay? Or do you think "Resurrection"?
Do you feel like you're stuck? Like you're buried alive in your sins? You are...but there is someone who got out of that tomb and made you free.
Do you really believe what Jesus promises you? (p.s. I'm laughing in the sermon about competing with a chainsaw, which you can't hear in the recording, but was pretty distracting otherwise)
Jesus shows us what true blindness is by contrasting what the sighted people don't see with what the blind man does see.
My grandpa passed away this past week, which made the presence of God even more impactful
Is God here? The Samaritan woman seems to question God's presence with her, do we question His presence?
Jesus knew that you were at stake when He was tempted, and He resisted temptation for you.
Are you content with your God? How do you show it? Would you rate God highly on Yelp? Would you leave a tip about Him on Foursquare?
How much more content would we be if we just got up in the morning and thanked God for 10 gifts that He gave us?
The whole kid's sermon, I'm brandishing knives that come out of a big block of knives that we have. It made the kids a bit nervous. It should probably make you nervous.
Aron Ralston cut off his arm so that He could live, and Jesus tells us that's what we should do. So how is that "Gospel"?
How do you show that you're strong? How do you show that you're weak? Jesus showed He was strong through showing He was weak.
Robert Louis Stevenson was known for his books, but he was also known for something else.
Baptism invites you to live a life of public confession of the Life of Christ within you - which is a lot like the live of Ted "The Golden Voice" Williams
What Christmas PresenCE did you get this season? How does Jesus' presence in this sinful world give you hope?
When Isaiah speaks of a "way" in the future, he gives us a picture of our Messiah coming to us in the future
John the Baptist is wondering what Jesus "tastes like", what the reality of His Messiahship is like
John the Baptist is wondering about the mystery of Jesus Christ - and Jesus shows Him the proof of who He is.
Having Christ come into our world is a little like someone coming in from the future and changing our lives with what He does here.
What does the German word for "Christmas" mean and what can it tell us about how we should celebrate?
Jesus came as a king, but a special kind of king - which made Him unrecognizable to the world except for a few people.
Do you really believe that Jesus is coming back, or are you writing Him a dear John letter? And what is so good about His presence with us and His returning?
Are you giving your all, or have you given up? To some degree - none of that matters, all that matters is the one who gave His all for you.
Who gets to make the calls in your life? Are you making your own, or are you letting God's Word make the call?
How does our memory of what happens in our lives affect how we see our lives - and how does remembering Jesus change that?
In Tallahassee, praying for fans of the University of Florida Gators is like praying for your enemies - which is what Paul is telling us to do
Are you praying for Christopher Hitchens? Do you even know who he is? Who is it hard for you to pray for?
We begin our series on I Timothy and consider what it might have been like for Paul to claim that he was "foremost among sinners"
What is the difference between me bringing in a real gun and a toy gun? What's the difference between a real cross and a fake one?
Why do we go to the places that we go? What draws us to them and what draws us to church?
Why are you here? Why do you come to church and why does coming on a regular basis matter in your life?
What are you afraid of? What should you be afraid of when it comes to your relationship with God and why are you not afraid of God today?
What should you be afraid of in this life you have with God? Why aren't you afraid of God?
Our mothers bring us into their houses, Paul brings Lydia into the faith, and she brings Paul into her house.
What will you come back as? When Tabitha came back to life, it seemed as if the door was wide open for her to change. How does God's forgiveness leave the door open for you to change?
Pastor Jay's dad, guest Pastor Walt Winters talks about Paul's conversion and what it has to do with our lives
What does it mean to be a witness? And why do people ask "Can I get one"? And what does that all have to do with the story of the Apostles before the Sanhedrin?
When Jesus rose from the dead, it was an event that was new, significant, and something that forces us to look at our lives with a new retrospective --- it's a black swan event.
The thing that is wrong with the picture of the dead Christ is that it should be us, we should be dead, that is why we cry, beat our breasts, and lament -- but it is also the thing that forgave our sins and made us able to rejoice on Easter.
Where has humility gotten you? Did the people who followed Jesus do it because He was so humble, or because He was so great?
Paul tells us about his credentials and what they mean in the grand scheme of knowing Jesus - skubala.
If you could go back to a certain time of life, what would you return to and why? What does Jesus have to do with this urge in us to go back?
God's alien righteousness is given to us as a force outside of ourselves, which makes us ambassadors of an alien righteousness brought to earth.
We recognize that we need to change, to repent from some of the things that we do. Jesus even tells us that we need to do it, or we will perish. Consider what you need to change in your life and how long it will take you to change.
Do you find yourself distracted from the things in your life that God has already said are good for you? Do you really want those things?
When Paul urges the people in Philippi to imitate him, it seems strange - but what role does imitation play in Christian life?
How do you know that you're mortal? Thanks to Eric, Sarah, Andrew, and Matt for sharing.
Getting a glimpse of Jesus in Transfiguration is a lot like getting a glimpse of who somebody really is on a first date.
Transfiguration Sunday / Luke 9:28-43
Image: Valentine by Kmhinkle at Flickr
Jesus gets the people in His hometown mad enough that they try throwing Him off a cliff. What could I say that would make you that mad?
Epiphany 4 - Luke 4:21-30
Image: Day 95: I stand accused by Meredith Farmer at Flickr
Jesus changes our perspective on what it means to be in this world.
Epiphany 3 - Luke 4:14-21
Image: Underdog by thejbird at Flickr
Do you need a break from your life in order to move forward? Jesus gives you His life so that you can break away from the sin of yours.
Baptism of Our Lord - Series C
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
Image: a mikveh pool
We know Jesus from the past, from the stories of long ago, but do we know him today?
Christmas 2 - John 1