Sermons & Teaching

Yesterday we concluded our three-part sermon series on various aspects of the Church, this time considering the Apostle Paul's description of it as the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:1-27).

We noted that both Peter (Acts 6:2) and Paul, in our text for today, proposed that the primary work of the church is not to exercise one set of God's gifts at the expense of others, but to use all of them in the service of one calling.

I told the story of a missionary who had lived in a remote village for years before he had learned to speak the local language. When, finally, he felt that he had done so he went to all of the huts to tell the people that he was prepared to preach his first sermon. Yet, before he ever preached the villagers said, "We already know your message — we have seen it in the way you live." In just such a way we should live so that others see Christ in us.

Our prayer focus is Lebanon, and particularly members of the Druze Community who have converted from Islam to Christianity and have, as a result, experienced great persecution.

Yesterday's sermon, based on 1 Corinthians 3, was about four of the ties that bind the Church together.

The first one we considered was progress in spiritual maturity — learning to live by the Spirit instead of by worldly values.

The second is realizing that we are all servants, sharing different roles in our Christian calling.

"Tie" number three is the understanding that the Church is built on the foundation of Christ, and Him alone, not on who we are, or what we do.

The fourth is that the Church was created to be the temple — or dwelling place — of God, and that division is one of the tools that the Devil tries to use to bring it down. But when we avail ourselves of these "ties that bind us" we can withstand him.

Our prayer focus for the week is, once again, our brothers and sisters in Christ in Mozambique, and especially Felizardo, who has been tortured because of his faith.

Yesterday's sermon opened our new series on the Church, drawing from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians.

On World Communion Sunday we reflected on what it means to come together at the Lord's Table as one body across the globe.

This week's sermon explored the parable of the workers in the vineyard and God's extravagant, equal grace.

We considered Peter's question about forgiveness and Jesus' answer — seventy times seven — and what that means for life in community.

Isaiah 61 proclaims good news to the poor and freedom for the captive — a vision of restoration that Jesus himself claimed in the synagogue at Nazareth.

Isaiah's invitation — come, all who are thirsty — reminds us that God's grace is freely given and inexhaustible.

Jesus calls his followers to deny themselves and take up their cross — a radical reorientation of what it means to live.

Peter's confession — "You are the Christ" — and Jesus' response form the cornerstone of the Church's identity and mission.

In Antioch, the disciples were first called Christians — a name that carries both privilege and responsibility.

Peter's walk on the water — and his sinking — teaches us about the nature of faith, doubt, and Christ's steadying hand.