2022 June

Another Good Pharisee

Another Good Pharisee

If you are a certain age, you will remember this commercial. Dressed in buckskins and wearing a feather, a weathered-faced native American paddles down a scenic river. At first, it’s a beautiful scene, but it changes quickly. We see that the river has trash floating in it. The camera pulls back; and now, we see smokestacks belching out pollution. Our friend beaches his canoe on some trash-filled shoreline and takes a few steps. The vista is disgusting—a highway of cars and grime and smog. A narrator says: “Some people have a deep abiding respect for the natural beauty that was once this country. And some people don’t.” In case you missed it, the “some people” here who do definitely include native Americans. As the narration continues, a passing car throws a large bag of trash out of its window. The bag splatters at the feet of our native American friend

The Revolution of Grace Bears Fruit, Part 2

The Revolution of Grace Bears Fruit, Part 2

This sermon is based on Galatians 5:22-26. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: At River’s Edge, we talk a lot about grace. We talk about saving grace, amazing grace, irresistible grace, unconditional grace, common grace, pure grace, unmerited grace, enabling grace, sacrificial grace, sustaining grace, superabundant grace, and marvelous, infinite, matchless grace. And we warn about cheap grace, falls from grace and children who were not born on Tuesday (because only Tuesday’s child is full of grace). But talk, like some forms of grace, is cheap. And sometimes, we use the word without knowing exactly what it means or how it works itself out in our lives. And sometimes, we forget how revolutionary grace was back then and how revolutionary it is today! In this series, we want to look at how grace changes everything--our puny definitions, our misunderstandings, our limited

The Good Pharisees, Part 2

The Good Pharisees, Part 2

There are a lot of songs with the word “good” in the title. Off the top of your head, how many can you name? If you were on your game, you probably would have mentioned some of the following songs: “Good Vibrations” (The Beach Boys), “Only the Good Die Young” (Billy Joel), “Good Day Sunshine” or “Good Morning, Good Morning” (The Beatles), “You’re No Good” (Linda Ronstadt), “Good Riddance” – aka, “Time of Your Life” (Green Day), “Good Lovin’” (The Rascals),”Good Enough” (Evanescence), “Good Golly, Miss Molly” (Creedence Clearwater Revival), “Good Girl Gone Bad” (Rihanna) and of course, “Good King Wenceslas.” And if you got even four of those names, good for you! But of course, if you got less than three titles, let’s face it, “You’re no good, you’re no good, you’re no good, baby you’re no good.” Now, if you named the theme from the movie, “The Good,

The Revolution of Grace Bears Fruit, Part 1

The Revolution of Grace Bears Fruit, Part 1

This sermon is based on Galatians 5:22-26. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: At River’s Edge, we talk a lot about grace. We talk about saving grace, amazing grace, irresistible grace, unconditional grace, common grace, pure grace, unmerited grace, enabling grace, sacrificial grace, sustaining grace, superabundant grace, and marvelous, infinite, matchless grace. And we warn about cheap grace, falls from grace and children who were not born on Tuesday (because only Tuesday’s child is full of grace). But talk, like some forms of grace, is cheap. And sometimes, we use the word without knowing exactly what it means or how it works itself out in our lives. And sometimes, we forget how revolutionary grace was back then and how revolutionary it is today! In this series, we want to look at how grace changes everything--our puny definitions, our misunderstandings, our limited

The Good Pharisees, Part 1

The Good Pharisees, Part 1

There are a lot of movies with the word “good” in the title. Off the top of your head, how many can you think of? If you were on your game, you probably mentioned several of the following: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), The Goodbye Girl (1977), Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (2014), Goodfellas (1990), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), A Few Good Men (1992), Good Will Hunting (1997), Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017), Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939), The Good German (2006), The Good Lie (204), and As Good As It Gets (1997); and that is not to mention some TV series like The Good Place, Good Omens and Stranger Things (ok, I know, this one doesn’t have good in the title, but it’s still really good). Based on all of these titles, here’s what I think: If you have the adjective “good” before

The Revolution of Grace Brings New Life, Part 2

The Revolution of Grace Brings New Life, Part 2

This sermon is based on Galatians 2:19-21; 4:4-7. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: At River’s Edge, we talk a lot about grace. We talk about saving grace, amazing grace, irresistible grace, unconditional grace, common grace, pure grace, unmerited grace, enabling grace, sacrificial grace, sustaining grace, superabundant grace, and marvelous, infinite, matchless grace. And we warn about cheap grace, falls from grace and children who were not born on Tuesday (because only Tuesday’s child is full of grace). But talk, like some forms of grace, is cheap. And sometimes, we use the word without knowing exactly what it means or how it works itself out in our lives. And sometimes, we forget how revolutionary grace was back then and how revolutionary it is today! In this series, we want to look at how grace changes everything--our puny definitions, our misunderstandings, our

Matthew 23 (Again)

Matthew 23 (Again)

Okay, suppose you are a Wycliffe Bible translator and you’ve come to John 6:35 where Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life.” But there is a problem: the culture for whom you are translating doesn’t have bread. In fact, they never have seen or tasted bread. As a translator, what do you do now? This was the question facing one translator in Papua New Guinea. The Dani people had no bread of any sort. Now, if this was some verse tucked away in Nahum, no one would really care (I know, I just threw Nahum under the bus and for that I am sorry; but really, when was the last time you read Nahum?). But this was in John’s gospel, and Jesus’ words here were extremely important. Jesus was declaring that he was the true manna from heaven and that, by believing in him, the hungry souls of people

The Revolution of Grace Brings New Life

The Revolution of Grace Brings New Life

This sermon is based on Galatians 2:19-21. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: At River’s Edge, we talk a lot about grace. We talk about saving grace, amazing grace, irresistible grace, unconditional grace, common grace, pure grace, unmerited grace, enabling grace, sacrificial grace, sustaining grace, superabundant grace, and marvelous, infinite, matchless grace. And we warn about cheap grace, falls from grace and children who were not born on Tuesday (because only Tuesday’s child is full of grace). But talk, like some forms of grace, is cheap. And sometimes, we use the word without knowing exactly what it means or how it works itself out in our lives. And sometimes, we forget how revolutionary grace was back then and how revolutionary it is today! In this series, we want to look at how grace changes everything--our puny definitions, our misunderstandings, our limited

The Matthew 23 Pharisee, Part 2

The Matthew 23 Pharisee, Part 2

True confession. I often root for the bad guy. I always pull for the monster in every Frankenstein movie (Isn’t it clear that if there is a bad guy here, it is the grave-robbing Doctor Frankenstein?). And in all the Jurassic Park movies, you will always find me pulling for the dinosaurs to have a good meal and the sooner into the movie, the better. I so wanted the Creature from the Black Lagoon to win; and any time The Mummy shows up, please know I will be in his corner. I feel that Loki is basically misunderstood; and while he is extremely mischievous (and definitely broken—childhood trauma, no doubt)), I can’t wish him harm. And I cheered when Verbal walked out of the police station in The Usual Suspects. Even if he isn’t Keyser Soze, he is pretty cool. And to be perfectly honest and open, anytime I watch