Sermons

God My God, She Takes Pride in Me

This Sunday we have a special guest coming to preach. Jean Carlos Diaz (bio below) is the new Pastor at what is known as “The Wesley Foundation” at the University of Minnesota (ski-u-mah) which he has reframed, relaunched, and renamed “Neon”. Considering our proximity to “The U”, I’d love for us to support this ministry however we can. Jean Carlos is a dynamic leader, a great story teller, and exudes joy. I think you’ll really enjoy him and be inspired…

Correcting Centuries of Wrong | Week VI: Hagar

This week we look at what I believe to be among the most wronged characters in all of Scripture, Hagar, the mother of Ishmael. We will look at her words, her story, and her significance in world history, as well as deconstruct the Apostle Paul’s atrocious treatment of her. When I came up with the idea for this series, Hagar was the first character I knew I wanted to look at. -Pastor Paul

Week V: Martha of Bethany

We are on to week 5 in our “She Has Words” series, looking Martha of Bethany. I have a hunch many of you may relate to her. Part of her story comes in a much bigger context, which we will look at next Spring when we’re in the Gospel of John. That broader story is so big and so significant, that it makes difficult (if not impossible) to hone in on individual characters in the story. So I am looking…

Week IV: Pilate’s Wife

We continue in our “She Has Words” series, with a character who is very much often overlooked: Pilate’s wife. I’m looking forward to fleshing her out a bit, as she is quite a strong and significant character, albeit understated, in the story of Jesus. -Pastor Paul

A Woman of Diplomacy | Week III: Abigail

This Sunday we continue our “She Has Words” series with one of my favorite characters in all the Scriptures, Abigail (my daughter’s namesake!). So I hope you will join me to take a look into the feisty, courageous, faithful character of Abigail. -Pastor Paul

Midwives to Justice | Week II: Shiphrah and Puah

This week in worship we move into week two of our “She Has Words” series, with two women often who are often overlooked. The story of Israel’s enslavement in Egypt and exodus out of it is such a huge story, that these two, but vitally important often get edited out of sermons and readings, so I am looking forward to focusing on them, and for some of you, maybe even making an introduction. Their names are Shiphrah and Puah, and…

Follow the Leader | Week I: Eve

This Sunday I will be preaching the message I was already in the midst of preparing last week, the first in our “She Has Words” series, which is about Eve. We’ll look at her words, but also the way in which she has been unfairly cast in Christendom, bring some correctives to that, and reimagine her. -Pastor Paul SCRIPTURE: Genesis 2:18, 21-25, 3:1-7 (NRSVUE) 18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him…

And the Word Became Wind

This Sunday is our LAST Sunday of this season in the Narrative Lectionary, which means that this Sunday is Pentecost! Pentecost is a huge day in the life of The Church, so we’ll be marking it by moving backwards in the narrative to Acts 2. There is a LOT about Pentecost that many (if not most) Christians don’t realize, one thing being what the word even means. Do you know? It means “fiftieth”. Yes this holiday with this big strange name…

Grace.

This Sunday we turn the page into June, with one more week in Galatians. This week’s passage is a mixed bag for bag. There is some really great stuff in it, and then there’s some really problematic stuff. But overall it offers us an opportunity to… well… go to seminary! That’s right, this week we’re going to dig to hardcore Methodist theology! Sounds riveting, I know. But in all seriousness, it is this theology that we’ll look at on Sunday…

Rules, Regulations, Rhythm, and Righteousness

This Sunday we depart from the Book of Acts, though we will head back there on Pentecost Sunday in a couple weeks, as well as spend a couple weeks in Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Galatians is a tricky book, requiring a lot of context to truly get what Paul is doing and saying, and without proper context, it can lead (and has led!) to a lot of harm. That said, Paul opens up some interesting, important, and profound theological…