Sermon
One in Christ
August 10, 2025
Ephesians 2:11-22
We are no longer strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God.
This passage from Ephesians can sound like a foreign language to modern ears, filled with terms such as circumcision, covenants, commandments, and cornerstones. The writer is not showing off vocabulary but using familiar concepts to his first-century Jewish and Gentile audience to reveal something new.
Ephesians proclaims a radical shift: through the blood of Jesus, the wall between Jew and Gentile has been destroyed. Circumcision is no longer the sign of God’s covenant—Christ’s sacrifice is. It is no longer the keeping of commandments or animal sacrifices that restore relationship with God, but the work of Jesus on the cross. Those once excluded are now brought near, strangers are made family, and the message of peace is for both the insiders and the outsiders. This has profound implications: we are called to welcome, not exclude; to unite, not divide. Our hope and standing before God are not based on our birth, goodness, or rituals, but entirely on Christ. This good news should shake our assumptions, compel us to care for the lost, and lead us to live with a purpose of bringing people together before God in Jesus Christ.
What's Your Function?
August 3, 2025
Ephesians 2:1-10
We are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we may walk in them.
When we pursue purposes other than those for which we were created, our lives become bent and mangled—like tools misused for the wrong tasks. But when we live into our true purpose, we find contentment. It’s important to remember that we are not saved by good living—we live good because we are saved. Salvation is a gift of grace, not a reward for works. But that gift changes us. Once Jesus takes residence in our hearts, our lives begin to reflect his. Acts of compassion—feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, showing kindness—take on eternal significance. The joy of giving, serving, and loving others leaves the deepest imprint on our lives. As Jesus said, “Let your light shine before others so they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” We are created for good works, and when we embrace God’s purpose for us, we begin to experience the abundant life he intends.
The Great News of Grace
July 27, 2025
Ephesians 2:1-10
By grace we have been saved through faith, and this is not our own doing; it is the gift of God.
Grace is counter to the world around us. We think of life as a series of upward achievements and milestones: the first day of school, graduating, jobs, family, accomplishments, and we hope for a nice retirement. At first glance, life appears to be a journey from dependence to independence. A newborn child is utterly dependent on their parents, but it is the beginning of a journey away from them, and perhaps becoming a person others are dependent upon.
Grace is, however, a move away from independence to discover that we are utterly and completely dependent upon a God who loves us and does for us what we can never do ourselves.
Grace is not given because we deserve it; God offers grace because of who God is.
When Bad News is Good
July 20, 2025
Ephesians 2:1-7
Even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.
Life often presents us with both good and bad news, and Sunday's scripture passage from Ephesians is no exception. The bad news is that we were spiritually dead due to our sins, following the ways of the world, and living by our fleshly desires, making us children of wrath. It's a harsh reality that we might want to believe applies only to notorious figures like Hitler or Osama bin Laden, not to ourselves. Despite our efforts to live a good life, ignoring the truth doesn't change it. In 1999, my wife Nancy was diagnosed with breast cancer, which was undeniably bad news. However, the good news was that early detection allowed for surgery and chemotherapy, and made all the difference. Ignoring the diagnosis would have led to a much worse outcome. Similarly, even though we were lost and deserving of wrath, God offers grace despite our failures, raises us up, and desires to show us the immeasurable riches of that grace. As the hymn "Amazing Grace" beautifully states: "I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see." This is the profound message at the heart of the gospel.
More than You Can Imagine
July 13, 2025
Ephesians 1:15-23
May God give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him.
Truth be told, I don’t always feel very powerful. Things often don’t go the way I would like, and some days, it’s perfectly clear I am not in control. Aware of our powerlessness, we read of Jesus’ power—when he calmed the storm, raised Lazarus, and fed the hungry. Yet we wonder where this power is in the troubles of our days. We all face situations beyond our ability, longing for the power to change things for ourselves and for those we love. But when we talk about power, we need to talk about God’s power, not ours—a power demonstrated through love. God so loved the world that he gave his Son. Nothing can separate us from this love. God’s power isn’t separate from the suffering of the cross or the power that raised Jesus from the dead. Often, God’s power is revealed in difficulties, not an escape from them. We may feel powerless because we’re looking in the wrong place, seeking God’s blessing on our ambitions rather than seeking God’s path. Following Jesus means going where he goes, giving ourselves as he gave himself, even though it leads us away from the ways of the world.
Shining Faith
July 6, 2025
Ephesians 1:15-23
I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus
and your love toward all the saints.
When you’re gone, what legacy will you leave behind? As Paul continues his letter to the Ephesians, he shifts from lofty theology to personal thanksgiving, having heard about their faith in the Lord Jesus and their love toward all the saints. These weren’t just private beliefs; they were lived in ways that stood out, even in a challenging place like Ephesus—a city steeped in idol worship, temple prostitution, economic power, and emperor worship. Being a Christian there meant standing apart from the surrounding culture. Paul prays that the blessings, hope, and sacrificial love of God he described earlier would become tangible in the lives of these believers, not just in thought, but in their daily lives. Faith is not merely abstract theology; it becomes visible when it shapes daily life, when what we believe about God is revealed in how we love and serve others.
The Why in Worship
June 29, 2025
Psalm 33
JD Gierach Preaching
"In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name."
Why do we worship? As we explore Psalm 33, we’ll see that worship isn’t just about singing or routines—it’s about responding to who God is. The psalmist gives us some beautiful reasons to worship: God’s goodness, His creative power, how He knows and cares for us, and the way He saves and sustains us. By further understanding the "why" in worship, we will open our hearts to the love God desires to pour in.
More than We Dare Hope
June 22, 2025
Ephesians 1:1-14
He destined us for adoption as his children
through Jesus Christ.
Each of us has images of God, of who God is, and of what God does. The Apostle Paul writes to Christians in Ephesus who have their own images of God — some thought God was only for the Jews, others clung to human traditions. However, Paul writes that God is far greater and more wonderful than our limited understanding.
In today's passage from Ephesians, we discover a God who blesses, creates, loves, and embraces us as His own —redeeming us through Christ’s blood, forgiving our sins, and paying a price we could never afford. This is not a God who only lives on Sunday mornings or stays distant from our lives. This is a God whose eternal purpose is to lovingly draw us to Himself, not to punish, but to restore. God invites us to come—whether we are saints or sinners, strong or doubting—and to see that the Lord is good, that His mercy endures forever, and for us to know that God sees far greater things in us than we often see in ourselves.
Divine Math
June 15, 2025
John 16:12-15
But when the Spirit of truth comes,
he will guide you into all the truth.
Throughout Scripture, God is described as one—“You shall have no other gods before me,” and “Hear O Israel, the Lord your God is one”—and yet there is a “three-ness” about God. Jesus affirms both the unity and diversity of God when he says, “He who has seen me has seen the Father,” and teaches his followers to baptize “in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” T
Some may wonder what difference this makes. The answer is: a great deal. The triune God is not divided—one aspect does not act without the others. This keeps us from picturing God as only a distant judge or, conversely, as someone whose love ignores justice. Ultimately, God is beyond our comprehension, His thoughts and ways higher than ours. We often seek definitive answers and definitions, but we are left with mystery. Yet this mystery is good news: God is bigger than us, but knows and loves us. He entered our world in Jesus, is present through the Spirit, and remains far greater than we can imagine. As Paul prays in Ephesians, we are invited to grasp the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge and be filled with the fullness of God.
New Life for Old Bones
June 8, 2025
Acts 1:1-11
I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live.
God has a way of using the least likely to accomplish the most extraordinary.
In an amazing vision, God brings Ezekiel to a valley filled with dry, dusty bones—what could be less likely and less useful than a bunch of dry, dead bones? Yet God tells Ezekiel to speak the Lord’s words to them, and as he does, the bones begin to rattle and find each other, connecting across the valley. Tendons form, flesh covers the bones, and skin wraps them—but they are still lifeless. God then tells Ezekiel to speak to the four winds, and as he does, breath enters them. The bones come to life and stand as a great army.
It’s both incredible and incredibly weird. This vision, which at first may seem too strange or unsettling for Pentecost, reveals a powerful truth: the people represented by the bones—those exiled and hopeless—believe they are cut off from life and a future. But where Ezekiel sees dry bones, God sees resurrected life.
God tells Ezekiel that the bones represent the whole house of Israel, a people who have been defeated, exiled, and spiritually dead due to their own rebellion. They had turned from God, rejected His ways, and exchanged Him for idols. Still, God doesn’t abandon them. Instead, He asks Ezekiel, “Can these bones live?” Only God knows—and only God can bring life where there is none. The Hebrew word ruach—used for breath, wind, and Spirit—appears throughout the passage, filling it with the promise of God’s Spirit.
This same Spirit breathes again at Pentecost, when Jesus’ fearful followers, feeling like dry bones themselves, are filled with power. The Spirit comes like a rushing wind, tongues of fire rest upon them, and thousands are saved as they speak the words Jesus gave. This Spirit has not stopped moving.
May that holy wind fill us today, breathe life into our dry places, and empower us—not because of what we can do, but because of what God can do through us.
