The Mediator: A Parable

I gave this sermon on Palm Sunday in order to set up Holy Week. I lay out the events of Holy Week chronologically and talk about what is going on politically, what it is like for the disciples, and what Jesus is doing and thinking about in the Gospels.

23 Maalis 201624min

In this sermon I talk about the work of Jesus on the cross as a Recapitulation or a Recap. Jesus is the "New and Even Better Adam" who sums up and retells the story of humanity. This sermon helps put together the whole Bible as well as helping explain how people work. I am indebted to the work of Scot McKnight particularly in the book The Blue Parakeet. In this sermon I drew a picture which is included here to help the listener understand what I am talking about.

14 Maalis 201623min

In this sermon I look at the idea of Substitution. To illustrate this, I had several people wear shirts that said things out of Isaiah 53 like Guilt and Sin. I then, playing the role of Jesus, put on their shirts and took them to the cross. I then gave them new shirts that said things like Righteous and Peace. For this part of the sermon I walked all over the sanctuary changing shirts and talking. The recording catches what I am saying, but it obviously misses the visual.

9 Maalis 201622min

This sermon is about the motif of a courtroom and legal language that is so prominent in the Bible and specifically related to the cross. I use 5 images to teach on the topic. Those pictures are below. I also a couple of times tell Spike when to switch the slide which makes sense in person but may sound funny on the  recording.

1 Maalis 201621min

This sermon continues my series on motifs of the cross in scripture. This one looks at Ransom and Redemption. We talk about ransom with kidnappings and redeeming coupons, but these words are loaded with meaning and images in the Bible. What do they tell us about the death of Jesus on the cross?

23 Helmi 201622min

This starts my Lent series called "The Cross." I am taking a look at the metaphors and motifs of the cross in scripture to explore why Jesus went to the cross and what the cross accomplishes. Here I look at one of the most used metaphor for the cross in the Bible- The Blood Sacrifice. This is probably also the most uncomfortable metaphor for us today. The scripture is from 1 Corinthians 2. I forgot to hit record as I began so the recording starts halfway through the passage.

17 Helmi 201622min

In this sermon I wrap up my series on paradoxes of the faith by talking about how you have to give in order to receive. This is an idea foreign to our world today. This series was inspired by the book Paradoxes for Living by N. Graham Standish. I highly recommend that book.

8 Helmi 201620min

In this sermon I take a look at the paradox that for Christians maturity actually means becoming childlike. I distinguish this from being childish and from how the world defines maturity. The sermon is light and short to fit the occasion. The children of the church led worship including reading the scripture from Matthew 18:1-6. They even led children's songs for the hymns. It was very fun and this sermon was written to fit with and accentuate our childlike worship service.

1 Helmi 201614min