Kpcow Sermons

Matthias replaced Judas, beating out Joseph (AKA Barsabbas, Justus)  as one of the Twelve disciples. When making decisions in our lives, prayer makes a difference because it is an act of entrusting our choice to a provident God for whom love and justice matter. From Matthias’ “obscurity” we are challenged to seek the mission of the church over the structure. From Joseph we learn that we can serve without titles. Faithful Christian living is a sharing in the ministry of Jesus.

Friends influence one another in the way they speak and act. Jesus calls us “friend.” His definition of friendship is revealed in Jesus’ plan to help us achieve his command to “love one another as I have loved you.” By abiding, or hanging out, in Jesus’ love, he will influence us and change us. By demonstrating an impossible love for us, akin to a mother’s love for her child, Jesus has given us the courage to love as he has loved us. Even if we cannot fully love as he does, we are free to try.

The Holy Spirit creates the space and opportunity for sharing the Good News. When someone like Philip is open to the Spirit, he is able to gain access and approach those who might be “out of his league.” When someone like the Ethiopian is open to the Spirit, he/she is changed and able to influence a great many individuals. We can relate to both because sometimes we are the ones who have access to great influencers to great-to-be influencers like children or we are able to influence those only we can in the spheres of our lives.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. We are his flock, his sheep. The sheep listen to the shepherd because they trust that the shepherd will guide and protect them. The Good Shepherd has the power to lay down his life and the power to take up his life. When we hear that Jesus wants us to lay down our lives, we can listen b/c he protects us. If we fail to listen to his voice and follow another voice, the Good Shepherd comes seeking after us until we are found, again.

The risen Lord Jesus healed and saved back in Biblical times and the same Jesus continues to do so today. Faith in Jesus is the key. Our faith in Jesus affect us and also affects others. Our faith in Jesus gives us access to perform miracles: changing people. Peter exhorts us to repent – to change our minds about thinking that being in awe of God is enough. He challenges us to turn to God, to live for God. Living for God means: loving, respecting, and being loyal to God demonstrated through our actions.

While the disciples are locked behind closed doors, Jesus comes to them giving them his peace and sending them out with the Holy Spirit. Even when seemingly undeserving of his presence, Jesus keeps coming to his disciples in grace. Jesus sends his disciples into the world full of things to fear. To these sent ones, Jesus gives his promise of peace in the midst of fear and the power of the Holy Spirit to forgive and heal.

When Jesus enters Jerusalem, the people celebrate. Jesus uses a donkey colt to reveal the type of leader he would be (horse = war, donkey = peace). The people may not be expecting the path of peace by their Messiah. Just as Jesus utilizes the colt for a moment, perhaps our lives might be used by God in a moment. Would we be ready to respond to such a request?

A priest is one who goes to God on our behalf. Jesus is our priest. Jesus is God. Jesus makes the perfect offering for us, as one of us. Jesus chooses the cross, and thus chooses to be with us in our suffering. God’s plan and ability goes beyond our comprehension and yet is for our good.

We were all lost. Yet Jesus embarks on an impossible mission to rescue us. We however, believe we can rescue ourselves. Jesus brings us back for a greater purpose: to serve. He uses those who were lost to bring back those who are lost.

We believe God has a plan but we often forget it is “big” – bigger than we can comprehend. Our limited knowledge however, prevents us from understanding God’s unlimited wisdom so we call it “foolishness.” The cross is God’s answer to those who seek signs and wisdom. The cross takes salvation out of the hands of the people and leaves it firmly in God’s.

Abraham and Sarah demonstrate faith by believing in the promise of God which in turn results in God crediting it as righteousness. God’s system is not the same as that of the world. Faith is the way of God, not works. Christian faith is believing in a person – Jesus of Nazareth. God takes the initiative and we simply respond.

Jesus suffers for our sake. Believers suffer for the sake of our faith. There is an important difference: Jesus’ suffering brings us to God. The suffering his followers take on for the sake of the faith is a response to what Jesus has done. Believers suffer because they believe Jesus is the “boss” of all. Believers follow Jesus because of the love he demonstrates for us – that there is no depth he would not go out of love. Believers follow Jesus because he chooses us, he claims us in baptism.

Peter, James, and John the inner circle of Jesus’ disciples, thought they knew their leader and friend. When they get a glimpse of who Jesus really is, via the transfiguration, they are terrified. They learn that listening to Jesus is the most important thing. Even if we don’t quite understand perfectly who Jesus is or why we must do something, obeying and acting out in faith is the important thing. An important task for believers is to try and figure out how to communicate our experience with God to those who have never experienced it.

Thanks to Rev. Christian Chae for sharing the Word with us and reminding us that we are already contextualized to reach others with the Good News of Jesus.

There is nothing that a person can do or not do that will make God love him/her less. While Christians are free to live however they please, to follow Jesus means to consider the effect of our actions on our family members and reframes the question from “Can I do…” to “Should I do…” The Apostle Paul challenges us to expand the definition of family to include those within our faith community. Following Jesus is not the only way…but it is the best way.

Encountering God, who has come near in Jesus, allows us to respond in repentance (changing our minds) and believing the good news. Jesus calls disciples to follow him. It means Jesus wants our jobs. Jesus takes our skills and vocation and offers even more meaning – using it to point others to him. Jesus wants our family life. When we follow him, Jesus takes care of you and yours. Following Jesus takes courage and faith because it is not always easy as demonstrated by John’s arrest.

Through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, believers receive the gift of tongues and prophesy. These are crucial gifts for the church. The gift of tongues allows believers to communicate the Christian message/culture to people who see it as completely foreign. The gift of prophecy allows believers to point out the work of God at work in the world today. The KPCoW motto and goals for 2015 give us concrete ways to use the precious gifts God has given to us.

Jesus’s birth was special. He was born God. Yet Jesus wore diapers. Jesus grew into the man who had disciples follow him. Growth was a part of Jesus’ life. It must be a part of ours. Mary and Joseph show us that we must nurture faith (ours and others’). Simeon shows us that we can actively wait. Anna shows us that God can redeem our hurt. Let us make the plans for growth allowing the space for God to make it happen.

When we go through a time of waiting or darkness, the Christian demand to always rejoice, pray, and give thanks is unbearable. Gaudete Sunday’s call to rejoice stems from the reminder that light will break into the darkness. Likewise, Paul’s exhortation to the Thessalonians is to be understood as an invitation as opposed to a demand. Because God is faithful and will do what needs to be done, we are invited to live a life of joy, prayer, and thanks.

God is unbound by the rules of time. God is also not bound by human constructs such as “time frame” or “schedules.” Christian life is lived on “God’s time” – which means we do not know exactly what time it is. We do however know “about what time it is.” God’s timing is centered on God’s unconditional love for ALL. This frees us to live in a tension of living faithfully all the while asking, “How much am I supposed to save the world and savor the world?”