The Pouting Prophet
FCCO Sermons: Take 2
(Sermon preached June 15, 2025) This sermon uses Jonah's anger at God's mercy toward the Ninevites to challenge our instinct for vengeance and exclusion, asking whether we can accept a God whose grace extends even to those we most resent. It invites listeners to engage a spiritual practice of naming their own "Ninevites" and praying to see them through the lens of divine compassion. (Jonah 3:10-4:11)
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Wonderstruck
FCCO Sermons: Take 2
(Sermon preached June 1, 2025) Psalm 8 is the outpouring of someone who is wonderstruck. This sermon invites you to a daily practice of being wonderstruck. It will change your life!
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By Faith
FCCO Sermons: Take 2
(Sermon preached May 25, 2025) The Book of Hebrews was written to a beleaguered community. Some were falling away, some were stalling out. After some teaching and scolding, the writer of Hebrews delivers a pep talk, calling for faith and perseverance by naming those who have gone before us and now cheer us on. Who inspires us? Who may we inspire?
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All Things New
FCCO Sermons: Take 2
(Sermon preached May 18, 2025) The Book of Revelation isn't a horror story - it is a hope story. It exposes the evils of empire and invites us to imagine God's alternative. Revelation 21:1-6 invites us to engage holy imagination as an act of prophetic defiance.
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Tender Loving Care
FCCO Sermons: Take 2
(Sermon preached May 11, 2025) Psalm 23 gives us a powerful portrait of God obscured by Christian nationalism and the heaven/hell framework. Don't wait for the next funeral you attend to embrace God's radical love.
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Eight Ways to Easter
FCCO Sermons: Take 2
(Sermon for Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025) For this Easter message I challenged seven other ordained ministers to share the Easter message in one sentence. Together, we delivered the Easter sermon for 2025. While most people know WHAT happened on Easter, it is quite another thing to say what it means. If you had to do it in one sentence, what would it be? Why does it matter?
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There's a New King in Town
FCCO Sermons: Take 2
Sermon preached April 13, 2025, Palm Sunday) Jesus' humble entry into Jerusalem wasn't a Disney parade, it was a planned act of nonviolent resistance. He was stirring up "good trouble." (Luke 19:29-44)
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Noooooooo! Not Him!
FCCO Sermons: Take 2
(Sermon preached April 6, 2025) Zacchaeus complicates our assumptions (Luke 19:1-10). Is there such a thing as an honorable chief tax collector?
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Between Lost and Found
FCCO Sermons: Take 2
(Sermon preached March 30, 2025, Lent 4) Jesus' parable of the lost sheep is told in response to grumbling by the scribes and Pharisees (Luke 15:1-7). This sermon is intended to disrupt our default understanding of what it means to be lost and broaden it out to those who are excluded, demonized, and unjustly treated (to name a few).
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Grounded Ministry
FCCO Sermons: Take 2
(Sermon preached March 16, 2025) In Luke 10:38-42, Jesus affirms the importance of building a rock-solid foundation in his word.
info_outline(Sermon preached December 15, 2024 - Third Sunday in Advent) Mary's singing about a revolution as she announces the dethroning of the powerful. Luke 1 gives us a Mary that is anything but meek and mild. She resists her status as a lowly girl and births a revolution of love.