Sermons (Page 2)

Sermons (Page 2)

Prayer and Fasting

6:1 Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 “So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your…

Signed with Ashes

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us;…

Mystery and Glory

1 And he said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.’ 2 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah…

Do Unto Others

In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.” – Matthew 7:12 Sermon by Pastor Joshua Demi “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you.” It is such a short and simple phrase. I had originally intended to begin this sermon with timeless quotes from people Winston Churchill, and documents like the Declaration of Independence, which are short and simple, yet express profound…

Sanctity and Civility: Compassion and Complexity

Sermon by Pastor Joshua Demi For the past few weeks, we have been talking about the The Bible talks about how we ought to to relate to one another amongst differences.  We started by talking about how our identity is ultimately in Christ.  All people’s ultimate, their most fundamental identity is in God, all people are made in the image of God, and all believers are in Christ, have “put on Christ” in Paul’s words, and whether else we may…

Sanctity and Civility: A Tale of Two Friends

Primary Text: Job 36:24-32 “Remember to extol his work,     of which mortals have sung. 25 All people have looked on it;     everyone watches it from far away. 26 Surely God is great, and we do not know him;     the number of his years is unsearchable. 27 For he draws up the drops of water;     he distills[q] his mist in rain, 28 which the skies pour down     and drop upon mortals abundantly. 29 Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds,     the thunderings of his pavilion?…

Sanctity and Civility: Fighting the Real Battle

Primary Text: Ephesians 6:10-12 Introduction and Sermon by Pastor Joshua Demi Introduction Our text for today is not the one printed in our bulletin or projected on the screens.  I had intended to preach a sermon series about conflict and the church that would begin with practical lessons from scripture about how to deal with conflict, which would build to a discussion about how these practical lessons fit into the bigger picture of the nature of conflict and where the…

Named and claimed

4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7He proclaimed, ‘The one who is more powerful than I is coming…

Thinking Biblically: Reading the Bible as a Whole

Primary Text: Hebrews 111:-12: Scripture quotes in this sermon are from the NRSV, unless otherwise cited. Although it was not read in it’s entirety in two of the three services, Hebrews 11 is included here in it’s entirety. 11 ” Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is…

Thinking Biblically: Introducing Prophecy

Primary Text: Zephaniah 3:14-20 All scripture references in this sermon are from the NRSV, unless otherwise noted. 14 Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;     shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart,     O daughter Jerusalem! 15 The Lord has taken away the judgments against you,     he has turned away your enemies. The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;     you shall fear disaster no more. 16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear, O Zion;…