The Sunday of Peace
This Palm Sunday sermon is based on Luke 19:35-44. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A
An Eye for the Difference
I grew up reading the Swedish newspaper. Technically that’s true, but it probably wouldn’t stand up in court, especially if it was a Swedish court. The truth is, I can’t read Swedish, but I can comprehend Swedish cartoons. And honestly, that was the only thing I was interested in reading. See, in every edition on page 4, there was always a spot-the-difference game where there were two almost identical pictures; and we, the readers, were to find ten differences between the two. Now, that sounds easy, but try doing it in Swedish! In any case, it was there that I first developed an eye for differences, but I had no idea that skill would be necessary to read the Gospels, but it absolutely is. I first saw how necessary this skill was when I purchased a book for my Synoptics class in seminary. The book was aptly named, Synopsis of
How Much Can I Legally Get Away With?
Our guest speaker this week is Dave Shive, and his sermon is based on Matthew12:1-14. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A
Seven “Quote” Reasons to Love the Prophets
You may find it strange, but I didn’t always love the prophets. Before I graduated from seminary, I would have listed my favorite three Old Testament books as Deuteronomy (my MA thesis was “The Form and Function of the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32), Ecclesiastes and Genesis (not a prophet, major or minor, in the group!). But then I read Abraham Heschel’s, The Prophets: An Introduction (1962, Harper Torchbooks) and that changed everything. His words made the prophets come alive for me and I fell in love with them (granted, more so Isaiah than Obadiah, but Obadiah is still fun to say). That was many years ago, but I have never looked back. And that got me thinking, maybe a little Heschel will move you to love the prophets, too. And a little Heschel we can do. As the essayist Joseph Epstein once said: “I believe it was Gayelord Hauser,
Discerning the Body of Christ
This sermon is based on 1 Corinthians 11:23-34. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: Thirteen times. That’s how many times each year we celebrate the Lord’s Supper at River’s Edge (Surprised? Can you name when those thirteen times are?). Six times. That’s how many times we find at least a mention about the Lord’s Supper in the New Testament (Surprised? Most people think there has to be more!). Zero times. That’s how many times we have had a sermon series devoted to this topic in the past 24 years (Surprised? Me, too!). Five times. That’s how many times I bet you will be absolutely surprised by something we say in this upcoming series on communion (Surprised? There may be even more surprises than that!). Numerous times. That’s how many times you will remember something from this upcoming series as you come
Seven More from the Prophets
Consider three sets of movie quotes. Here is set one. All three should be very familiar to you. I’ll give you the quote, you provide the name of the movie. First quote: “I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse." Second quote: "Go ahead, make my day." Third quote: “There’s no crying in baseball!” If you said, The Godfather, Sudden Impact and A League of their Own, you win the first category. Here is set two. All three of these quotes are related because all three are angry statements. Again, you get to name the movie. Fourth quote: “I'm walking here! I'm walking here!" Fifth quote: “You can't handle the truth!" Sixth quote: “I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!" If you said Midnight Cowboy, A Few Good Men and Wizard of OZ, you have won the second set. Here is the third set. What connects
In an Unworthy Manner
This sermon is based on 1 Corinthians 11:17-29. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: Thirteen times. That’s how many times each year we celebrate the Lord’s Supper at River’s Edge (Surprised? Can you name when those thirteen times are?). Six times. That’s how many times we find at least a mention about the Lord’s Supper in the New Testament (Surprised? Most people think there has to be more!). Zero times. That’s how many times we have had a sermon series devoted to this topic in the past 24 years (Surprised? Me, too!). Five times. That’s how many times I bet you will be absolutely surprised by something we say in this upcoming series on communion (Surprised? There may be even more surprises than that!). Numerous times. That’s how many times you will remember something from this upcoming series as you come
Seven from the Prophets
Roughly 16,000. That is how many football players are eligible for the NFL draft each year. 16,000; but only 250 or so are selected. 2,000-3,000 prospects are considered for the seven-round NHL draft each year, but only 224 are selected. Apparently, 140,000 players are eligible for the MLB draft each year, but out of that number, only 600-700 are selected. Now, if you were a major league general manager, choosing the right prospects out of a field that big should not be a problem. Why then, out of a field of 23,145 Old Testament verses should choosing seven verses be so tough? For the past seven weeks we have been looking at Christopher Wright’s book, The Old Testament in Seven Sentences (IVP Academic, Downers Grove, IL, 2019). When I purchased the book, I thought it would be a fun thought experiment that would definitely stretch the imagination, but would ultimately
Made Worthy by Jesus
This sermon begins our new series and is based on 1 Corinthians 11:23-29. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: Thirteen times. That’s how many times each year we celebrate the Lord’s Supper at River’s Edge (Surprised? Can you name when those thirteen times are?). Six times. That’s how many times we find at least a mention about the Lord’s Supper in the New Testament (Surprised? Most people think there has to be more!). Zero times. That’s how many times we have had a sermon series devoted to this topic in the past 24 years (Surprised? Me, too!). Five times. That’s how many times I bet you will be absolutely surprised by something we say in this upcoming series on communion (Surprised? There may be even more surprises than that!). Numerous times. That’s how many times you will remember something from this