Resurrection Williamsburg Sermons: Recent Episodes
Resurrection Williamsburg Sermons
Scripture Reading: Luke 18:9-14 Sermon Series: A Lenten Season of Prayer Sermon: Confession Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Psalm 66 Sermon Series: A Lenten Season of Prayer Sermon: Praise Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: John 15:1-17 Sermon: The Vocation of Friendship Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Matthew 8:5-13 Sermon: Gathering Because He is Good Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Matthew 4:18-22 Sermon: Gather, Grow, and Go: Introduction Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Micah 5:1-5 Sermon: Advent 4: And he shall stand and shepherd his flock Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 12:2-6 Sermon: Advent 3: God is My Salvation Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Malachi 3:1-4 Sermon: Advent 2: The Lord Whom You Seek Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 33:14-16 Sermon: Advent 1: The Lord is Our Righteousness Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Matthew 18:1-6, Matthew 19:13-14 Sermon: On Marathons and Children and the Love of Christ Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 65:17-25 Sermon: Our Hope is Practical: Heaven Preacher: Jedidiah Slaboda
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 1:10-20 Sermon: Our Hope is Practical: Social Justice Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 43:1-12 Sermon: Our Hope is Practical: Anxiety & Depression Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 35 Sermon: Our Hope is Practical: Relationships Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 40:1-11 Sermon: God, the Guarantee of Our Hope Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 2:1-11 Sermon: Placing Our Hope in the Wrong Things Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: 1 John 4:7-12 Sermon: Becoming the Church, Part 4 Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Matthew 9:9-13 Sermon: Becoming the Church, Part 2 Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Mathew 4:18-22 Sermon: Becoming the Church, Part 1 Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 Sermon: Let The Little Children Preacher: Lucy Collins
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 1:3-14 Sermon: A Few Thoughts About Your Inheritance Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 12:2-10 Sermon: My Grace is Enough Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 8:7-15 Sermon: Excelling in Grace Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 6:1-13 Sermon: By Becoming Servants of God Preacher: David Stancil
Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:6-21 Sermon: One Has Died For All Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:7 Sermon: So We Do Not Lose Heart: On Suicide and Hope Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 4:1-18 Sermon: Bringing Light Out of Darkness Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Acts 1:1-11 Sermon: The Day When He Was Taken Up Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: John 20:19-31 Sermon: Peace, and the Spirit, and Sent Out Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: John 20:1-18 Sermon: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Mark 11:1-11, John 19:29-30 Sermon: “It is finished” Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Romans 8:26-39 Sermon: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: John 19:26-27 Sermon: “Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother.” Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 4:16-21 Sermon: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Preacher: David Stancil
Scripture Reading: Matthew 18:21-35 Sermon: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Mark 1:29-39 Sermon: Absence and Presence in the Light of Christ Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Mark 1:21-28 Sermon: Silence & Speech in the Light of Christ Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Revelation 22:1-7 Sermon Series: The Problem of Evil & the Promise of Christmas Sermon: And Night Will Be No More Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Mark 1:1-13 Sermon Series: The Problem of Evil & the Promise of Christmas Sermon: The God Who is Entirely with Us Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Matthew 1:18-25 Sermon Series: The Problem of Evil & the Promise of Christmas Sermon: Faulty Answers to Pressing Questions Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: John 1:1-14 Sermon Series: The Problem of Evil & the Promise of Christmas Sermon: Why The Problem of Evil is a Problem Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Hebrews 10:19-25 Sermon Series: Rhythms of Grace: Cultivating our Life in Christ Sermon: Hearing How God is Using Our Cultivation Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Romans 12:9-13 Sermon Series: Rhythms of Grace: Cultivating our Life in Christ Sermon: Cultivating Hospitality Preacher: David Stancil
Scripture Reading: Luke 24:36-43 Sermon Series: Rhythms of Grace: Cultivating our Life in Christ Sermon: Cultivating an Embodied Life Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Hebrews 4:1-4 Sermon Series: Rhythms of Grace: Cultivating our Life in Christ Sermon: Cultivating Sabbath Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31b Sermon Series: Rhythms of Grace: Cultivating our Life in Christ Sermon: Cultivating Work Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 12:22-34 Sermon Series: Rhythms of Grace: Cultivating our Life in Christ Sermon: Cultivating Generosity Preacher: Joe Dewey
Scripture Reading: Romans 8:9-17 Sermon Series: Rhythms of Grace: Cultivating our Life in Christ Sermon: Cultivating Reflection Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Colossians 3:12-13 Sermon Series: Rhythms of Grace: Cultivating our Life in Christ Sermon: Cultivating Community Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Galatians 6:9-10 Sermon Series: Rhythms of Grace: Cultivating our Life in Christ Sermon: Cultivating Love of Neighbor Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Philippians 4:4-7 Sermon Series: Rhythms of Grace: Cultivating our Life in Christ Sermon: Cultivating Prayer Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Hebrews 10:19-25 Sermon Series: Rhythms of Grace: Cultivating our Life in Christ Sermon: Cultivating Presence Preacher: Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Psalm 121 Sermon Series: Psalms: Experiencing Our Identity Through Rest, Renewal and Revival Sermon: The Lord Is Your Keeper Preacher: David Stancil
Scripture Reading: Psalm 107 Sermon Series: Psalms: Experiencing Our Identity Through Rest, Renewal and Revival Sermon: God’s Reviving Love Preacher: Matt Brown
Scripture Reading: Psalm 126 Sermon Series: Psalms: Experiencing Our Identity Through Rest, Renewal and Revival Meditation: You Don’t Actually Reap What You Sow Speaker: David Dishman
Scripture Reading: Psalm 85 Sermon Series: Psalms: Experiencing Our Identity Through Rest, Renewal and Revival Sermon: When Righteousness and Peace Kiss Preacher: Sam Wheatley
Scripture Reading: Psalm 72 Sermon Series: Psalms: Experiencing Our Identity Through Rest, Renewal and Revival Sermon: The Beauty of the King Preacher: Jeff White
Scripture Reading: Psalm 90 Sermon Series: Psalms: Experiencing Our Identity Through Rest, Renewal and Revival Meditation: Establish The Work Of Our Hands Speaker: Caroline Kolts
Scripture Reading: Psalm 51 Sermon Series: Psalms: Experiencing Our Identity Through Rest, Renewal and Revival Meditation: Create in Me a Clean Heart Speaker: Evan Gregory
Scripture Reading: Psalm 1 Sermon Series: Psalms: Experiencing Our Identity Through Rest, Renewal and Revival Sermon: A Vision of Flourishing Preacher: Mark Gornik
Scripture Reading: Psalm 23 Sermon Series: Psalms: Experiencing Our Identity Through Rest, Renewal and Revival Sermon: He Restores My Soul Preacher: Pastor David Stancil
Scripture Reading: Psalm 62 Sermon Series: Psalms: Experiencing Our Identity Through Rest, Renewal and Revival Sermon: Silence Preacher: Pastor David Stancil
Scripture Reading: Psalm 95 Sermon Series: Psalms: Experiencing Our Identity Through Rest, Renewal and Revival Sermon: Entering God’s Rest Preacher: Pastor Matt Brown
Scripture Reading: Psalm 25 Sermon Series: Psalms: Experiencing Our Identity Through Rest, Renewal and Revival Meditation: Refuge and Rest in the Waiting Speaker: Christopher Nicolson
Scripture Reading: Psalm 46 Sermon Series: Psalms: Experiencing Our Identity Through Rest, Renewal and Revival Sermon: Be Still And Know That I Am God Preacher: Pastor David Stancil
Scripture Reading: John 17:11-26 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Departures and Presence Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 18:1-14 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Postures of Prayer Preacher: Pastor David Stancil
Scripture Reading: Luke 17:11-37 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: The Coming of the Kingdom Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 17:1-10 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Forgiveness & Faith Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Matthew 28:1-10 Sermon: Do Not Be Afraid Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 16:19-31 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: What Will Wake You Up? Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 16:1-17 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: The Strange Accounting of the Kingdom of God Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 15:11-32 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: The Prodigal, Part 2 Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 15:11-32 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: The Prodigal, Part 1 Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 15:1-10 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: The Joy of Repentance Preacher: Pastor David Stancil
Scripture Reading: Luke 14:25-35 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: The Cost of Discipleship Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 14:7-24 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Jesus’ Invite List Preacher: Pastor David Stancil
Scripture Reading: Romans 6:1-5 Sermon: What Does Baptism Do? Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 13:22-30 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: You Must Come Through the Door Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 13:10-21 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: What Is the Kingdom of God Like? Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 13:1-9 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Unless You Repent Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 12:35-48 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Be Ready Preacher: Pastor David Stancil
Scripture Reading: Luke 12:22-34 Sermon Series: The Head + the Heart = Love Sermon: Don’t Worry, Consider, Seek Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 63:7-9 Sermon Series: Advent in Isaiah: An Ancient Vision of the Present Future Sermon: Remember His Mercy Preacher: Pastor David Stancil
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 35:1-10 Sermon Series: Advent in Isaiah: An Ancient Vision of the Present Future Sermon: A Highway Shall Be There Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 11:1-10 Sermon Series: Advent in Isaiah: An Ancient Vision of the Present Future Sermon: Cut Down & the Kingdom Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 2:1-5 Sermon Series: Advent in Isaiah: An Ancient Vision of the Present Future Sermon: The Mountain and the Light Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 12:13-21 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: The Rich Fool Preacher: Pastor David Stancil
Scripture Reading: Luke 12:1-12 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Our Common Story Preacher: Pastor David Stancil
Scripture Reading: Luke 11:37-54 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: The Wounds of a Friend Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 11:29-36 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: The Judgement of Love Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 11:14-28 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Better the Devil You Know Jesus & the Invisible World Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 11:5-13 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Ask and It Will Be Given to You Preacher: Pastor David Stancil
Scripture Reading: Luke 11:1-4 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Lord, Teach Us to Pray Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 10:38-42 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: The One Thing Necessary Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 10:25-36 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Who Is Your Neighbor? Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 10:21-24 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: The Revelation That Brings Joy Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 10:1-20 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: The Mission and Identity of Resurrection Williamsburg Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 9:37-45 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: The Anger of the Healer Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 8:28-36 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: The Transfiguration of Jesus Preacher: Pastor David Stancil
Scripture Reading: Luke 9:57-62 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Obstacles to Faith Preacher: Pastor Christian Andrews
Scripture Reading: Luke 9:18-27 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: The Identity of Jesus & the Identity of the Disciple Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 9:10-17 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Feeding and Being Fed as a Disciple Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 9:1-9 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: The Mission of a Disciple Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 8:40-56 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Grace: Jesus Comes to Us Preacher: Pastor Ryan Van Horn
Scripture Reading: Luke 8:26-39 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Being Present Against Evil Preacher: Pastor David Stancil
Scripture Reading: Luke 8:22-25 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Where Is Your Faith? Preacher: Pastor David Stancil
Scripture Reading: Luke 8:4-21 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Hearing and Doing the Word Preacher: Pastor David Stancil
Scripture Reading: Luke 8:1-3 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Learning From the Women Who Followed Jesus Preacher: Pastor David Stancil
Scripture Reading: Luke 7:36-50 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Going In Peace: The Way of Life of Jesus Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 7:36-50 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: A Warning Against Blindness Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 7:36-50 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Do You See This Woman? Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 7:18-35 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: The Reflection of Jesus in John the Baptist Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 7:11-17 Sermon Series: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: He Turns Your Mourning Into Dancing Preacher: Pastor David Stancil
Scripture Reading: Luke 7:1-10 Sermon Series: The Unbelievable, Inevitable Joy of Easter Sermon: His Authority, Our Faith Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 6:46-49 Sermon Series: The Unbelievable, Inevitable Joy of Easter Sermon: The Most Crucial Architectural Advice Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 6:43-45 Sermon Series: The Unbelievable, Inevitable Joy of Easter Sermon: Reckoning With Your Heart Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 6:27-36 Sermon Series: The Unbelievable, Inevitable Joy of Easter Sermon: The Terrible Love of God Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 6:20-26 Sermon Series: The Unbelievable, Inevitable Joy of Easter Sermon: The Day When You Can Rejoice Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 24:36-49 Sermon Series: The Unbelievable, Inevitable Joy of Easter Sermon: A Piece of Fish in the New World Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 6:6-11 Sermon Series: The Gospel of Luke: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Learning to Sabbath, Part 2 Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 6:1-5 Sermon Series: The Gospel of Luke: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Learning to Sabbath, Part 1 Preacher: Pastor David Stancil
Scripture Reading: Luke 5:33-39 Sermon Series: The Gospel of Luke: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Learning to Fast & Feast Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 5:27-32 Sermon Series: The Gospel of Luke: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: An Invitation to the Feast Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 5:17-26 Sermon Series: The Gospel of Luke: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Friendship by Faith, Faith through Friendship Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 5:12-16 Sermon Series: The Gospel of Luke: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: He Wants You to Be Clean Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 5:1-11 Sermon Series: The Gospel of Luke: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Following Jesus on His Mission Preacher: Pastor David Stancil
Scripture Reading: Luke 4:42-44 Sermon Series: The Gospel of Luke: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Preaching the Kingdom as We Go Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 4:1-13 Sermon Series: The Gospel of Luke: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Temptation Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Matthew 2:1-12 Sermon: An Unexpected Journey Preacher: Pastor David Stancil
Scripture Reading: Luke 4:31-41 Sermon Series: The Gospel of Luke: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: Experiencing the Power of His Word Preacher: Pastor David Stancil
Scripture Reading: Luke 4:14-30
Sermon Series: The Gospel of Luke: The Head + The Heart = Love
Sermon: Coming to Terms with His Mission
Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Reading: Luke 4:1-2
Sermon Series: The Gospel of Luke: The Head + The Heart = Love
Sermon: Christmas in the Wilderness
Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Scripture Passage: Luke 3:23-38 Sermon Series: The Gospel of Luke: The Head + The Heart = Love Sermon: These Are the Names Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
Luke 3: 1-21 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” 10 And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” 11 And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.”14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”
15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
18 So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 20 added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison.
21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Luke 2: 41-52
41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. 43 And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, 44 but supposing him to be in the group they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, 45 and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.48 And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” 49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?”50 And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. 51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.
52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
Sermon Title: Learning to Pray from the Waiting and Wounded Sermon Series: The Gospel of Luke: The Head + The Heart = Love Preacher: Vito Auito
"Prayer requires community. Prayer is not possible outside of, apart from, or in spite of the praying community...The assumption that prayer is what we do when we are alone—the solitary soul before God—is an egregious, and distressingly persistent, error. We imagine a lonely shepherd on the hills composing lyrics to the glory of God. We imagine a beleaguered soul sinking in a swamp of trouble calling for help. But our imaginations betray us. We are part of something before we are anything, and never more so than when we pray. Prayer begins in community. "
-EUGENE H. PETERSON
"If somebody mispronounces [my name] in some foolish way, I have the feeling that
what’s foolish is me. If somebody forgets it, I feel that it is I who am forgotten.
There’s something about it that embarrasses me in just the same way that there’s
something about me that embarrasses me. I can’t imagine myself with any other
name: Held, say, or Merrill, or Hlavacek. If my name were different, I would be
different. When I tell somebody my name, I have given him a hold over me that he
didn’t have before. If he calls it out, I stop, look, and listen whether I want to or not."
-FREDERICK BUECHNER
Luke 1: 46-56
"46 And Mary said,“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; 52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” 56 And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home."
Luke 1:39-45
"39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah,40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
"Luke is known as the Gospel of the poor and marginalized because he shows more
concern for women, who were the most marginalized group in the first century, and
for those who existed on the bottom rung of Jewish society. Luke alone tells us of
the shepherds who are the first recipients of the good news of the birth of Jesus.
Shepherds were regarded as outcasts in first-century Judaism, barred even from
testifying in a court of law. Only Luke tells of the impoverished baby who sleeps
in a cattle trough. Only Luke tells us the story of the widow of Nain, as well as the
widow who offers both of her remaining coins to the temple treasury. We might
expect that a slave would have longed to see the world turned upside down, and
this is also exactly what we find in Luke’s Gospel. From Mary’s song of the radical
reversal that the coming of Messiah will bring, to the Beatitudes of Jesus, which
announce that those who are laughing now will mourn while the mourners will soon
find reason to laugh, Luke the slave celebrates the coming of Jesus. He longs for
and wonders at the world being turned upside down by this arrival."
MICHAEL CARD, Luke: The Gospel of Amazement
"Glory follows afflictions, not as the day follows the night but as the spring follows
the winter; for the winter prepares the earth for the spring, so do afflictions
sanctified prepare the soul for glory."
-RICHARD SIBBES
"The pulpit is where the preacher announces God’s Word – a Word that builds up the
community so that it can go out and witness to God’s love. Obviously, the preacher’s words
are human, and so something of the preacher’s personality will inevitably come through in
every sermon. But good preachers know that sermons only work when God decides to speak
through them. As one of the Reformation confessions put it, “The preaching of the Word of
God is the Word of God.” So that’s what I think happens when preaching happens: In the
power of the Spirit, Christ reveals himself to people through the broken, incomplete, and even
sinful speech of ordinary human preachers. Otherwise, what would the point of preaching be?
And don’t think for a second think that I’m drawing an analogy between Jesus and myself. If
God speaks through this sermon, it will be for one reason and one reason only: because he
decides to. No human being is capable of speaking God’s Word. Only God can do that. But
since God promises to speak through preaching, it makes sense for us to expect him to do
exactly that. So you get the point. Jesus didn’t just preach in 30 AD. Jesus is preaching to
us right here – in this room – right now. He has something he wants to tell us. And so we’d be
wise to open our minds and hearts so we can hear his voice."
-ADAM NEDER
"O thou, who art the light of the minds that know thee, the life of the souls that love thee,
and the strength of the wills that serve thee; help us so to know thee that we may truly love
thee; so to love thee that we may fully serve thee, whom to serve is perfect freedom."
-AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO
"Grace has always the appearance of contradiction. The foundation is faith. For faith is the pillar and possession upon which we are able to plant our feet. But what, in fact, do we possess? Not things that are present, but what is set far distant under our feet – nay more, what is beyond the comprehension of our spirit. Faith is therefore named the evidence of things not seen. But evidence means that things emerge into appearance, and is applicable only to what concerns our senses. In the realm of faith the two apparent opposites – evidence and things not seen – struggle with one another and are united. It is precisely the hidden things, inaccessible to sensible perception, that are displayed by the Spirit of God. He promises eternal life – to those who are dead. He speaks of the blessedness of resurrection – to those who are compassed about with corruption. He pronounces those in whom sin dwells – to be righteous. He calls those oppressed with ceaseless tribulation – blessed. He promises abundance of riches – to those abounding only in hunger and thirst. God cries out to us that He is coming quickly to our aid – and yet He seems deaf to every human cry for help. What, then, would be our fate, were we not powerful in hope, were we not hurrying through the darkness of the world along the road which is enlightened by the Spirit and by the Word of God?"
-JOHN CALVIN
as quoted in Karl Barth, The Epistle to the Roman
Sermon Series: Echoes of Jesus in the Life of Joseph Sermon: Home Away from Home First Reading: Luke 9:18-27 Second Reading: Genesis 47:23-31 Preacher: Pastor David Stancil
"On Johnny Cash and I’s first album together, there was a song he wrote and I said, “Do you think you could take some of the ‘I’s and ‘me’s out of it?” And he thought about it and he was like, “Yeah, I think I can do that.” And he did. So ten years later, I’m visiting him in Nashville. He’s in a wheelchair. He’s blind, pretty much. It felt so awkward. So I said, “What have you been working on lately?” And he said, “I’ve been working on using ‘I’ and ‘me’ less.” And I said, “Really?” And he said, “Yeah. Remember? You gave me that comment on the song? That’s what I’ve been working on.” Incredible. He didn’t mean it in the context of songs. He meant it in the context of life.”
-RICK RUBIN
Sermon Series: Echoes of Jesus in the Life of Joseph Sermon: Into Egypt I Have Called My Son First Reading: Luke 8 :22-25 Second Reading: Genesis 45:16-28, 46:1-4 Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
"The simplest truth about man is that he is a very strange being; almost in the sense of being a stranger on the earth. In all sobriety, he has much more of the external appearance of one bringing alien habits from another land than of a mere growth of this one. He cannot sleep
in his own skin; he cannot trust his own instincts. He is at once a creator moving miraculous hands and fingers and a kind of cripple. He is wrapped in artificial bandages called clothes; he is propped on artificial crutches called furniture. His mind has the same doubtful liberties and the same wild limitations. Alone among the animals, he is shaken with the beautiful madness called laughter; as if he had caught sight of some secret in the very shape of the universe hidden from the universe itself. Alone among the animals he feels the need of averting his thought from the root realities of his own bodily being; of hiding them as in the presence of some higher possibility which creates the mystery of shame."
-G.K. CHESTERTON, The Everlasting Man
"He pictured the interior of the house as he had known it: the drawing-room with his mother half-reclining on the graceful old Duncan Phyfe sofa, the carved Chippendale chair that a great-aunt had brought from England, the oriental rugs glowing on the floor, the white columns of the mantelpiece. Past the fireplace, at the other end of the long room where the door opened into the study, was the piano: he could see his mother seated there with her auburn hair piled high on her head and hear her clear soprano voice singing the light opera songs she loved. Or he might glance out the window and see her in the flower- garden cutting flowers or conferring with the ancient gardener.
Glenmerle, he thought, had been a place to come home to, home from Kentucky or Florida or England, home from schools and home from college. He pictured coming home from boarding school, perhaps for the Christmas holidays, perhaps with snow all about – the woods full of snow. It would be a winter dusk with the big blue spruce a-twinkle with tiny white lights like stars, the big car sweeping up the hill to the house. Then his mother’s cries of welcome and her kiss, his father’s handshake, and his brother grinning in the background. And of course, as always, the cheery fire in the drawing-room, and through the French doors the dining-room alight with preparations. Upstairs, waiting, would be his own room, just as he had left it. Heaven itself, he thought, would be – must be – a coming home."
-SHELDON VANAUKEN, A Severe Mercy
Sermon Series: Echoes of Jesus in the Life of Joseph Sermon: The Revelation of the King First Reading: Luke 8 :4-15 Second Reading: Genesis 45:1-15 Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
"I didn't go to the flea market the week of my abortion. I stayed home, and smoked dope and got drunk, and tried to write a little, and went for slow walks along the salt marsh with Pammy. On the seventh night, though, very drunk and just about to take a sleeping pill, I discovered that I was bleeding heavily. It did not stop over the next hour. I was going through a pad every fifteen minutes, and I thought I should call a doctor or Pammy, but I was so disgusted that I had gotten so drunk one week after an abortion that I just couldn't wake someone up and ask for help. I kept on changing Kotex, and I got very sober very quickly. Several hours later, the blood stopped flowing, and I got in bed, shaky and sad and too wild to have another drink or take a sleeping pill. I had a cigarette and turned off the light. After a while, as I lay there, I became aware of someone with me, hunkered down in the corner, and I just assumed it was my father, whose presence I had felt over the years when I was frightened and alone. The feeling was so strong that I actually turned on the light for a moment to make sure no one was there—of course, there wasn't. But after a while, in the dark again, I knew beyond any doubt that it was Jesus. I felt him as surely as I feel my dog lying nearby as I write this.
And I was appalled. I thought about my life and my brilliant hilarious progressive friends, I thought about what everyone would think of me if I became a Christian, and it seemed an utterly impossible thing that simply could not be allowed to happen. I turned to the wall and said out loud, "I would rather die." I felt him just sitting there on his haunches in the corner of my sleeping loft, watching me with patience and love, and I squinched my eyes shut, but that didn't help because that's not what I was seeing him with."
ANNE LAMOTT, Traveling Mercies
"Whoever therefore is not illuminated by splendors as great as those to be found in created things is blind; whoever fails to heed outcries so great is deaf; whoever fails to praise God on account of all these his effects is mute; whoever does not turn from such great signs to their first principle is a fool. - Therefore, open your eyes, rouse the ears of your spirit, release you lips, and apply your heart, that you may see, hear, praise, love and worship, magnify and honor your God in all creatures, or else perhaps the whole world may rise up against you."
ST. BONAVENTURE, The Journey of the Mind Into God
"So they drew near to the village to which they were going. Jesus acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread."
- LUKE 24:28-35 ESV
Sermon Series: Echoes of Jesus in the Life of Joseph Sermon: Betrayers and Brothers at the Table of the King First Reading: Luke 7:36-50 Second Reading: Genesis 43:15-34 Preacher: Pastor: Brian Steadman
Those ten, poor trembling brothers. Judah’s speech just finished and all of them on their knees supplicating the clearing of the court house and then Joseph, whose soul was swelling with such grief and love, bursting out with that, “I am Joseph.”
What a scene for tender souls! Though he must have spoken in deep affection, yet, “I am Joseph,” must have fallen on their ears like thunder. “Joseph! Where are we now? Better for us that we were in a lion’s den, than here with him whom we mocked, saying, ‘Behold, this dreamer comes,’ with him whom we sold and dipped his coat of many colors in blood. And then took it to his father, saying, ‘See whether this is your son’s coat or not.’ ” Well might they tremble!
And then look at the tenderness of Joseph when he says to them again, while they are retiring from him afraid, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt, I pray you come near to me.” You hear his pathetic speech as he discovers his brotherhood and relationship, and then you see that generous embrace when, beginning with Benjamin, his next of kin, his own uterine brother, he afterwards weeps with all the rest and sends them home with favors, enriched and happy.
Dear Friends, I say this is but a picture of what Christ does to some of us, and of what He is prepared to do to others of you who are trembling at His feet. Notice that this discovery was made secretly. Christ does not show Himself to sinners in a crowd. Every man must see the love of Christ for himself. We go to Hell in bundles, but we go to Heaven one by one. Each man must personally know in his own heart his own guilt—and privately and secretly, where no other heart can join with him—he must hear words of love from Christ. “Go and sin no more.” “Your sins which are many are all forgiven you.”
-CHARLES SPURGEON
Sermon Series: Echoes of Jesus in the Life of Joseph First Reading: Luke 7:1-10 Second Reading: Genesis 42:1-25 Preacher: Pastor: Vito Auito
“Knowing how to experience time as a gift is one of the primary challenges of modern life. We are tempted to forget our history and the inheritance that we have received from those who have preceded us. We project our anxieties and our dreams into a future that doesn’t exist yet. And we constantly seek new ways to reshuffle the events and encounters of our day in order to cram more stuff into our waking hours. But these strategies, as we have seen, often cause us to make decisions that are foolish, and they cause our lives to feel harried.”
-ERIC O. JACOBSEN
Sermon: The Rise of God’s King Sermon Series: Echoes of Jesus in the Life of Joseph First Reading: Luke 6:27-36 Second Reading: Genesis 41:37-52 Preacher: Pastor: David Stancil
You see we all got what I call a life trap, a gene deep certainty that things will be different... that you'll move to another city and meet the people that'll be the friends for the rest of your life... that you'll fall in love and be fulfilled... fulfillment and closure—whatever those two empty jars (are) to hold this storm. Nothing's ever fulfilled, not until the very end. And closure—nothing is ever over.
-RUST COHLE, True Detective
Sermon: Pharaoh’s Dreams and God’s Plans Sermon Series: Echoes of Jesus in the Life of Joseph First Reading: Luke 6:17-26 Second Reading: Genesis 41:14-36 Preacher: Pastor: David Stancil
You see we all got what I call a life trap, a gene deep certainty that things will be different... that you'll move to another city and meet the people that'll be the friends for the rest of your life... that you'll fall in love and be fulfilled... fulfillment and closure—whatever those two empty jars (are) to hold this storm. Nothing's ever fulfilled, not until the very end. And closure—nothing is ever over.
-RUST COHLE, True Detective
Sermon: Dreams & Visions in Prison Sermon Series: Echoes of Jesus in the Life of Joseph First Reading: Luke 6:1-11 Second Reading: Genesis 40:1-23 Preacher: Pastor: Vito Aiuto
"It is very difficult, I rediscover many times each day, for us to come to terms with the stark limitations on the kinds of control it is possible to maintain over our lives and ourselves. Yet we continue to insist, both consciously and unconsciously, that we have more control than we do over our feelings, our relationships, our fates. Freud’s phrase for such fantasies, introduced nearly ninety years ago, was “omnipotence
of thought,” and we are just as committed to omnipotence today as were Freud’s contemporaries. A conviction of being in control is central to our sense of safety; yet the imposition of illusory control chokes the richness out of life. Omnipotence degrades authentic experience into shallow manipulation. The more endangered we feel, the more control we seek; the more illusory are the controls we strive to maintain, the more vitality seeps out of our lives."
-STEPHEN MITCHELL
"It is impossible to draw near to God without sorrows, without which human righteousness cannot remain unchanged... If you desire virtue, than give yourself to every affliction, for afflictions produce humility.
If someone abides in virtue without afflictions, the door of pride is opened to him."
-ST. ISAAC THE SYRIAN
Sermon: Another Betrayal Sermon Series: Echoes of Jesus in the Life of Joseph First Reading: Luke 5:12-26 Second Reading: Genesis 39:11-23 Preacher: Pastor: Vito Aiuto
"It is very difficult, I rediscover many times each day, for us to come to terms with the stark limitations on the kinds of control it is possible to maintain over our lives and ourselves. Yet we continue to insist, both consciously and unconsciously, that we have more control than we do over our feelings, our relationships, our fates. Freud’s phrase for such fantasies, introduced nearly ninety years ago, was “omnipotence
of thought,” and we are just as committed to omnipotence today as were Freud’s contemporaries. A conviction of being in control is central to our sense of safety; yet the imposition of illusory control chokes the richness out of life. Omnipotence degrades authentic experience into shallow manipulation. The more endangered we feel, the more control we seek; the more illusory are the controls we strive to maintain, the more vitality seeps out of our lives. "
-=STEPHEN MITCHELL
The promise is not that the Lord will remove the load we cast upon Him, nor that He will carry it for us — but that He will sustain us so that we may carry it. He does not free us from the duty — but He strengthens us for it. He does not deliver us from the conflict — but He enables us to overcome. He does not withhold or withdraw the trial from us — but He helps us in trial to be submissive and victorious, and makes it a blessing to us. He does not mitigate the hardness or severity of our circumstances, taking away the difficult elements, removing the thorns, making life easy for us — but He puts Divine grace into our hearts, so that we can live sweetly in all the hard, adverse circumstances. “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!” Philippians 4:13
-J.R. MILLER
Sermon: Faithfulness in the Fire Sermon Series: Echoes of Jesus in the Life of Joseph First Reading: Luke 5:1-11 Second Reading: Genesis 37:12-36 Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
"Christianity is born out of struggle because it is born from men and women faced with the paradox of God’s purpose made flesh in a dead and condemned man."
-ROWAN WILLIAMS, The Wound of Knowledge
"We have to give ourselves wholeheartedly to God, and if we fail, we must give ourselves again. We all need daily forgiveness for our sins and failures. But what matters is whether we want to be faithful—faithful to the end of our lives. This means surrendering everything—our self-will, our hopes for personal happiness, our private property, even our weaknesses—and believing
in God and in Christ. This is all that is asked of anyone. Jesus does not expect perfection, but he wants us to give ourselves wholeheartedly."
-J. HEINRICH ARNOLD
"Committing oneself to God’s love is an enormous challenge. God accepts us as we are, not as we should be, and unconditionally to boot. In so doing he provides us the possibility of becoming who we can be."
-PETER G. VAN BREEMEN
Sermon: The Betrayal of Brothers Sermon Series: Echoes of Jesus in the Life of Joseph First Reading: Luke 4:31-41 Second Reading: Genesis 37:12-36 Preacher: Pastor Vito Aiuto
"If to love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal."
-C.S. LEWIS
"Whether or not one believes in [God’s redeeming glory], or has faith in its final advent, or can in fact “see” it even now through the veil of death and our estrangement from God (though, I suspect, that all of us see it at times, whether our internal dispositions permit us to recognize what we see or not), one should be able to grasp that it is not a glory immediately revealed in cosmic or human history, but is rather one that appears before, alongside, within, and beyond that history, always present, yet also for now deferred, and so visible to us only “through a glass, darkly” (I Cor. 13:12). This glory is not simply the hidden rationality of history, but a contrary history that pervades and that will finally overwhelm the world of our fallenness. It is not the sublime or sacred logic of nature, but what shines through the promise of nature's loveliness, a beauty of which nature as we now know it is only a spectral remnant or a delightful foretaste."
-DAVID BENTLEY HART, The Doors of the Sea
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Sermon: The Dreams of a Boy Who Would Be King Sermon Series: Echoes of Jesus in the Life of Joseph First Reading: 2 Corinthians 1:1-11 Second Reading: Genesis 37:1-11 Preacher: Pastor David Stancil
"If the heart of ‘meaning’ is a human story, a story of growth, conflict and death, every human story, with all its oddity and ambivalence, becomes open to interpretation in terms of God’s saving work. Once we have stopped drawing a distinction between ‘compromising’ activities and spheres (the family, the state, the individual body or psyche) and ‘pure’ realities (the soul, the intelligible world), the spiritual life becomes a much more complex, demanding and far-reaching matter.
‘Spirituality’ becomes far more than a science of interpreting exceptional private experiences; it must now touch every area of human experience, the public and social, the painful, negative, even pathological byways of the mind, the moral and relational world. And the goal of a Christian life becomes not enlightenment but wholeness – an acceptance of this complicated and muddled bundle of experiences as a possible theatre for God’s creative work."
-ROWAN WILLIMS, The Wound of Knowledge
"Surrender your own poverty and acknowledge your nothingness to the Lord. Whether you understand it or not, God loves you, is present in you, lives in you, dwells in you, calls you, saves you and offers you an understanding and compassion which are like nothing you have ever found in a book or heard in a sermon.”
-THOMAS MERTON
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Sermon: The LORD is Your Keeper Sermon Series: The Book of Ruth: Keeping Faith First Reading: Romans 15:12-21 Second Reading: Ruth 4
“Jamie, who is tall and large-boned, has to be lifted up and returned to his bed with a pulley. The effort needed to keep him comfortable is tremendous, but although he seems capable of discomfort, he at first struck me as incapable of pleasure. Yet to be in the room with (Jamie and his parents) is to witness a shimmering humanity…
Those who believe their suffering has been valuable love more readily than those who see no meaning in their pain. Suffering does not necessarily imply love, but love implies suffering, and what changes with these children and their extraordinary situations is the shape of suffering—and in consequence, the shape of love, forced into a more difficult form.”
-ANDREW SOLOMON, Far from the Tree
“I’m a Christian not because of the resurrection (I wrestle with this), and not because I think Christianity contains more truth than other religions (I think God reveals himself, or herself, in many forms, some not religious), and not simply because it was the religion in which I was raised (this has been a high barrier). I am a Christian because of that moment on the cross when Jesus, drinking the very dregs of human bitterness, cries out, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” (I know, I know: he was quoting the Psalms, and who quotes a poem when being tortured? The words aren’t the point. The point is that he felt human destitution to its absolute degree; the point is that God is with us, not beyond us, in suffering.) I am a Christian because I understand that moment of Christ’s passion to have meaning in my own life, and what it means is that the absolutely solitary and singular nature of extreme human pain is an illusion. I’m not suggesting that ministering angels are going to come down and comfort you as you die. I’m suggesting that Christ’s suffering shatters the iron walls around individual human suffering, that Christ’s compassion makes extreme human compassion—to the point of death even—possible. Human love can reach right into death, then, but not if it is merely human love.”
-CHRISTIAN WIMAN, My Bright Abyss
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Sermon: The Courage of Faith Sermon Series: The Book of Ruth: Keeping Faith First Reading: Romans 5:1-11 Second Reading: Ruth 3
"Faith is better understood as a verb than as a noun, as a process than as a possession. It is on-again- off-again rather than once-and-for-all. Faith is not being sure where you're going, but going anyway. A journey without maps. Paul Tillich said that doubt isn't the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith... Almost nothing that makes any real difference can be proved. I can prove the law of gravity by dropping a shoe out the window. I can prove that the world is round if I'm clever at that sort of thing—that the radio works, that light travels faster than sound. I cannot prove that life is better than death or love better than hate. I cannot prove the greatness of the great or the beauty of the beautiful. I cannot even prove my own free will; maybe my most heroic act, my truest love, my deepest thought are all just subtler versions of what happens when the doctor taps my knee with his little rubber hammer and my foot jumps. Faith can't prove a damned thing. Or a blessed thing either."
-FREDERICK BUECHNER, Wishful Thinking
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Sermon: The Bitter Beauty of Faith Sermon Series: The Book of Ruth: Keeping Faith First Reading: Romans 4:1-8 Second Reading: Ruth 1
“What do we see, which they saw not? The Church throughout all nations. What do we not see, which these saw? Christ present in the flesh… Let what we have respectively seen help us. The sight of Christ helped them to believe the future Church; the sight of the Church helps us to believe that Christ has risen.”
-AUGUSTINE SERMONS
“Whatever may or may not have been the sins of our missionary predecessors,… the commission to disciple all nations stands at the center of the church’s mandate, and a church that forgets this, or marginalizes it, forfeits the right to the titles ‘catholic’ and ‘apostolic’… The truth is that the Gospel escapes domestication, retains its proper strangeness, its power to question us, only when we are faithful to its universal, supranational, supracultural nature… The contemporary embarrassment about the missionary movement of the [nineteenth] century is not, as we like to think, evidence that we have become more humble. It is, I fear, much more clearly evidence, of
a shift in belief. It is evidence that we are less ready to affirm the uniqueness, the centrality, the decisiveness of Jesus Christ as universal Lord and Savior, the Way by following whom the world is to find its true goal, the Truth by which every other claim to truth is to be tested, the Life in whom alone life in its fullness is to be found.”
-LESSLIE NEWBIGIN
Sermon: Strengthening the Church: The Great Commission Sermon Series: Living the Gospel Together First Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5 Second Reading: Matthew 28:19-20
“What do we see, which they saw not? The Church throughout all nations. What do we not see, which these saw? Christ present in the flesh… Let what we have respectively seen help us. The sight of Christ helped them to believe the future Church; the sight of the Church helps us to believe that Christ has risen.”
-AUGUSTINE SERMONS
“Whatever may or may not have been the sins of our missionary predecessors,… the commission to disciple all nations stands at the center of the church’s mandate, and a church that forgets this, or marginalizes it, forfeits the right to the titles ‘catholic’ and ‘apostolic’… The truth is that the Gospel escapes domestication, retains its proper strangeness, its power to question us, only when we are faithful to its universal, supranational, supracultural nature… The contemporary embarrassment about the missionary movement of the [nineteenth] century is not, as we like to think, evidence that we have become more humble. It is, I fear, much more clearly evidence, of
a shift in belief. It is evidence that we are less ready to affirm the uniqueness, the centrality, the decisiveness of Jesus Christ as universal Lord and Savior, the Way by following whom the world is to find its true goal, the Truth by which every other claim to truth is to be tested, the Life in whom alone life in its fullness is to be found.”
-LESSLIE NEWBIGIN