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Solomon asked God for a listening heart, and the Bible tells us he became the wisest king who ever lived. Then the story keeps going. In this sermon on 1 Kings 3:4-28, we look at the over the top way Scripture introduces Solomon and ask why it sounds so much like a campaign ad. We also look at what happens when the bill for all that excess comes due. With Election Day tomorrow and the anxiety so many of us are carrying, this message asks where our hope really rests. It points to a King who will never be on a ballot, who forgave the empire that killed him and gives himself away. Take a listen, and bring your questions with you.

We usually call the story of David and Bathsheba an affair or about adultery. The Bible tells a darker story. A king on his palace roof looks down, takes a woman who cannot say no, and has her loyal husband killed to cover it up. In this Reformation Sunday sermon on 2 Samuel 11–12 and Psalm 51, Pastor Matthew Best looks at what power does to people, how abuse gets protected by those around it, and how the church has sometimes been part of that pattern. He also looks at how God hears the voices the powerful try to silence, and how Jesus came down from the roof to make us fully human again.

What happens when our words say one thing and our actions say another? In Joshua 24, the people of Israel loudly promise to serve the Lord while their idols are still in their pockets. We all know that gap, in politics, in the church, and at home. Let's wrestle honestly with that gap and with the violence in the book of Joshua that so often gets skipped over, from the conquest of Canaan to today’s Christian nationalism. Let's tell the story and deal with it, while also telling the story of how God shows up and acts.

As we turn to Exodus 14 and the story of the Israelites at the Red Sea, we hear how Israel is confronted with two impossible challenges - the sea and the empire.  Death looks certain.  And in the midst of that, God shows up and flips the script defeating the evil of empire and the evil of chaos.  The sermon is based on Exodus 14:5-7, 10-14, 21-29.

Each year, Jews gathers to retell the story of the Passover and Exodus where God set Israel free.  It's not just a retelling though.  It is an invitation for hearers to be in the story as if God set them free too.  Christians also have a story that invites us in as Jesus sets us free.  The sermon is based on parts of Exodus 12, 13, and 15.

Exodus 39 tells us a small piece of Joseph's story.  He's unjustly incriminated and suffers as a result.  But it's deeper than that.  He's trafficked.  What does this story have to say to us in 2026 and where is God in the midst of such horrible things?  The sermon is based on Genesis 39:1-23.

The Narrative Lectionary starts a new cycle.  And it gives us the story of the flood.  It's a difficult story but also rich with imagery and meaning and promise.  In this story is horror and hope.  And it addresses questions that have been with us for a long, long time - how did we get to this point?  Is God distant or close?  What's the deal with humanity?  What's the good news in the midst of so much horrible things going on?  The sermon is based on Genesis 6:5-22; 8:6-12; and 9:8-17.

We are at the end of our series on the Ten Commandments.  The commandment may be the most difficult for us.  It's about wanting what doesn't belong to us.  The core of this is a message that tries to tell us that we aren't enough.  Yet God reminds us that we are.  The sermon is based on Exodus 20:17.

In this third week on the series of the Ten Commandments, we turn our attention to how we are to live in relationship with our neighbor.  The second set of the Commandments also dive deeper by addressing the injustice of enslavement in order to establish a better way to be community.  The sermon is based on Exodus 20:12-16.

As we move into the actual commandments listed in Exodus 20, it starts with a focus on our relationship with God.  And each one builds upon the one before it.  And while its easy to point fingers at how others are failing at these, the whole point is for us to look in the mirror to see what gods we still follow, how we just God for our own purposes, and more.  Thankfully, that mirror is not the end of the story, because when we look in the mirror, we also see the image of God.  The sermon is based on Exodus 20:3-11.

We started a four week series on the Ten Commandments.  This Sunday was the foundation - what are they really about.  And the key is if you hear the foundation, then the commandments shift from being a bunch of rules to something more meaningful.  The sermon is based on Exodus 19 and 20:1-2.

Humanity has a tendency to wrangle over words.  Which means Good News gets twisted and becomes mediocre at best.  People get put into a hierarchy and voices get silenced.  But Good News is not any of that.  Good News sets people free, makes room for them, sees humanity in one another, and more.  Good News isn't there for when everything is going well.  It's for real life.  The sermon is based on 2 Timothy 2:8-15.

The algorithms want your attention.  So they feed your anger, frustration, and despair.  The Gospel reminds us that we are not alone to face what the world offers.  Our reading from 2 Timothy is a letter of encouragement for people facing difficulty - not the supposed persecution of people who are losing long held power, but rather the kind of hardship that drains life from people.

Life doesn't come with a manual of how things are supposed to go.  And while that may be frustrating at times, it is also a blessing.  Because if there was a manual, then we'd be judged on how well we stuck to it.  Instead God gives grace freely and in unfair ways.  The sermon is based on 1 Timothy 1:12-17.

God isn't loud.  God is often hidden, but very present and active.  The book of Esther shows us what living faithfully means in a practical sense.  And on this weekend of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, it also reminds us that the Good News is not that America is great or doomed.  Instead, the Good News is that God acts and the people society walks past survive.  The reading comes from Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22, 29-32.