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After the “return” from exile, Israel began looking for a new king, the Messiah who would fulfill the promises of the prophets of old. Jesus was that king. But when he came, basically everything he said and did was the exact opposite of what Israel expected from their savior. What did Jesus teach about his … Continue reading A New King in Babylon

The Rabbi system in first century Israel is an important piece of background information for contextualizing the story of Jesus. What was a Rabbi, and how did Jesus fit into this system? What does this mean for the modern reader? Click Here to Listen. (Preaching through Luke. This sermon was preached at the Dewey Church … Continue reading Jesus the Rabbi

(Note: This audio sounds very different because it is livestreamed from home in a snow storm.) The first few stories of Jesus’s ministry in Luke’s Gospel serve to introduce the purpose of his earthly ministry and reinforce some of the ways that Jesus might have been tempted to alter or change his purpose from the … Continue reading The Purpose of His Ministry

When Israel failed to live as the Called-Out Kingdom God desired, he sent them back into the world, via the exiles. But God still expected holiness in their exile. What can we learn from God’s expectations for exiled Israel, and from Israel’s example of living in a nation that did not know or love Yahweh? … Continue reading Living in Babylon

Luke chapter 3 and the beginning of chapter 4 is the last bit of set-up before the ministry of Jesus begins in earnest. What can we learn from the teaching of John the Baptist, Luke’s version of Jesus’s genealogy, and the temptation of Jesus? Click Here to Listen. (Preaching through the Gospel of Luke. This … Continue reading Preparing the Way

In contrast to Matthew and John, Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus and his early life emphasizes Jesus’s humble origins and submissive attitude, from the circumstances of his birth, to his parents’ obedience to the Law of Moses, to his own submission to Mary and Joseph. What should we learn from this emphasis of … Continue reading Humble Beginnings

This is the first lesson in a series on how the church can or should interact with the world around it, in politics, culture, social pressures, communities, etc. In this first sermon we consider the way God has always called his people out of the world to be something special or different, and lay the … Continue reading The Called-Out Kingdom

Over the course of this year, I will be preaching through the Gospel of Luke, mostly at a pace of one chapter per week. We will do the first half over the first three months of the year, take a break, and then finish out the year by covering the second half of Luke in … Continue reading The Coming Savior

In the book of Revelation, we learn how God’s story of redemption, restoration, and reconciliation will end. We only get glimpses of what comes after, but the story of God’s plan to restore fallen creation to himself finds its climax and resolution. What will the end of the story look like, and when will the … Continue reading The End of the Story

“The dark triad” is technically a term from modern psychology, but I am co-opting it as a label for John’s categorization of temptation. Throughout the Bible, in important stories of temptation, you see the same triad. What is this “dark triad” of temptation? Click Here to Listen. (Preaching on temptation. This sermon was preached at … Continue reading The Dark Triad

There is an emotional, relational connection behind all the epistles that can be easy to overlook 2,000 years later. 1-3 John and 1-2 Thessalonians do a good job of foregrounding this connection between the writer and the reader, and inform us how church workers today should feel about the church. Click Here to Listen. (Preaching … Continue reading A Preacher’s Prayer

There are a lot of things that distract us from what really, eternally matters. Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus emphasize this distinction over and over, in a variety of ways. What was Paul worried would distract the church, and how do we refocus on what really matters? Click Here to Listen. (Preaching through 1-2 … Continue reading What Really Matters

We are coming to the end of our year-long journey through the Bible story, but the end of the Bible is not the end of God’s story. As we read 1-2 Timothy and Titus, we see that Jesus’s apostles clearly intended his story to continue in the church. How did they intend for us to … Continue reading Continuing the Story

2 Peter and Jude are the most similar of any two books in the Bible (yes even possibly including the Gospels). What were Peter and Jude so concerned about in the early church, and how do their warnings matter for Christians today? Click Here to Listen. (Preaching on 2 Peter and Jude. This sermon was … Continue reading Don’t Repeat History!

This sermon is a bit of a preview of a series of lessons we will start in the new year. 1 Peter is a book addressed to “the elect exiles of the dispersion.” What does this title mean, who does it apply to, and why does it matter for the modern Christian? Click Here to … Continue reading Living in Exile