Sermon

Faith to Move Roofs

March 23, 2025
Luke 5:12-16

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Stand and take your bed and go home.

from Luke 5:24

Jesus returns to Capernaum, where crowds gathered to see the man known for healing and casting out demons. Among them were four friends carrying a paralyzed man, convinced that if they could get him to Jesus, he could be healed. When the crowd blocked their way, they went to extreme measures—cutting a hole in the roof to lower their friend into the packed house. Rather than being annoyed, Jesus saw their boldness as faith. In a surprising turn, Jesus first forgave the man's sins before healing his body. This shocked the scribes, who silently questioned Jesus' authority to forgive sins, but Jesus, knowing their hearts, physically healed the man, revealing his divine authority.

Bridging the Gap

March 16, 2025
Luke 5:12-16

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Jesus stretched out his hand and touched the man.

from Luke 5:13

We worship a God who "so loves the world that he gave his only son." In Jesus, God bridges the gap between the infinite and our finite existence. Between God's holiness and our sin.

We've been following Jesus from his birth and into his ministry. The angelic hosts of heaven proclaimed the great news of his birth; the human baby of whom they sang was laid in a feed trough. In this passage of scripture, Jesus encounters a man with a skin disease covering his body, a disease whose presence makes not only him unclean but anyone with whom he comes in contact. This disease separated the man from both God and humanity.

Jesus stretched out his hand, touched the man, and healed him. Jesus bridged the gap between the man's great need and God's love.

Gone to Meddling

March 9, 2025
Luke 5:1-11

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“Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.”

from Luke 5:5

Simon and the others knew how to fish, but as good as they were, they had not caught anything all night. Jesus tells them to try again. Simon thinks it is stupid because it hasn’t worked before, but he does what Jesus asks anyway. They catch a huge net of fish and are overwhelmed. It wasn't because Jesus was a better fisherman than them but because the miracle revealed that Jesus was from God. Peter falls down at Jesus' knees and confesses that he is a sinful man.

Rather than chastizing Simon, Jesus promotes him. He will no longer be catching fish; instead, he will reach people.

If we have the faith to do what God calls us to do, even though it might seem meaningless, God uses it to do great things through us and in us.

Eyes on the Road

March 2, 2025
Luke 4:21-30

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At daybreak, he departed and went into a deserted place.

from Luke 4:42

There is a common Christian malady. We can become so sure that God is on our side that we lose sight of the fact that we are called to be on God’s side. We can be so focused on what we want and think we need that we fail to see God providing what we really need.

But, at the height of his popularity, Jesus gets up and does something that differs from how-to books. Early in the morning, he goes out to an isolated place to pray. Just when you might think that Jesus has the opportunity to capitalize on his popularity, he “gets away from it all. He disconnects from human expectations to find rest and seek God’s expectations.

Blinded by Our Expectations

February 23, 2025
Luke 4:21-30

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And Jesus said, “Truly I tell you,
no prophet is accepted in his hometown."

from Luke 4:24

Unfortunately, our expectations of Jesus can blind us to who Jesus is. We create an image and expectation of Jesus in our image rather than allowing him to shape us. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus challenges his hometown by reminding them that God’s generosity extends beyond their expectations—providing for a Gentile widow and healing a Syrian leper while many Jews continued to be in need. Rather than accepting this truth, they rejected Jesus because his message conflicted with their expectations.

Jesus continues to challenge religious people today, not to provoke but to call for transformation. If he spoke to us now, would we resist his truth the way his hometown did? Would we allow him to reshape our priorities, actions, and perspectives, or would we hold onto what is comfortable?

A God Who Loves Us

February 16, 2025
Psalm 36:5-10

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How precious is your
steadfast love, O God!

from Psalms 36:7

The amazing Rev. Dr. Nancy Graham Ogne, Pastor Paul's better half, shares God's word with us this Sunday.

Living Beyond, Now

February 9, 2025
Luke 4:14-22a

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Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding region.

from Luke 4:14

Faith is seeing and living beyond the immediate and tangible. Jesus, after being tested in the wilderness, returned to preach in His hometown of Nazareth. The people were initially amazed by His words but soon dismissed Him as merely Joseph’s son, failing to recognize His divine identity. They expected the Messiah to fulfill their personal hopes rather than their being part of God’s greater plan.

Jesus' message encompassed both spiritual and earthly realities—proclaiming good news to the poor, releasing captives, and bringing sight to the blind in both the physical present as well as the eternal future, Jesus calls us to be like him - living in the present while holding to eternal hope. Our faith does not separate earthly life from eternal life; instead, our physical presence is to reveal God's eternal love and grace in our everyday lives.