Exodus 17:1-7 | Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16 | Philippians 2:1-13 | Matthew 21:23-32

Jeremy Richards

The Israelites have seen a lot in the past few chapters of Exodus. We haven’t really been following that story line in our previous sermons, so let me refresh you. They were enslaved to the Egyptians, but God sent Moses to free them. After 10 increasingly devastating plagues, the Egyptians finally let the people go. In each of these plagues, the Israelites and the Egyptians saw the power of God. When the Israelites left Egypt they were led by the presence of God in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

Exodus 16:2-15 | Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45 | Philippians 1:21-30 |Matthew 20:1-16

Jeremy Richards

Many of you probably know CS Lewis’ famous series The Chronicles of Narnia, but maybe fewer of you know about his sci-fi series, The Space Trilogy. In the second book of the The Space Trilogy, called Perelandra, the protagonist, Ransom, arrives on Venus, which is also called “Perelandra.” After a bizzare landing, Ransom ends up on a kind of floating island. As the book progresses, we come to discover that Perelandra is essentially the Garden of Eden before the fall, and like the Garden of Eden, the human-like beings he meets, a male and a female like Adam and Eve, are innocent and uncorrupted.

Exodus 14:19-31 | Psalm 114 | Romans 14:1-12 | Matthew 18:21-35

Jeremy Richards

For Brie and my first vacation as a married couple, we went to Yosemite national park. We woke up early on the morning of May 18th, 2012. How do I remember the exact date, you ask? Because, May 18th is also Brie’s birthday, and May 18th, 2012, was Brie’s first birthday as a married woman. I, inexperienced, partner that I was, thought, “Hey, we’re getting up at 5 in the morning, I already got her a birthday present, obviously she won’t expect anything…anything…like, not even a card.” Ooooooh, I was wrong.

Exodus 3:1-15 | Psalm 105: 1-6, 23-26, 45b | Romans 12:9-21 | Matthew 16:1-28

Jeremy Richards

We recently finished up a series on Philippians a few weeks ago. During that series, one of the themes that came out the strongest was the idea that Salvation isn’t a one-time event but a journey, one we take together. While we explored that idea quite a bit, it remained fairly abstract. There were metaphors about boats and shores and waves. The Trinity, of course, made an appearance, as well. But there weren’t as many tangible instructions about how we live out a life of salvation.

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28 | Psalm 105: 1-6, 16-22, 45b | Romans 10: 5-15 | Matthew 14:22-33

Jeremy Richards

I want to begin by saying I’m feeling a lot of emotions this morning. What happened in Charlottesville this weekend has shocked and appalled me, and it must be addressed in our sermon this morning. I had a different sermon written 48 hours ago, before I knew about alt-right marches, hate speech, swastikas, homophobic chants, and violence on the other side of our country in Charlottesville, VA. Before a car smashed into protestors, killing at least one person, before driving away.

Philippians 4:1-9

Jeremy Richards

Is there a better word for us to hear this morning than this: “The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus?” I can’t think of one.

Philippians 3

Jeremy Richards

The apostle Paul writes to a Philippian church that has come so far, and yet is struggling. It’s losing heart. But he reminds them that they have hearts that are still beating. Throughout this letter Paul keeps saying in so many words, “You’ve come so far. Don’t give up now. Keep fighting. ‘Keep breathing. Keep living. Keep searching. Keep pushing on. Keep bleeding. Keep healing. Keep fading. Keep shining on.”

Philippians 2:12-30

Jeremy Richards

“You believe in being saved?” Howard asked me on the way to the Durham VA. I had just started interning at a transitional housing development for veterans where Howard was a resident. Before I could say anything, Jimmy, the staff member who was driving said passionately, “Sure I do!”

“Not you, the pastor,” Howard said, and looked at me.

Philippians 2:1-11

Jeremy Richards

There are some passages that are so rich, so foundational to our faith, that to preach on them seems to be an exercise in futility. One simply can’t say all there is to say. This passage is just such a passage. We could spend weeks on vv. 6-11 alone, which is called the “Christ hymn” because scholars believe it was actually a hymn that was sung by the early church before Paul wrote this letter. Which is cool, it shows the connection between art and worship, art and theology. It teaches us that sometimes the best way to know something is to sing it.

Philippians 1:12-30

Mitch Chilcott

As Jeremy pointed out last week, Paul’s letter to the Philippians is an intimate one. It’s a letter between friends—partners in ministry—people who are trying their hardest to figure out what it means to live out the gospel in the world. One of the things I like most about Paul’s letters, and particularly the letter of Philippians, is that it shows us a little bit about how people talked to each other back then. In preparation for this sermon, I got interested in certain kinds of phrases that have gone in and out of vogue; phrases that we use to ask each other questions about our lives—to see how things are going.