Jubilee Sermons

Passage: Philippians 2:19-30. Most of our lives feel like this part of Paul's letter: everyday ordinary. But there is stuff to learn. In the hellos and goodbyes. It's often in the little things we learn what matters most. 

Passage: Philippians 2:12-18. Nobody really likes grumblers, and yet, we're a world of them! And of course, Paul's giving instructions about everything. Don't grumble? What kind of command is this? And what does it have to do with being saved? 

Passage: Philippians 2:5-11. What should Christians be like? Like Jesus. That's why Paul starts with Jesus. His example. His life. His death. And of course the humility leads to glory... God's! 

Passage: Philippians 2:1-4. All those Bible conditionals start to read like a formula. But is this what Paul is saying? Or maybe what we do flows from who we are. Changed. And this leads us to living in unity and humility together. 

Passage: Phil 1:19-26. Stay or go. Aren't we all longing on some level for heaven? Don't we want all this struggle to be over? Paul encourages the Philippians and us with a win-win no matter how you slice it. 

Passage: Philippians 1:15-18. If we're honest, we're a mixture of motives and feelings. So we're reassured by Paul's perspective on all this. With clarity and confidence, Paul assures us about what matters most and the joy we find there. 

Passage: Philippians 1:12-14. So much happens to us in life. It's hard to make sense of it all. If you could, though, if you could see it differently, would you want to? This is Paul's encouragement to some Christians in ancient Greece, and to us today. 

Passage: Philippians 1:9-11. Lots of love. Check. Know what's right. Check. Don't mess up. Um... check. But really, how on earth are we going to do all this? Good thing it's Paul's prayer and not his to-do list (spoiler alert: filled with Jesus to the glory of the Gardener, is how).

Passage: Philippians 1:1-8. In our series opener, we are challenged to find that a letter written almost two thousand years ago can speak into our human need to find joy and experience the good news of the Kingdom with friends. 

Passage: Romans 5:1-5. Anyone else struggling with the job? Maybe your role? Feeling like a failure while you try to adapt to new normals? Maybe COVID is helping us uncover another counterfeit: our sense of worth. This morning we're challenged to realize that if our worth is wrapped in anything but Jesus, it's going to be shaky! 

Do we need people? Maybe too much sometimes. Isn't Jesus enough? Sort of. Maybe COVID has exposed your people desperation or maybe "just Jesus" has always been exactly enough for the introverts among us. Either way, you'll be challenged!  

Passage: James 4:13-17. Just try making plans... you can't. COVID has seen to the shaking of our great and small plans. So this seems like a good time to reassess. How do we move forward? In what do we hope? Join Ben as he unpacks a healthy perspective on planning, in Jesus. 

Passage: Matthew 11:28-30. As we celebrate our mothers, we all relate to the common mom-struggle with control. The loss of it and the need for it as well as the illusion of it. As with other things in our COVID experience, we feel our control shaken and exposed. What is Jesus offering? Something real. 

Passage: John 10:10. Would I really settle for a fake? Maybe, sometimes. But not when it matters. Not if my life depended on it. And it does. Real, lasting, abundant life is on the line. Why do I turn to counterfeit comfort, when Jesus offers life! 

Passage: Ephesians 6:5-19. Are you feeling restricted? As if your freedom has been taken? Ben addresses the Biblical encouragement that inside transformation means we can be free no matter how restricted we are. We all want that kind of freedom that can never be taken from us. Real freedom. 

Passage: Matthew 7:24-27. In our new series, Counterfeit Gods, we're grappling with what we believe, what we trust and the gods we worship. Of course, today it's all about location. Where we're building our life-houses. What foundation do they sit on? How shaken are we in the Coronavirus storm? Jesus has encouraging words. 

Passage: John 19:38-20:19. We feel grief and loss. We're frayed. Maybe the isolation is getting to you. What does the death and alleged resurrection of a rabbi 2000 years ago, have to say into our situation on this particular COVID restricted Easter Sunday? You'd be surprised...Please note: there is a dramatic scene during this sermon which is easier to understand when watched live.  

Passage: John 12:12-19. King. Say the word and we all picture something. Mostly we picture human kings. Palm Sunday is the celebration of a King. But Jesus came as a different kind of King. With their world in chaos, what did this mean for them? With our world in chaos, what does this mean for us?

Passage: Chapter Exodus 14. We're afraid. This fear thing is common to all humans and we struggle to know what to do. Our story challenges us to trust in this good and faithful God Yahweh, who acts for His glory. Of course, learning to trust will be a process. 

Passage: Exodus 13:17-22. The Coronavirus has changed everything. Where is God? What's happening? Does God know about all this? Our Exodus story reminds us that God is leading, even on longer, desert roads in order that He might upend our expectations and have our hearts. He is with us. And He will get the glory!