May 24 | Pentecost: One God, One Spirit, Many Gifts
On Pentecost, God sent the Holy Spirit into the world, filling the disciples with power to preach. Paul encourages the Corinthians that they, too, are given power by the Spirit as the Spirit sees fit, for the common good of the community. Despite the kaleidoscopic nature of these gifts, all are “activated” by the same God, the same Spirit, in the name of the same Lord.Westwood Christian Church
May 17 | Ready and Waiting
In Acts 1, Jesus’ final instruction to the disciples is to go to Jerusalem and wait for the promise of the Father. What would it change if we saw waiting as the first act of the church? Would it change how we approach success? What about faithfulness?
May 10 | Never an Orphan
In John 14, Jesus promises that he will not leave his disciples orphaned. Have you ever considered how many stories involve orphans? Why? In order for most characters in stories to have the freedom to adventure, they must necessarily have absent or distant parents. But for the Christian, on our adventure, we are not alone. Our Father is neither absent or distant, but present and proximate.
May 3 | The Abiding Place
In John 14, Jesus gives his disciples courage and strength to handle his absence. He prepares them for his death, but also his ascension. We live in a time when Jesus is absent, preparing abiding places for us. But while he is absent, he is not inaccessible. In fact, Jesus tells his disciples to pray to him and that if we do so to glorify the Father, whatever we ask for in his name, he will do it.
April 26 | Follow the Leader
Jesus says that he is the Good Shepherd who calls his sheep by name and leads them out. The sheep follow him because they recognize his voice. Do you know how to hear the voice of God? Do you recognize that voice above the myriad voices in your head? In this sermon, Adam explores Listening Prayer and offers insight on how to hear God’s voice.
April 19 | The Gift We Don’t Deserve
Peter declares that God exalted Jesus, sitting him at the right hand of the Father, making him Lord and Messiah. This is the language of a coronation, and the reaction to this news would normally be that we should bring gifts and homage. But Peter tells us that Jesus is the Lord who gives gifts to his subjects. The gift is the Holy Spirit and all we must do is repent and be baptized.
April 12 | Co-Conspirators with Christ
Sometimes we think about Jesus just “going along with” the Scheme of Redemption that required him to die. But in Acts 2, we are shown that Jesus is a powerful co-conspirator, that he went to death knowing that Death could not overpower him. As Augustine wrote, Jesus slew death “with the abundance of his life.” He has gone ahead of us and invites us to co-conspire with him against the shackles of death!
Easter Sunday | The One Who Went Before
In Matthew 28:6-7 the angel declares to the women that Jesus was not in the tomb, but had risen, and in fact had gone ahead of them to Galilee where they would find him. In Galilee, Jesus invites his disciples to renew their commitment to him and commissions them to make disciples of others. But Jesus went ahead of the disciples in more ways that just geography. He went went ahead of them in life, death, resurrection, and will go ahead of them to God.