A list of all the audio only sermons available on the site.

We're not meant to be "fixers" (which is how our society works), we're meant to be in relationship. And relationship means things like empathy, validation, listening - simply being WITH people. Which is hardest when that involves pain. And it's hardest when we can't fix it.

Video courtesy Bren? Brown.

Doesn't everyone hate walking? But it serves the purpose of getting you from point A to point B. The same can be said for our Christian walk: it gets us from where we are to where God wants us to be.

We all know deep inside that we?re not yet all of who we were intended to be.

We all know, if we?re honest;

• that we?re not as selflessly loving as we could be
• we don?t have peace or patience or compassion like we long for
• our self-control is often out of our control
• we worry and stress and feel discontent more than we?d like
• we often feel controlled by runaway lusts, fears, or jealousies
• we?d like to feel closer to God than we do
• we?re not able to consistently enjoy life, or give life to our families and friends

Truth is, we all have room for improvement. This is why we say, ?Come as you are - but don?t stay that way.? God loves us ?as is,? he accepts us ?as is? by his grace - but he loves us too much to leave us floundering, chasing down dead-end streets. He gives us grace so we can grow. Sometimes people misunderstand this. They like ?Come as You Are? acceptance and ?No Perfect People Allowed? authenticity but they don?t hear the rest: grow and change.

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Where, o death, is your sting? Where, o grave, is your victory? Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, and his life emancipates us from fear, quarrels, condemnation and hatred.

Jesus is our hope, but he's not always the hope we think we need. When Jesus entered Jerusalem a final time, many believed he was about to fulfill all of their hopes and overthrow the Romans, restoring the throne of David. But then they encountered something different...

Hopelessness is not unlike being orphaned and not knowing what's coming next. But we have a secure future. And that secure reality has present day implications.

Hope is the foundation of what keeps us looking forward in spite of our often desperate circumstances. As Christians, our ultimate hope is rooted in the resurrection of Jesus, and the promise that we, too, will be resurrected.

We have discussed in the past God?s ultimate plan to transform the world. Our concluding sermon in this leg focuses on the God?s invitation to the ?transformed? to work on his behalf toward the goal of global transformation.

Continuing our journey with the theme of transformation, we take a brief look at the transforming process that took lace in a few characters in the Bible. Transformation does not guarantee the absence of struggle, but it empowers the transformed to deal with struggle.

Paul encourages us to place ourselves on an altar. This is the place where transformation begins. While we long to be in control of the transforming process, offering our bodies as living sacrifices surrenders control to God for transformation.

There is not one person who has escaped being marked on and muddied up by our broken, fallen world and our part in it.

For all have sinned; all fall short of God?s glorious standard. Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins. Romans 3:23?24

There are no perfect people. Look at the person next to you. Looks like they have it all together, don?t they? Maybe not! That person has said things, done things, thought things that would shock you. And yet, we pretend we?re perfect. People play games. We run and hide, because the rules of the world have told us ?If they knew that? if they saw that? they?d judge you, they?d run away, and you?ll be alone?feeling condemned.? And so God, by his grace has set us free?if we?ll just receive it, take it in, let it mark us indelibly. He has declared us not guilty, not condemned?fully forgiven, accepted, adopted, loved by the only One who really knows our true identity.

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As we stand on the verge of a new year, it's only fitting to ask "Where have we been?", and maybe more importantly, "Where are we going?". Whatever the answers, the uncomfortable truth remains: we will have to change.

The holiday season is upon us, and having the kids perform is one of our church's favorite Christmas activities.

Forgiveness is a subject that impacts each of us. We all need forgiveness and we all need to forgive. The subject can stir up emotions?powerful, positive emotions when forgiveness led to reconciliation; powerful, negative emotions when forgiveness was withheld and relationship remains severed. Our passage of Scripture today combines both of these experiences. We can remember the gracious, embodied gift of God?s forgiveness in Jesus. We can also remember the waiting that occurred among God?s people, waiting for a definitive word from God. It is important to reflect and focus on forgiveness because each of us will face times, again, when we both need to seek forgiveness and when we need to offer forgiveness. How does the gift of Jesus help to make us forgiving people and forgiven people?

Have you ever read an email, text message, book, or letter too quickly and so misunderstood what was being communicated? In our hectic and busy world, there can be instant communication at any time. Not only do computers, cell phones, and tablets facilitate communication, but they increase the expectation of what is a timely response. In the midst of this hurriedness, communicating slowly may not be an option. Yet slow communication is exactly what is needed sometimes. We sometimes call this ?thinking before speaking?! Perhaps you have had the experience of waiting before hitting ?Reply? and found that your response to an angry email changed?or perhaps was not sent at all. Perhaps you found that by listening, the communication wasn?t as angry as you initially sensed. Advent is a time of waiting. It is a time of slowing. We are encouraged not to rush to the celebration of Christmas. Perhaps we can think of Advent as a gift of waiting, of communicating thoughtfully, to make sure we don?t misunderstand God?s communication of Jesus.

If you have ever seen flashing lights in your rearview mirror though you were a model driver; if you have ever been asked about a rumor that was spread behind your back; if you have ever been found guilty?in a court or a simple conversation?when you were innocent; if you have ever been terminated without cause, then you have a glimpse of the experience that many of this passage?s first hearers felt. Isaiah 42 is part of a section that captured the words of God to a group of people suffering injustice. The Jewish people had been in exile in Babylon for almost fifty years. Injustice can roil up within as rage, anger, bitterness, helplessness, frustration. All of those things can lead for our desire for vengeance, revenge.