As societies collapse under the weight of their own sin, God’s promises stand firm and we are called to persevere in faith and righteousness.
An Open Table where Love knows no borders
An Open Table where Love knows no borders
Sermons on Faithfulness
The saints of God are engaged in a war between conflicting empires battling for control of the world, but Jesus has radically transformed our understanding of how we fight.
Despite first appearances, Jesus’s call to “count the cost” of following him is not so much about ensuring we can succeed as it is about ensuring we can faithfully persevere in the face of failure.
Our call to bear witness to the culture of God comes at a time when we face the real prospect of doom and destruction, and so must contend with that.
In difficult times, the simple virtues of love, humility, and non-judgement are the starting point of faithful living.
When we fear for our own safety, we condone the violence that promises to protect us, and we use religion to justify it, but Jesus wants to free us to rise above the fear without resorting to hatred and violence.
Temptation is something we all have to deal with, and Jesus shows the way in dealing with it.
Faced with the decline and disintegration of the Church, we are called to offer ourselves to God as the new branch who faithfully carry God’s love and mercy into a new era.
Perhaps amidst the increasingly depressing state of the world, Jesus is calling us to learn the path of faithfulness from those who never win.
Jesus’s primary aim was not saving us for heaven after we die, but establishing a culture of whole-hearted loved in the here and now.
Those who faithfully follow Jesus and proclaim his message are flawed human beings who will not often appear successful or impressive.
The image of Jesus as the good shepherd can speak of tough life-on-the-line love, not just cuddling lambs.
God is passionately in love with us and longing to give us every good thing if we will respond to his love.
The author of Hebrews is concerned that the first-century believers will become distracted and discouraged, so he wrote the letter of Hebrews to exhort and encourage them. This passage also speaks to us today and tells us an important message so that we can stay on course in our spiritual journey and finish the race of life that God has set for us.
Stunning moments of spiritual clarity can be life-changing, but the real measure of our faithfulness is in how we live for the rest of the time.
In baptism we surrender to God’s claim on us and enter a vowed relationship and life which will have its ups and its downs but in which God is forever faithful.
Jesus asks us to assess the legitimacy of any ministry by its transforming and liberating outcomes for the world and its peoples.
God has promised a time of resurrection and renewal, and has given us guidance for living faithfully in the meantime.
Adversity, violence, and suffering can come as a consequence of not just sin, but of radical love, but with love it can strengthen and sharpen us for fullness of life.
The temptations faced by Jesus reveal common patterns in the demonic temptations that we face in our own lives.