Waters Ave Sermoncast

In this third sermon from our series on Romans, Chris takes a look at chapters 2 and 3 and explores the Apostle Paul's discussion on the use of Torah as a badge of honor that provided a sense of superiority for the first century Jewish community. We find that Paul's teaching allows for no boasting and look at what that should mean for us in modern Christianity.  

In this second sermon of our series in the book of Romans, Rachel explores Romans chapter 1 in the context of why it was that the first Christians didn't fit in with society. It wasn't the religious differences per se, but rather that their view of God kept them from participating in rituals meant to secure social cohesion and protection from the gods. They didn't join the "woo"-tang clan. Have a listen to see how she connects that to Christianity today. 

In this sermon, we begin our series exploring the Apostle Paul's letter to the church at Rome, commonly called the Book of Romans. We briefly explore Paul's background and the historical context surrounding the churches of Rome at that time. We find that Paul's ultimate goal is to promote peace and equality between groups that normally would not have been so quick to get along. And we see what that means for us today.     

In this final celebration of Easter, we look at the event commonly called the Ascension of Christ and work to discover how it fit into the early Christian slogan "Jesus is Lord." We look at what that phrase meant for socio-political context of early followers of Jesus, and what it might begin to mean for us as we strip away years of baggage loaded onto it. Preached 3/6/18

In this 5th week of Easter, we explore the text of John chapter 15 where Jesus refers to himself as a healthy grapevine. We explore the historical significance of that metaphor and unpack Jesus' following teaching on loving one another. We discover the importance of a life lived in loving community and discover that it is the path to joy and a depth of life. Preached 4/29/18

In this 4th Sunday of Easter, we look at the tenth chapter of John's gospel where Jesus describes himself as shepherd leading the people of Israel. We unpack what this meant for his context, and it leads us to ask what it might mean for us to guide and lead each other in love. Preached 4/22/18

In this sermon (3rd week of the Easter season), we look at the Resurrection of Christ as an Event that disrupts our lives and forces us to question the stories we've told ourselves to keep our lives running smoothly. Preached 4/15/18.

In this second week of Easter, we hear a special sermon from Ryan as he takes us on a journey through the thinking of early Christianity has they attempted to answer the question, "What happened to Jesus between the time he died and the time he rose again?" From their answer, "The Harrowing of Hell" we see an archetype that helps us to view our lives as a journey that models the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus. 

For this Palm Sunday sermon, we unpack the actions Jesus took during Holy Week to discover what they tell us about the dehumanizing structures of religion. We're invited to follow Jesus in bringing chaos into the order.

In our 5th week of Lent, we look at John 12 and we look at Jesus' call to death. Through his words, we discover that true life will only ever follow death. We see that God's very presence is in the place of death, and we discover the courage it takes to walk into our own, daily deaths. Sermon preached 3/18/18

In this 4th Sunday of Lent, we explore the story from the ninth chapter of John's gospel. The story concludes with Jesus claiming to bring sight to the blind and blindness to the seeing. We unpack the main event of the text and examine each characters response to it in order to make sense of this odd statement from Jesus. 

In this sermon we examine the John 4 which tells the story of Jesus' interaction with a Samaritan woman. We look at how this passage is typically interpreted in order to enforce misogynistic tendencies in Christianity. But we discovered instead not a Jesus who is cutting a hard heart, but a Jesus who heals a hurting heart - even though it took him completely outside of his religious boundaries. Sermon preached 3/4/18

In this second week of Lent, we look at the famous discussion between Jesus and Nicodemus to find out a little bit about the depth of life that we can all experience. Sermon date - 2/25/18

In this first sermon of Lent, we explore the story of Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness in order to discover that his wilderness journey is ours to take as well. We discover that we must learn to hear the voices of accusation in our lives if we are to ever move past them. Sermon date: 2/18/18