Sermons from September 2022
Inspired: Church Stories
This week we conclude our worship series “Inspired” based on the book Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by Rachel Held Evans. This week we explore the letters from the Apostle Paul, our earliest glimpses into the early Christian church. These letters–epistles–highlight the struggles and gifts of these communities. As churches struggle today, we may find comfort in knowing we don’t struggle alone and we may find new ways of learning from these ancient letters.…
Inspired: Fish Stories
This week we near the end of our worship series “Inspired” based on the book Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by Rachel Held Evans. Some of the loudest critiques from our non-theist friends about sacred Christian texts have to do with the more extraordinary and even super-natural stories. Did those things happen or were they written as allegory and an exaggeration? As Wesleyans, we understand the value of reason in our spiritual life—but this…
Inspired: Gospel Stories
This week we continue our worship series “Inspired” based on the book Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by Rachel Held Evans. As United Methodists and Christians, I think it’s a safe assumption that the Gospel stories hold particular significance for us. This is the Gospel, the Good News! In these stories are the proclamations that we are no longer slaves to sin and death, that we are not alone, that God has walked with…
Inspired: Resistance Stories
This week we continue our worship series “Inspired” based on the book Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by Rachel Held Evans. One of the main themes of the Bible is that God is on the side of the faithful minority within vast, oppressive empires. God shows up to walk alongside the poor and disinherited. God gives strength to those who speak truth to power, those who display courage in the face of death. Even…