Nathaniel From Timfam

It's not enough to describe the world we live in, the world that was created as "perfect". Genesis 1 shows us at least three good things about this world - its real, it's ordered, and it's good. It's a home, and that is what is should feel like. That uncanny feeling that you don't belong can only get fixed with the stranger who made this place his home. A sermon on Genesis 1:3-25 on October 5th 2025

Genesis 1:2 is a strange verse; it basically announces chaos after creation to the world. There are at least three ways to handle it. I argue that it is the creation of substantive stuff that can be filled with something. A sermon on Genesis 1:2 on September 28th 2025

What's the story you are part of? And who is the center of your story? The story begins at the beginning, Genesis 1. A sermon on September 21st, 2025

What an awesome thing that the God of heaven and earth wants us, wants to find us, and looks for us. However much you and I have messed up our lives or done our own thing, we don't have to work our way back or fix things to be with God. He comes for us. A sermon on Luke 15:1-10 on September 14th, 2025 

Do you love your vocation? Which one? Do you see the Lord working through your vocation? I find it both incredibly convicting that the Lord would work through me (he certainly could do much better) and also very encouraging. Wrap up on vocation. A sermon on September 7th 2025

Everything has its setting or context where it flourishes. Plants flourish in gardens; football teams flourish in schools with equipment and fields. Where do humans and humanity flourish? An answer from 1 Timothy 6 and Michael Berg's "Vocation" on August 31st 2025

Paul sows us that the most practical activities of our lives - eating and marriage - are spiritual. He lays out ow these are the areas for spiritual warfare. A sermon on 1 Timothy 5 on August 24

We've got the awesome privilege that God is working through us. We are his masks. A sermon on 1 Timothy 3, 5 and Michael Berg's "Vocation" on August 10th

The people of Peace want to build a good congregation in Otsego-Plainwell that lives well for the people around us. We want to know the people around us and build better relationships because there is one mediator and not just because we share other common interests. A sermon on August 3, 2025 for Friendship Sunday. 

A sermon on 1 Timothy 2 and Michael Berg's "Vocation". On july 27th, 2025 

The question, "What should I do with my life" is constant refrain. We graduate from high school - what should I do with my life? Finish college - what should I do with my life. Don't like our career - what should I do with my life? Have kids - what should I do with my life? Retire - what should I do with my life. Over the next few weeks, we'll try to answer this question through the lens of "vocation", the Christian answer to "what should I do with my life". Vocation means we are "saved to serve". This is the first sermon on July 20th, 2025 from 1 Timothy 1:12-20.

Charles Taylor explains that while 500 years ago it was almost impossible to NOT believe in God, now it is almost impossible TO believe in God. In so many ways, we've built a life that can be meaningful, rewarding, and successful in some ways without God. Then we use little salvations to fix the problems we still have. But what if each of those little salvations simply pointed to the bigger salvation that was already won for us in Jesus Christ? A sermon on Acts 4:1-22 on June 15th, 2025

For someone who takes the time to investigate the issues related to the Bible, they will likely discover hundreds of questions and problems. There are reasonable answers for many of these questions. The real question is, what is the Bible? Is it data or information? Is it a rule book? if it is these things, it will disappoint us. But if it is something more.... a sermon on June 1st, 2025

Can a book so old be reliable? Can we trust it and learn from it? What about all the problems in the Bible? This week we consider whether the Bible is reliable. A sermon on Acts 17:10-15.

A common problem with Christianity is that it ruins the fun in people's lives. Whether intentional or not, it becomes something of a "straitjacket" that people simply have to put up with. What do we do about this? Why does Christianity take all the fun out of life? A sermon from Acts 11 and other lessons on May 18th 2025

The first Christians dealt with some of the hardest questions. One of them - what do we do about suffering? They faced so much. Then they healed. Acts Answers - a sermon on May 11th 2025.

There are plenty of arguments that Christianity does good things in the world. See Confronting Christianity or Alvin Schmidt How Christianity Changed the World. But Jesus doesn't say Christianity is good because it makes the world a better place or because people do good things because of Christianity. Rather, he says Christianity is good because Jesus died and rose. A sermon on Acts 9:1-22 on May 4, 2025

We still ask a lot of questions of Christianity, and so did the ancient people. Acts answered a lot of the same questions. Lets find out what they said. First study - is Christianity legitimate? is it valid? Should we keep it around? Acts 5:17-34

Peeps. Crème filled eggs. Chocolate. Bunnies. Chicks. Lambs. Lilies. Tulips. Daffodils. They’re all fun things that are part of spring. But they actually take us back to the real Easter. While the religions of the East speak of dissolving into the ocean of being, and while Islam and the Christian cults portray an otherworldly future, the Bible promises resurrection. This is different. It’s this life laid hold of and turned around. Resurrection is Jesus taking us through the valley of the shadow and out into a happily ever after, complete with best wedding ever. Without Jesus, life ends with a funeral. With him, there is a never-ending feast. A sermon on Easter Sunday April 20th, 2025

Repentance can be difficult, almost terrifying. Yet it is renewing, and God is desperate to renew us. A sermon on Psalm 51:10-13