Sermon Archive

Write This
Text: Revelation 2:1–7 & 3:1 –22 A good portion of this service was spent in small group discussion of the text; that portion is not included in the audio recording. The Churches Major metropolitan centers May think of them as obscure because they’re not thriving...

The Sound of Resistance is Singing with Joy
Text: Revelation 5:1-14 I truly hope that this week’s sermon will feel like somewhat of a reprieve from the terrifying beasts and somewhat sobering message of last week. We’re jumping around in the book of Revelation a bit but I zoomed in on the beast chapters...

Faithfulness and Endurance to Face the Beast
Text: Revelation 13:1-10 and 17:11-18 There have been a few times recently when I’ve had a kind of experience of dissonant realization. It’s almost like I’m seeing myself or my surroundings from a distance, going about normal day to day activities. Just the...

Apocalypse Revealed
Text: Revelation 1:1-20 Revelation has been coopted. For the past hundred years or so it’s been taken by fundamentalists and far right evangelicals to espouse a notion that it’s all about actual events that we are even now in the midst of. I have friends who...

What Will Prevent Us?
Text: Acts 8:26-39 This passage isn’t the text assigned for this day by our lectionary. The Narrative Lectionary wrapped up at Pentecost. But since we did that series on discernment I’ve been dipping back into the Acts passages that we skipped and I was...

A God Who Comes to Us Walking
-- Genesis 3:8 8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Luke 24:13-15 13 Now on that same day two of them...

Disciple, Citizen
Acts 25:1-12 Those of you who have joined this year-long read-though of the book of Acts might remember this story. And even if you don’t, you might at least remember all the times that we noticed Paul calling attention to his citizenship. We read this one not...

Holy Freedom
Pictured above: Pastor Rachael (center, holding her child) at her ordination service, surrounded by friends, colleagues and members of Community of Hope. -- I’m Rachael, she/her, CoH queer church plant, these are my kids, thank you for hosting us! Pentecost is my...

Growing a Discernment Community
The recording of this sermon sounds a little bit like it picks up in the middle of something because it was preceded by the Spiritual Practice of dwelling in the word (described below). It also captures some of the discussion at the end of the preached word; the final...

Listening for the Fruit of the Spirit
Texts: John 15:12-17, Matthew 13:31-33 “And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.” Introduction to Listening This little snippet comes from the John text we heard this...