Jordan Rimmer Sermons

                                       In 2 Corinthians Paul gives a list of all kinds of difficult things he has been through.  He is trying to show just how crazy he was for Jesus.  If you think about it, that kinds of abuse would have made Paul look very different.  What does it mean that Paul had all these scars and that Jesus has scars?  Do we live lives that are scared for Jesus?    

This sermon is inspired by the book "Ruthless Trust" by Brennan Manning.  In this sermon I propose that the primary response to His love and grace that God desires from us is trust--daily trusting God for everything.  

I am preaching some sermons inspired by the work of Brennan Manning.  In this sermon I look at Isaiah 64 and talk about how we are all ragamuffins.  We are all sinners in need of God's grace, but we are also radically loved by God.  We should therefore start to look at ourselves differently.  There is no room for self-hatred in the Christian life.

Last year author and speaker Brennan Manning passed away.  I got to meet him once for just a few moments, but I have been greatly influenced through his books and talks.  I have decided to take a few weeks to read his work again and preach out of what God is showing me. This sermon is about the love of God.  Do you really believe that God loves you just as you are and not as you should be?  When you pray to the Father as Jesus taught his disciples, do you see God as your daddy?

This is the conclusion to my summer series looking at food in the Bible.  This sermon is not on the general image of meat in the Bible but rather on the specific issue of meat offered to idols in 1 Corinthians 8-10.  The people are allowed to eat the meat offered to idols, but should they?  This sermon gets into some big and important issues for us today:  How do we relate to the world?  What do we do with the messy nature of sin?  How do we deal with diversity when we disagree about these things?

This is a sermon about banquets and festivals in the Bible.  When you understand banquets in Biblical times then the Bible starts to make more sense. Jesus uses banquets in several parables, shares a table with His disciples for the Last Supper, and according to Revelation will someday host an eternal banquet.

This is a sermon on milk in the Bible.  Milk is used to show God's blessing and to show God's expectation.  God blesses us, and expects us to respond with purity and maturity.  It is time to lay off the bottle and move on to some steak.

This is a continuation of a sermon series on food in the Bible.  This sermon is on Water--how it was different in ancient days, what it was used to symbolize, how Jesus related to water, and how water relates to use through our baptism.

Famine does not mean much to most people today, but for generations famine was a crisis felt by the entire community.  We see many famines throughout the Bible.  How do we understand dry and difficult times in our lives?  

This sermon is a survey of the use of Bread as a metaphor in the Bible.  It begins with the importance of bread in ancient cultures and then moves through the Bible to look at Jesus as the Bread of Life.  It was also done on a communion Sunday so the conclusion sets the stage for the sacrament.

In this sermon I talk about the Passover Lamb and ask the congregation to think about it from the perspective of a child participating in the process.  I asked the congregants to discuss what I was speaking about a few times.  It makes for a choppy recording, but I liked the way the story of Passover and the connections with Jesus came out. 

This is a sermon on the dietary laws of Leviticus.  Why are they in the Bible?  Why don't we follow them as Christians?  If we don't follow them, then why do we hold to other Old Testament laws?  What can this discussion tell us about Jesus?

Sermon on the provision of Manna for the Israelites in the wilderness.  God provides for us and gives us grace, but so often we are less than grateful.  Sometimes we even choose slavery over freedom.

Starting a summer sermon series on Food in the Bible.  We will be using food as a lens to look at some of the major themes of the Bible. In this sermon we look at the fall story.  Adam and Eve could have eaten from any tree in the garden without effort.  Why did they eat from that particular tree?  I think we eat from the same tree every day--even in our  churches.  Listen to find out what I mean.

This is a sermon that I did based on the work of Simon Sinek.  Sinek suggests that highly effective people and organization think and communicate differently.  They start with a sense of why they are doing what they are doing.  I think that Sinek's though is very Biblical.  I believe Christianity is a Why-based faith. You can watch Sinek's Ted Talk that got wildly popular below.

Several months ago local pastor and author Graham Standish came to my church and did a presentation for our leadership team.  He talked about becoming more spiritual as people and as a church by being open to and seeking to discern God's will.  This sermon is inspired by some of Graham's material.  Next week my sermon will be my presentation for this training.   You can see Graham's website at http://ngrahamstandish.orgYou can see Graham's book and follow links to others HERE.I also recommend the video below for all church leaders: Graham Standish - presbytery presentation from Presbytery of Lake Michigan on Vimeo.

This is a sermon on the Mind of Christ.  I used a real cow brain as a prop to talk about how the brain works.  I was very visually oriented that way, but you can get the point from the audio recording.  You can also watch the video here:

I have always, out of necessity, been interested in time management, personal success, and leadership literature.  Much of the best work in this field is not done from a Christian perspective.  I was ecstatic to pick up on a whim the book What's Next by Matt Perlman.  He goes past just the x's and o's of getting things done.  He actually gives a theology of productivity.  Ever since I read it I have been dying to share it in a sermon. The sermon has three parts.  The first is a Biblical understanding of productivity.  The second part was a number of practical tips for productivity.  Much of this second part comes from the works of Stephen Covey and David Allen. The third part was an experiment that I did on priorities.  I even had a lab coat and lab goggles for the full effect.  It was a very visual metaphor, but it should come through on the audio.  Essentially, if a jar represents your time then your job is to fill it.  There are little things (sand), medium things (gravel), and important things (larger sto

In this sermon I talk about the followers of Jesus.  I think that the greatest testimony to the resurrection was and is the changed lives of an Easter people.  Our faith only makes sense and works if the resurrection is true.

This is my short sermon from my Easter early outdoor service.  I talk about Mary Magdalene and how she shows us the meaning of Easter.