2.16 sermon audio: 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

·         "But what Paul seems to indicate to the Church at Corinth and to all of us who are both part of the Universal Church as well as the local church is this:

We don’t belong to any one spiritual leader, any one spiritual servant. We belong to God. It is God in whom we live, move, and have our being. Not any ol’ human whom we believe (or don’t believe) has been sent by God to our churches. And if we start fussing about that mess and/or other trivial matters, have we not missed the point entirely? Isn’t that distracting us from the bigger picture that God has in mind for us as God’s church? And if it IS distracting us…what’s happening in the world while we’re not paying attention? What’s happening that God wants us to see, to hear, to engage, to resist, to serve, to bless, to write, to sing, to worship…right alongside God…that we’re oblivious to because we let our own focus drive out God’s focus for us as God’s church?"

2.9 sermon audio: Isaiah 58:1-12

·        "It is sometimes quite difficult to decipher the truth in the current societal climate in which we find ourselves.

             Who’s lying and who’s telling the truth?

o   Who’re the good guys and who’re the bad?

o   Who’s allowed in and who should be forced out?

o   Whose side are you on, anyway?

o   Who’s in charge?

o   Who’s right and who’s wrong?

·         These are the questions about which the world DELIGHTS when we hone in on them, become infatuated if not obsessed with them.

·         But the world’s not who we’re here to delight. The worldly powers-that-be—in allllll of their shapes and forms—are not the ones to whom we owe our utmost faithfulness.

·         We’re here to delight GOD for all of the RIGHT reasons—embodying merciful and compassionate acts with every bit of energy we’re blessed to possess.

We’re here BECAUSE OF GOD. Therefore, it is the Triune God to whom we owe EVERYTHING…most especially our utmost faithfulness… so that the very same God who spoke US into being and the COSMOS into being may effectively continue the divine work of speaking DIRELY NEEDED redemption and restoration and reconciliation into being as well." 

2.2 sermon audio: Micah 6:1-8

"Out of the possible characters with whom we might relate, however, I would argue that every time we read this passage we are being nudged by the Holy Spirit to ALSO stop and consider which parts of the religious and economically elite are reflected in us, by our way of existing in the world. Not necessarily because we have more money than God or more power than we know what to do with. But because we are children of God. We are children of God who all have…something…to share for the furthering of God’s Kin*dom—whether it be monetary wealth, clout in the community, or a spiritual gift that could potentially lead to the betterment of a person or group of people’s lives.

We are continuously being invited and encouraged by the God of All Life to work toward the equality and well-being of all people. Because all people are God’s people. Whether on grandiose or microscopic scales, THIS is the work for which we’ve been created. This is the work for which we were breathed into being, made in God’s very own likeness in order to carry out."