John's Gospel is so very unique. It slows everything down. Jesus' big first appearance is at an unnamed wedding where he trying to keep attention away from himself, and the impact is small. John is presenting Jesus as something different than what people expect. A counter to the culture, a resistance to the powers and their ways. The main resistance being joy. The sermon is based on John 2:1-11.

Jesus doesn't chase. He doesn't demand certainty. He isn't interested in control. Yet so much of Christianity today seems to want what Jesus rejected. Instead Jesus just says "Come and see." Because he recognizes that transformation comes through invitation. The sermon is based on John 1:35-51.

Human's love to claim that God supports their ideas, politics, and economic systems. But that's just not the case. God's economy operates on a different set of measures and with different goals. And it has to do with the wellbeing of all. God's economy runs on abundance - there is enough to share freely. The sermon is based on Isaiah 55:1-13.

We live in a society that is really good at avoiding hard truths. God puts Ezekiel in a valley of dry bones because you can't resurrect when you won't recognize death. God gives Ezekiel and the exiled people of Israel hope. Hope is proclaimed in the midst of devastation. The words are spoken, breath is given, and action follows. The sermon is based on Ezekiel 37:1-14.

Jeremiah proclaims a message of hope to people in exile. And it's not fluffy rhetoric. It's the hard truth combined with hope - They aren't going anywhere for a while, so stop waiting to live life. Live your lives. Hope happens in actions taken every day. Hope doesn't exist outside of fear - hope speaks in the midst of it. And hope causes us to act. The sermon is based on Jeremiah 29:1, 4-14.

Isaiah is a prophet who names the reality for what it is and offers hope in the midst of horror. Hope doesn't wait until everything is well. It speaks into the horror declaring that it doesn't have to be this way, there is another way that God is taking us. Like Amos, Isaiah would probably feel right at home in America in 2025. The sermon is based on Isaiah 9:1-7.

The Old Testament Prophet Amos had a message that could not be ignored. It certainly wasn't liked by those in positions of power and those exploiting the poor. But it couldn't be ignored. In many ways, Amos' message would find a home in the US in 2025. The sermon is based on portions of Amos, Chapters 1 and 5.

The world and its empires and kingdoms all operate on the same playbook - oppression, exhaustion, division. But God has a different playbook. We see how this plays out in 1 Kings 19 when we encounter an exhausted Elijah who is afraid and running for his life. God gives him rest and renewal.