Christ Our Hope Sermons

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Primary texts for this sermon: Ephesians 1:11-23 & Revelation 7:9-1711 In him [Christ] we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. The apostle Paul was in prison when he wrote those words to the Ephesians - not the usual place to pen a message of hope. Yet Paul writes of a present hope, alive and well in his heart, rooted in the present, eternal reign of Jesus Christ. How can we look around our own world and gain that kind of confidence, especially in times as fraught with trial as the year 2020 has been? Though we aren't meant to deny the reality of our circumstances, we also must remember not to mistakenly let them be the root of our faith, or our faith will not endure. Like Paul, our steadfast hope is in Christ alone, whose reign is not an abstraction but a present reality. Fr. Jeromie Rand delivers a message

<apocalypse: noun: from Greek apokaluptein ‘uncover, reveal’>37 And [Jesus] said to [them], “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”In the above excerpt from Matthew 22, Jesus delivers an answer to Pharisees asking which of the Old Testament commandments was the “greatest.” With this response, Jesus provides the lens for viewing and contextualizing everything they knew of Scripture at the time. And today, if we view Scripture through that same lens, we are quickly confronted by how much we fall short of those two central commandments to "love God and love neighbor."In this sermon, Fr. Jeromie Rand delves into the deepest implications of Christ’s “apocalyptic” (or revelatory) message: when we see our inability to completely orient our lives around this “love

In Matthew 22:15-22, the Pharisees pose a loaded question to Jesus: "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” Jesus replies with the well-known adage, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” As Jesus often did when answering these sorts of insincere questions, He answers in a way that gets at the heart of the matter. In doing so, He gives us an important principle for how believers are to engage their governing authorities and political systems. In this message, delivered at a time of considerable division in American politics especially, Fr. Jeromie Rand leads us into Jesus' deeper meaning in a text sometimes misconstrued. The realms of Caesar's and God's authority are overlapping, not separate. The Kingdom of God is breaking into the kingdom of this world.  By giving us a direction that's not quite so clean and neat as in other places in the Scriptures, Jesus invites us to the greatest act of faith in a ruling author

Primary Scripture for this message - Philippians 4:4-13In chapter 4 of his letter to the Philippians, Paul exhorts: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice." Taken apart from the rest of the chapter, this instruction might seem less like an invitation to joy and more of a task or worse - a burden. After all, if we mistakenly interpret this to mean that being a Christian requires constant and ceaseless rejoicing, there is little room for the times when we are in pain, when the world is suffering, or when rejoicing feels impossible. Fr. Jeromie Rand delivers this message to the Christ Our Hope congregation gathered and online: Paul's words are meant to be an invitation to us rather than an obligation. Further, they enable us to hold a posture of joyful hope even in times of trial, because we know "the Lord is near."  Support the show

In Philippians 3:14, the apostle Paul spoke of "pressing on toward the goal, to win the prize for which God has called [him] heavenward in Christ Jesus." Improperly interpreted, we may mistakenly think this means our salvation is dependent on our own striving. But "try harder" is not the message of the Gospel. Bishop Ken Ross focuses on this chapter of Paul's letter to remind us that the "goal" is not attaining our own salvation, but rather to live into what we have already attained - our life as a new creation in Christ Jesus. "You've been made a new creation. Now live into that truth." Support the show

Obedience - especially in a Biblical context - means more than just following a set of rules. This idea runs counter to much of our modern understanding and use of the term, where there's at least an implicit message that to "obey" means to align oneself with a certain standard of behavior. So how can we ensure that when we talk about "obeying" God, we're doing so with the right heart posture?In this message, Fr. Jeromie Rand works from Jesus' Parable of the Two Sons (Matthew 21:28-32) to explain how God's call to obedience is a call to listen, trust, and submit to His Word more than simply following a set of rules.  Support the show

Jesus' parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard [Matthew 20:1-16] is just as perplexing to us today as it was to the disciples: a landowner sends laborers into his vineyard to work, but at the end of the work day pays them all a day's wages, whether they worked a full day or only one hour. From a business sense, this would be a baffling decision on the part of the landowner. But as an illustration of God's grace, it is perfectly accurate. In this sermon, Fr. Jeromie Rand delves into this parable and its implications for "an economy based on grace," an economy of abundance, and what it means to be laborers in the economy of God. Support the show

A well-known parable of Jesus is recorded in Matthew 18:21-35, that of the unforgiving servant; despite having received unconditional forgiveness for an impossible debt he owed his master, a servant immediately - perhaps even cruelly - calls in a much smaller debt owed him by a fellow servant. Jesus uses this parable to contrast the behavior we ought to exhibit to one another - forgiving one another because we have been forgiven. In this message, Fr. Jeromie Rand outlines the real work it takes to engage in Biblical forgiveness, reminding the congregation and listeners that "our choice to forgive is a marker of the salvation that has already been given to us free of charge." Support the show

In a community as diverse as the global Church - people of varied life experiences, economic backgrounds, political stances, and ethnicities - what are the qualities that remain constant, both in our day-to-day life and in our gatherings of worship? What are the truths that are applicable to all believers, let alone all people? In his first sermon to the congregation of Christ Our Hope, Fr. Jeromie Rand draws from Romans 12:9-21; in addition to being instructions on how we are to live as the Church, they are also reminders of the most significant constant of who we are - a people who have received the mercy of God, a people called to "let love be genuine."  Support the show

Relationships between believers are a significant component of Scripture, particularly in the growth of the early Church. The apostles - with their various strengths and giftings - helped to create the environment for the Gospel to take root, grow, and thrive through their relationships with individuals and communities. To some, the apostles were mentors. To others, they were friends and peers. But all of these shared a connection with fellow members of the body as a first step to build each other up in Christ.In his last sermon as interim pastor of Christ Our Hope, Fr. Al Janssen unpacks selections from St. Paul's last known epistle in 2nd Timothy chapters 2 and 4. At once specifically directed to the Christ Our Hope congregation yet relevant to all seeking to walk in love and charity with one another, Fr. Al extrapolates ways believers of all kinds - the soldiers, the athletes, and the farmers alike - can embody the church to one another and the world at large.Support the show

In 2nd Timothy 3, Paul warns Timothy of hard times ahead, reminding him of certain difficulty for those seeking to live a life in Christ Jesus. But when we seek context for our life and circumstances in Scripture, we see that regularly seeking to embed God's Word deep in our hearts is our best preparation for whatever life may bring - good or ill. In this second of a 3-part series from 2nd Timothy, interim pastor Fr. Al Janssen highlights three ways we can "read, learn, and inwardly digest" God's Word, providing context for why this practice is so central to the Christian life - especially in times of uncertainty and hardship.    Support the show

The characteristics of a healthy church - especially in the Western world - are often reduced to a set of metrics. What's your average Sunday attendance? How many programs does your church offer? Does your building use the most modern technology? Yet in Paul's second letter to Timothy - presumably the final letter he would write in his life - we are shown a rather different set of characteristics for how to evaluate the health of a church. Fr. Al Janssen begins a series on 2 Timothy to bring us to the end of his season as interim rector of Christ Our Hope, offering three introductory characteristics of a healthy church to encourage and prepare the congregation to welcome a new pastor. Support the show

There are many kinds of storms we can experience in the life of faith. This message is especially prevalent in 2020, when political unrest, a global pandemic, and numerous other worries and fears besiege our weary hearts. Simon Peter and Jonah experienced two literal storms on the open ocean. Though their circumstances were different, their common response was a cry to God for help. In this sermon, interim rector Fr. Al Janssen compares and contrasts the two scenarios from the book of Jonah and the Gospel of Matthew, examining characteristics of the prayers of God's children in distress.  Support the show