Langdon Palmer

Do you sometimes think 'If only I was more organized, and my house was more organized, and my schedule was more organized, then I could have some real peace and satisfaction? Maybe what is more important than being organized is what your life is organized around. With our busy schedules and hectic lives, is it possible to be both active and still and centered on God? Yes. We contrast the deep peace of the Psalmist in Psalm 131 with what organizes the grumbling woman and the artist described by C.S. Lewis in The Great Divorce. We discover three basic clues in Psalm 131 on how to live with our heart and soul located in the very presence of God, regardless of how crazy our lives are!

Why are there such awful things in the bible? Today we look at one of the most difficult passages in all of scripture: "Blessed is he who seizes your babies and dashes them against the rocks!" How can the bible be the word of God if it contains a verse like this? It turns out this verse is crucial for helping us understand our sense of rage and indignation at the unfairness of the world. We look at the history of ancient Israel and discover the true story behind this verse.

What if there was a book only 22 sentences long that covered the following topics: The nature of God, the nature of human beings, what actually happened on the cross, the role of social justice in the Christian life, the role of personal morality in the Christian life, and how to live a life full of meaning! Psalm 103 contains 22 windows that not only allow us to look out and get our bearings but also allow the light of God's self-revelation to break in and illuminate our world. Join us as we work through Psalm 103 and along the way learn from C.S. Lewis a helpful way for Christians to read and understand the entire Old Testament !

Ever have a day where nothing is going your way and then you see someone who seems to have it easy even though they are a jerk? If God is real, why isn't life fair? Why is there no justice? I think one of the reasons the Harry Potter series is so successful is that JK Rowling gets what it is like to live in an unfair world. It turns out that Psalm 73 shows us the way to live in a world where the wicked prosper.

Ever feel like you are in a wrestling match with yourself - where part of you is trying to hold on to your faith and the other part of you is questioning the whole Christian thing? Do you know someone who has walked away from the faith? This morning we find in this ancient psalm a brutally honest examination of how doubt works and we find a clue to the way out in a really surprising place!

Imagine a life which is like a tree planted by the streams of living water. Compare that to a life like chaff where you are blown all over the place, where there is lots of motion and movement, but very little to show for it. With this podcast we begin our journey through the book of psalms, with the beloved gateway - Psalm 1. Here we are given a way to live and a way to avoid. It turns out there is a sin that seems insignificant to us which can turn our lives to chaff, yet there is something that looks undramatic to us - just old words on a page - God's word, that can change the entire trajectory of our lives.

What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit ? What was the first Pentecost all about? When people say they are being led by the Holy Spirit - how do we know if it is true, or they are just making things up ? We look at wind surfing, running and gas masks to come to grips with the reality of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that is described in Acts 2 at the very birth of the church.

When faced with difficult times or thinking about your future have you ever heard yourself say "I just want to be happy." In this sermon on the last verses of the last chapter of the book of Acts, we find discover an ancient quote from the book of Isaiah reveals clues about the practical things that turn us from people with calloused hearts to people with joyfull hearts.

Should churches have standards of behavior for members, and if so, how do we decide? How should Christians handle disagreements? We look at these two very timely questions as we study Acts 15 verse by verse and discover some general principles that apply directly to our own struggles today.

What is the good life and where is it found? Some used to say 'In Christ.' But has Christianity outlived its usefulness? Is it nothing more than a narrow minded relic from a bygone era ? Today we see Paul on Mars Hill encountering the philosophers of his age. It turns out there is a lot that the Cynics, the Stoics, and the Epicureans can teach us about the good life. There is much to learn. But is philosophy enough ? Paul wants to introduce us not to another approach to the good life, but rather to the very Author of Life.

The picture of the early church painted in today's scripture reading is so beautiful it can actually depress us - how can our own church experience fall so short of it? But there is more going than first appears and in fact this scripture describes things that can be true about us and our own churches today. Many of us enjoy the classic child's story the Grinch who stole Christmas, but what if we are the ones whose hearts are two sizes too small? What if this is exactly what the Holy Spirit came to change? In today's lesson we learn how to live radically generous lives for the sake of Jesus - a bold generosity empowered by none other than the Holy Spirit !

What would it feel like to live a life fully empowered by and guided by the Holy Spirit? What if part of being led by the Spirit was being good at waiting? In this first part of our study on the book of Acts, we look at the days after the ascension of Jesus and what it can teach us about how we can be the church together today.

What really happened on the first Easter? How can it be that Jesus really came back to life? Even if it happened, what difference does it make to our lives here and now? It turns out that an analogy from 8th grade math can help us come to grips with the true meaning of the Christian story. The images shown during the sermon can be found at http://www.southridgeworship.com/easter_2011.htm

Does life ever feel like a random collection of fragments of unfinished stories to you? Pieces of stories that just don't make sense when you try to put them next to each other? How can there be so much beauty and so much horror mixed up in the same world? Where can meaning and hope be found in a world like this where one minute the crowds welcome Jesus with Palms and the next minute cry out Crucify him? We take what appears to be three random fragments: The story of Palm Sunday in Matthew 21, an ancient song in Psalm 118 and a intensely introspective song by Bruce Cockburn to discover the true meaning of Palm Sunday and how to live in a world that seems to be made of fragments of stories that never resolve. You can purchase the song "Dialog with the Devil" by Bruce Cockburn on Itunes.

Does it ever feel like hurry is too much a part of your life? But then again is it really that bad? When pastor claims that hurry destroys people's souls. Is it true? We look at the famous story of Martha and Mary and find out that things are a little different than they appear at first. Martha's problem is not that she is busy... it is that she doesnt know what time it is. Find out what that means and think about seven habits that can help to slay the hurry monster in our lives !

Jesus turns to people and says "Come and See..." What if he were to say that to you ? Is it possible that the writer of the gospel of John tells us about how the first disciples came to follow Jesus exactly because he is calling out to you and I across the ages "Come and See...", Today we look at classic section of the gospel of John that gets us thinking about our own role in saying to others "Come and See". When ever we are given the opportunity to check out a real adventure there is always a risk and always a cost in moving from thinking about it to actually living it. It takes effort and courage to live a life of adventure. Jesus turns to people and says "Come and See..." What if he were to say that to you ? Is it possible that the writer of the gospel of John tells us about how the first disciples came to follow Jesus exactly because he is calling out to you and I across the ages "Come and See...", Today we look at classic section of the

When Jesus said "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" did he mean that judging other peoples actions is wrong? Is the story of the woman caught in Adultery a story about not condemning others or naming sin for what it is? It turns out that most of us only hear half of this story - the half we want to hear, and miss the half we most need to hear. Join us as we hear the story of the woman caught in Adultery from a fresh perspective - where we are located in the position not of an observer but of the woman, not 2000 years ago, but today.

Ever feel doubtful about saying Jesus is the only when there are so many other religions and good people in the world? How comfortable are you with your understanding of Jesus? Jesus looks at each of us and says "Who do you say that I am?" Today we look at the archeological and theological background to Peter's great confession "You are the Christ." We touch on the trap of those who try to get behind the gospels to the historical Jesus, and turn instead to the Jesus of the gospels, the Jesus that doesn’t fit, the Jesus that disturbs us, the Jesus of the gospels, the real Jesus -the pantocrator - the ruler of heaven and earth.

How well do you know Jesus? If you could know him better - would you really want to? In our scripture for today we encounter one of the wildest scenes of the New Testament - the Transfiguration - and we discover that it is in embracing the mystery of Jesus Christ that all the rest of life begins to make sense...

When we hear someone say they are on a mission for God we either think of something silly like the Blues Brothers or something terrifying like religious extremists blowing people up in the name of God. But what if God really did have a mission for you and you really could know it? We find a mission from God in an amazing section of the book of James - a practical way to live both the outer mission and the inner mission that God wants us to undertake!