Feed Editor 28 Feb 2009 20:08:17 GMT Valley Covenant News and Information http://www.valleycovenant.org mail@valleycovenant.org http://www.valleycovenant.org en-us mail@valleycovenant.org A temperate climate is one that moderates between extremes, neither too hot nor too cold. Here in Titus 2:1-15 we find God calling people of all ages to a temperate life, avoiding the extremes of excess in all sorts of ways. A temperate life is a balanced life, balanced on and around Jesus Christ. 16 Jun 2013 13:36:13 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2013Sermons/2013-06-16.htm Like "love," "justice" has a whole slew of meanings in our time. As we listen to Isaiah call for the people of Israel to be just and to create a just society, we ponder our own need for the virtue of justice. 9 Jun 2013 14:12:41 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2013Sermons/2013-06-09.htm Prudence is not a word we use very often anymore, and when we do we think of someone who is practical and shrewd, just the sort of man appearing in Jesus' parable in Luke 12:13-21. Yet we find that God declares the rich man who wanted to build more barns not wise and practical, but a fool. So we pause to reflect on our own "prudence" in planning for the future and wonder how prudent it actually is. 9 Jun 2013 14:08:56 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2013Sermons/2013-06-02.htm You can love a movie, love your dog, love your wife, love your boat, love grilled onions. We mean many different things by the single English word "love." Yet all those expressions have something in common. And what they share is also found in God, who Scripture says *is* love. As we celebrate Trinity Sunday, we explore our experience of God's love poured out on us. 26 May 2013 13:54:27 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2013Sermons/2013-05-26.htm On Pentecost our church reads Acts 2 in multiple languages. It's a fun, showy display remembering the excitement of the first Christian Pentecost. But our sermon text this year, John 14:8-17, is a quieter, more intimate focus on the work of the Holy Spirit as our Advocate, as the Spirit of truth. And everyone needs a good lawyer. 19 May 2013 13:52:35 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2013Sermons/2013-05-19.htm Many people, Christian or not, hope to go to heaven. And that's O.K. It's just not a big enough hope. As we read our text from Acts 1:1-11 on Ascension Sunday we remember that the promise and hope is that just like Jesus ascended into heaven, He will return from there. That same hope is for us as well. 12 May 2013 14:25:23 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2013Sermons/2013-05-12.htm Christian faith is "caught, not taught." As we enter a series of sermons on the Christian virtues of faith, hope and love, we learn in I Thessalonians 1:1-10 something of how those virtues are developed in us, and we see how important it is that faith is displayed in living examples. 5 May 2013 14:15:09 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2013Sermons/2013-05-05.htm We're still learning the lesson Peter describes learning in our text today from Acts 11:1-18. In Jesus Christ we must make no distinctions between persons regarding race or nationality. Peter learned this by sitting down to eat with Gentiles. We may still need to learn this lesson by be willing to get up from our tables and sit down with others at the Lord's Table. 5 May 2013 14:10:20 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2013Sermons/2013-04-28.htm 153 fish would be a good day in any fisherman's life. It was a huge day in Peter's life as he and the other apostles met the resurrected Lord Jesus on the shore for breakfast. Peter learned not only to count fish, but to feed sheep. 14 Apr 2013 14:02:45 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2013Sermons/2013-04-14.htm So much in our lives feels unfinished and incomplete. Our text today reminds us that Jesus Christ is not only the beginning of our new life freed from sin, He is the end, the completion of that work of grace. 7 Mar 2013 14:14:38 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2013Sermons/2013-04-07.htm What began in a garden, ends in a city, as the Bible comes to a close in Revelation 22 and we end our 90-Day Journey Around the Word on Easter Sunday. Our final dwelling is a city, but here we learn that it includes the greatest feature of the garden, the Tree of Life. And we also discover that in dying on the Cross and then rising to life again, Jesus transformed that wooden instrument of execution into the Tree of Life for us. In our worship we celebrate that transformation, His resurrection, with a cross crafted from living plants and flowers. 31 Mar 2013 13:31:39 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2013Sermons/2013-03-31.htm The Pharisees tried to shut up the first Palm Sunday, silence the crowd of shouting disciples and children. As Paul writes later to a young pastor in II Timothy 3, opposition has and will continue to try and silence the truth about Jesus Christ. That word to Timothy calls us to attend to Scripture and keep standing up for the truth. 29 Mar 2013 13:39:23 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2013Sermons/2013-03-24.htm Today commemorates a man who was a slave, but who, after being set free, became a missionary. It's appropriate that we look at Galatians 5 and Paul's call to freedom in Christ, which is not a matter of doing whatever we please, but of living by the Holy Spirit in a life of love toward others, like Patrick's love toward the Irish. 17 Mar 2013 13:48:58 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2013Sermons/2013-03-17.htm There always seems to be food associated with church activities. Snacks after worship, donuts on work day, potlucks, Easter brunch, and the list goes on. As we read Acts 2:42-47 we discover that the first church also liked to eat together. In fact, eating was right at the center of their activity. 10 Mar 2013 13:55:15 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2013Sermons/2013-03-10.htm The parable of two sons is better known to us as the "Parable of the Prodigal Son" in Luke 15. But we will miss half the power of the story if we forget that the elder son was given the same invitation the younger received: "Will you come into the house?" Our loving Father is always waiting for us to come home, whether we've wandered far or been nearby all our lives. 3 Mar 2013 14:04:17 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2013Sermons/2013-03-03.htm The central chapter of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6, has a single theme. Jesus begins with the practice of giving alms and from there weaves a whole picture of the kind of life and attitude that transforms us into good givers. 24 Feb 2013 13:57:44 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2013Sermons/2013-02-24.htm In Joel 2 we find God asking His people to fast at a time when they are already hungry. As we consider that irony, we also discover that the purpose of fasting is more than individual improvement. 17 Feb 2013 14:09:01 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2013Sermons/2013-02-17.htm Guest preacher Mike Fargo shares the glorious vision of Isaiah 6, reminding us that we have the incredible privilege of seeing God when we look at Jesus Christ. 17 Feb 2013 14:07:19 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2013Sermons/2013-02-10.htm 85A611FB-4A3E-4C5E-BF1D-925C7204EE50 Instead of "Drop kick me, Jesus, through the goal posts of life," for Super Bowl Sunday, we're reading Psalm 23 and remembering how our Shepherd Lord is with us to lead us even through the shadows of death. 3 Feb 2013 13:41:22 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2013Sermons/2013-02-03.htm Not many of us would want to stand up for a whole church service, especially the reading of Scripture and the preaching of a sermon. But in Nehemiah 8, all the Jewish people of Jerusalem and the surrounding area stood for about six hours to listen to God's Word and be convicted of their sin and need to amend their lives. We can learn from them. 27 Jan 2013 13:52:39 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2013Sermons/2013-01-27.htm We meet a Bible action hero in Judges 13-16. Samson fits the type. He is big, strong and sort of dumb. As his life unfolds we see what disasters can happen to a person with power, until in chapter 16 we see Samson lose all his power. It is at that point, though, that God steps in and Samson becomes a real hero. 20 Jan 2013 14:07:10 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2013Sermons/2013-01-20.htm Sometimes we are thirsty, but we don't know quite what it is for which we thirst. In Numbers 20, the people of Israel think they want water, which they do in fact need. And Moses gives them water, but fails to satisfy their real thirst for something even more important. 13 Jan 2013 13:46:50 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2013Sermons/2013-01-13.htm After the storm and floods of Hurricane Sandy, people of the east coast are hoping for new beginnings. The same was true for Noah and his family as they disembarked from the ark in Genesis 8. As we enter into our 2013 journey through the Bible in 90 days, we land in this chapter on the first Sunday of the year and learn some lessons about new beginnings in our own lives. 6 Jan 2013 13:44:50 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2013Sermons/2013-01-06.htm Bargaining with God is not a good idea, but making and keeping a sincere, honest promise is a very good idea. Hannah fulfilled her promise to God in I Samuel 1:21-28 and challenges us to keep all the promises we make in the new year. 30 Dec 2012 16:29:32 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-12-30.htm The image of Jesus as our tender caring Shepherd has blessed and comforted God's people down through the ages. But as we see in Micah 5:2-5, for ancient Hebrews there was more to the shepherd image. A king who was a "shepherd" was a commander, a leader who gathered his people to stand up against their enemies. If Jesus is our Shepherd, then we find ourselves committed to His order and direction and to His fight against the evil around us. 23 Dec 2012 13:51:58 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-12-23.htm With horrible news coming to us and with the struggles in our own lives, it's often easy to imagine that God hates us. The ancient people of Judah and Jerusalem may have felt the same way. But the prophet Zephaniah, chapter 3, verses 14-20, gives us the promise that God does and will delight in His people, will delight in us. 16 Dec 2012 13:33:05 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-12-16.htm This week's promise, found in the prophet Malachi, chapter 3, verses 1-4, sounds terrifying. The Lord is coming like "a refiner's fire," threatening to burn up and consume all that is evil. In the end, though, we find comfort and hope in the promise that God's intent in Jesus Christ is to refine and purify us. 9 Dec 2012 13:47:54 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-12-09.htm Spinning off from the promise of the "righteous Branch" in Jeremiah 33:14-16, we hear a parable from Pastor Steve of God's dealing with His people in the form of a story about a town and an apple tree. 2 Dec 2012 23:11:27 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-12-02.htm On the last Sunday of the church year, we celebrate "Christ the King." In today's Gospel reading from John 18:33-38, we hear that Jesus is the King of Truth. Everyone "who belongs to the truth" listens to Him. So we think about how truth is ignored and distorted in our own lives and world and consider what it means to belong to the truth. 25 Nov 2012 14:07:59 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-11-25.htm The massive stones of the beautiful Temple in Jerusalem and the prediction of their destruction are the occasion in Mark 13:1-8 for Jesus to warn us about other, larger and more disturbing stones that need to be knocked over in our lives. 18 Nov 2012 14:00:54 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-11-18.htm In Mark 12:28-34 we see a man who was "not far from the kingdom of God." As we celebrate All Saints Sunday, we consider the challenge that faced him, to not only acknowledge the great commandments to love God and love his neighbor, but to embark on the journey of learning to keep those commands by following Jesus. The challenge is to be not "almost a saint," but to enter fully in. 4 Nov 2012 13:24:34 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-11-04.htm Like silly folk with three wishes in a fairy tale, we often don't know what we are asking for. As the brothers James and John show us in Mark 10:35-45, that's especially true when we are asking the Lord for something. Jesus' answer to James and John helps us understand what we're in for when we ask to be close to Jesus. 21 Oct 2012 14:26:40 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-10-21.htm Jesus dismayed a young man 2,000 years ago by telling him that the price of discipleship was all he owned. Sell it all, give the money to the poor, and only then, come follow Him. If we take what Jesus says seriously, we too should be dismayed, but start asking seriously the question, "What have we got to lose?" 14 Oct 2012 14:25:07 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-10-14.htm In our world divorce seems normal and almost accepted. It wasn't much different in Jesus' time. In Mark 10:1-16, we hear our Lord speak firmly about divorce, challenging our easy acceptance. Yet we also catch a glimpse of His compassion and the grace He offers for the help and healing of our marriages. 7 Oct 2012 14:12:11 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-10-07.htm "Nothing like a little friendly competition," we say. Jesus says something different when along the road in Mark 9:30-37 He overhears the disciples engaging in a competition about who is the greatest. He responds by inviting them, and us, to compete in another way, by giving up ourselves and the game. 23 Sep 2012 13:55:31 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-09-23.htm Nobody wants to be behind, whether it's the last place in a contest or a fiscal position like being behind on a mortgage. Yet in our text from Mark 8:27-38 we discover that's exactly where Jesus wants us to be in relation to Him. It's what He told Peter, "Get behind. . ." 16 Sep 2012 14:13:44 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-09-16.htm Jesus treating people like dogs? That's exactly what happens in our text from Mark 7:24-37. But maybe it's not so bad to be a dog... 9 Sep 2012 14:20:29 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-09-09.htm The Pharisees sound like conscientious mothers as they chide Jesus' disciples for not washing their hands before eating in Mark 7:1-23. But Jesus discerns that their concern for clean hands is just one example of the way they focus on small externals of religion without really grasping what is at the heart of a good relationship with God and others. 2 Sep 2012 14:18:52 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-09-02.htm Jesus spoke hard words. They were hard to understand, tough to believe. Some of his disciples, in John 6:56-69, wanted Him to take them back, to eat His words. Instead, Jesus challenged us to eat His words, to chew on them no matter how tough, to swallow them no matter how hard. And Peter discovered that there was really no other place to go for the food they needed. Jesus has the words of eternal life. 26 Aug 2012 14:02:07 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-08-26.htm Pastor Steve grosses us out with talk about how spiders eat. In John 6:51-59, Jesus grossed out His listeners in Capernaum by telling them they were to eat His flesh and drink His blood. From a particular species of spider we learn what that means and are challenged to receive this incredible gift of Jesus' life, and to let it make us more like Him by giving ourselves to others. 19 Aug 2012 14:47:28 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-08-19.htm Some people simply can't believe what they see. Jesus talked with people like that in Capernaum in John 6:35-51, as He explained to them what He meant when He said He is the Bread of Life. As we read their conversation, we discover that Jesus Christ is the only bread that will sustain us for the long haul, for the journey of eternity. 12 Aug 2012 15:02:57 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-08-12.htm In a time when all sorts of cheap substitutes for real food items are available, like margarine and "lite" versions of almost anything, we are poised to understand Jesus' insistence that we work for the true "bread of life" in John 6:22-35. Speaking to a crowd that expects Him to keep feeding them with a continual miracle, Jesus offered them and us something better, more real, than ordinary food and drink. 5 Aug 2012 14:13:04 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-08-05.htm In the only miracle of Jesus which appears in all four Gospels, we learn that Jesus can provide enough for us of whatever we truly need. As we move into the beginning John 6, looking at verses 1-21, the deeper lesson that flows out of this miracle as we study the rest of the chapter in weeks to come is to learn just what it is we actually need. 29 Jul 2012 14:36:42 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-07-29.htm Jesus made vacation plans for Him and His disciples, but they were frustrated by the crowds who showed up at the place where they planned to stop and rest. In Mark 6:30-34, 53-56, we see the Good Shepherd showing His compassion to His worn out followers as well as to the crowds who gathered needing to hear the Good News and to be healed and fed. 22 Jul 2012 14:24:23 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-07-22.htm Beginning with a ghost story, Mark tells us about the death of John the Baptist. The big question is why he slips this account into his telling of the story of Jesus. What do the sordid details of John's death teach us as Christians? We discover that we are in the middle of another Mark "sandwich" and that John's death is meat on which we need to chew. 15 Jul 2012 14:49:01 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-07-15.htm There are things God cannot do. As strange as that sounds, we see that it's true as Jesus is rejected in His own home town and we learn that He was unable to do many miracles there. In Mark 6:1-13, our own unbelief is challenged by the negative examples of Nazareth and some of the towns visited by the disciples as they went out to share Jesus with others. 8 Jul 2012 14:23:27 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-07-08.htm In another story "sandwich," Mark 5:21-43 tells us about the touch of Jesus healing two "daughters." As we hear about how touching or being touched by Jesus saved these two, we learn how we may still touch Jesus and experience the same saving grace. 1 Jul 2012 14:18:43 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-07-01.htm Anyone who has ridden out stormy water, even in a large boat, will have a feel for what the disciples experienced in their small craft during a wind storm on the Sea of Galilee. Mark 4:35-41 invites us to remember who it is that is in the boat with us as we ride through the various storms of life. We also are taught that we are in the boat together as we learn that the boat in the storm is an ancient symbol for the Church. 17 Jun 2012 14:24:04 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-06-17.htm The kingdom of God is like zucchini. The beginning of Mark 4:26-34 is a little parable not found in the other gospels. It describes how God's kingdom arrives almost "automatically" in a way which does not depend much on our efforts. Paired with the parable of the mustard seed, it teaches us to serve the Kingdom, but then rest and hope in what God is doing even when we cannot see and understand it. 10 Jun 2012 14:01:04 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-06-10.htm We take our text for Trinity Sunday from Isaiah 6:1-8, selected for this day because as Isaiah sees God in His glory in the temple, angels cry out to Him the three-fold song of praise, "Holy, holy holy!" Near the end of the text, God speaks of Himself as "us." So the Church has seen the Trinity here even in the Old Testament, the holy life of the three persons of God living together in a perfect relationship of love with each other. Isaiah's experience is ours. We are invited into that divine life of the Trinity. 3 Jun 2012 14:23:22 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-06-03.htm Contrary to what we might think, we are better off now than when Jesus was bodily here on earth. That's what Jesus told His disciples in John 15:26-27, 16:4b-15. The gift of the Holy Spirit, which we celebrate on Pentecost, was the gift of a new and deeper stage in our Lord's relationship with us. 27 May 2012 14:20:57 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-05-27.htm In a few small images, Jesus challenges us to really pay attention to what He teaches. Mark 4:21-25 calls us to let the light of the Word penetrate our lives and make real changes in how we live. If we refuse to give our Lord proper attention, He warns that even the light we have will be taken away. 13 May 2012 14:13:23 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-05-13.htm Is Jesus a friend of the family? One would think so. Then why is He so unfriendly to His own immediate family in our text today from Mark 3:31-35? As we think about that question we discover who and what Jesus' true family really is. 29 Apr 2012 13:54:43 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-04-29.htm The thought of an unforgivable sin can strike fear into the heart of emotionally sensitive people. The question "Have I somehow placed myself outside the grace of God?" can be terrifying. So as we listen to Jesus interact with His critics in Mark 3:20-30, we will need to discern carefully what is and is not true regarding what He calls "blasphemy against the Holy Spirit." Good discernment is especially important because there is some fantastic good news hidden in the warning. 22 Apr 2012 14:06:54 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-04-22.htm We're all familiar with the motley crew as a movie theme. "The Dirty Dozen," "Ocean's Eleven," the ragtag collection of misfits who take on an impossible task and succeed beyond all odds. The twelve apostles appointed by Jesus in Mark 3:7-19 seem very much a motley crew and one wonders how they ever succeeded in spreading the Gospel to the whole world. Yet unlike those movie teams, the answer is not so much who each of them was, but Whom they were with. 15 Apr 2012 14:02:26 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-04-15.htm An unfinished story cries out for an ending. That's why the fact that Mark's Gospel seems to break off abruptly at Mark 16:8 is so frustrating. What's the real conclusion? How does it all end? The answer, in part, lies with us. The ending of the Resurrection story happens in our own lives as we believe that Christ is risen and live in that reality. 8 Apr 2012 14:06:54 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-04-08.htm What can we learn from Palm Sunday falling on April 1, April Fool's Day? As we look at some of the "foolishness" that happened in around the Sunday which begins Holy Week, we remember what Jesus really came to Jerusalem for and discover some things about our own experience of Christian worship. 1 Apr 2012 14:03:14 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-04-01.htm Do Christians have a Sabbath, like the Jewish expectation to observe a day of rest of every week? In two controversies with the Pharisees about the Sabbath, Jesus teaches us what Sabbath can mean in our own lives. 25 Mar 2012 14:38:23 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-03-25.htm Doing the right thing at the right time can be tricky. When Jesus arrived in this world, it was time to celebrate, to eat and drink. To stay with the old practice of fasting would be to miss God's great new day. Yet Jesus said that there would come a time again to fast. It's all in the timing, all in discovering what new life in Christ really means for each of us. 11 Mar 2012 14:03:18 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-03-11.htm "Bad company corrupts good morals," is a Greek proverb that Paul quotes in Scripture. Why then does Jesus deliberately choose bad company for Himself? In a brief episode and a briefer parable in Mark 2:13-17, Jesus challenges us to reconsider our notions of who is good company or bad company and to join Him in the company of sinners. 4 Mar 2012 14:03:19 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-03-04.htm Through the unfeeling, unmoving body of the paralytic, whose story we encounter in Mark 2:1-12, we feel the power of Jesus to forgive sins and heal our bodies. We ponder the question of which is more important. Which would we choose if we had the choice? 26 Feb 2012 14:16:47 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-02-26.htm The moment of Jesus' Transfiguration on the mountaintop is glorious. Yet one Jesus' guests, Elijah, is there to teach the disciples and us that the glory does not come without some grief. 19 Feb 2012 14:08:31 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-02-19.htm Throughout the Gospel of Mark there runs a theme of secrecy as Jesus tells people not to talk about Him. We see it here clearly in the healing of a leper who is ordered to tell only a priest who will confirm his cleansing. We also see a very human side of Jesus, His frustration, and learn that the secrecy is for the sake of a better understanding of who Jesus is and what He came to do. 12 Feb 2012 14:11:52 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-02-12.htm It happens very quickly in Mark 1:16-20. Jesus walks along the beach, sees four men fishing and calls them to follow Him. They leave their nets, their boats, even the father of two them behind, and they walk on down the shore behind Jesus. If that's the model of discipleship, how are we to be disciples? Are we still supposed to leave jobs and possessions and family behind in order to be disciples? It seems impossible. 22 Jan 2012 13:47:19 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-01-22.htm The Queen of England is just a figurehead sovereign in Commonwealth countries like Canada, but her presence is felt and she is acknowledged freely because Canadians like it that way. God chooses to be our King by allowing us to join His kingdom by our own choice to follow Jesus in submission and obedience to God as our Sovereign. 15 Jan 2012 14:22:59 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-01-15.htm When Jesus stepped into the waters of baptism, everything changed--for our baptisms. As we read Mark 1:2-11, we learn how the baptism of Jesus transformed the meaning and power of our own baptism. By accepting a baptism He didn't need, Jesus started ripples in the water that reach down to us and change our lives. 8 Jan 2012 14:27:23 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-01-08.htm On the first day of the new year we begin a study of Mark's Gospel by reading together only the first verse. As we unpack it, we find a rich preview of what we will discover as we study the whole book. The story of Jesus Christ is the beginning of new life for anyone who will read and believe and trust in Him. 1 Jan 2012 15:50:51 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2012Sermons/2012-01-01.htm Like light suddenly shining in darkness, a few verses in Titus 2:11-14 appear in the middle of what seems mostly a discourse on morality. Paul celebrates the appearance of Jesus Christ in our dark world as the answer to all immorality and as the light which transforms us into new and righteous people. 1 Jan 2012 15:41:12 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-12-24.htm With Christmas rapidly approaching and much to do at the end of the year, we may feel at the limit of our strength. So we read Romans 16:25-27 to remind us that God is able to strengthen us beyond our own weak ability. And Paul reminds us, by replaying some of the themes of the whole letter to the Romans, that God's strength comes to us in and through Jesus Christ as we trust Him in faith. 18 Dec 2011 13:42:10 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-12-18.htm Get ready for Christmas lists can be long and frustrating. Imagine what a list of preparations for Jesus coming back might be. Paul gives us just such a list, in fact three of them, in I Thessalonians 5:12-24. Reading these lists we learn that much of our preparation is centered around our live together as a community in the Church. 11 Dec 2011 14:08:06 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-12-11.htm Just like some people in the early church to which Peter wrote in II Peter 3:8-15a, it's easy to feel like the promise of Jesus coming back has failed. It's been so long. Peter tells us there is a reason for Christ's delay. It's God's patient desire that everyone should have the opportunity to be saved from the fire that is coming. That fire will make ready for the new heavens and new earth and will uncover all the secrets of our old lives on the present earth. 4 Dec 2011 14:00:23 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-12-04.htm On the first Sunday in Advent, in I Corinthians 1:3-9, we hear Paul calling for us to be ready for the day of the Lord. That means being "dressed" in clothing that will stand up to the light of His day. We want to dress in God's gifts of grace and peace and love, and not be misled by the flashier gifts which might come to us. 27 Nov 2011 13:49:38 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-11-27.htm Not all our memories of other people are fond ones. Some of those we know have caused us and others pain. That was true for Paul as he recalled and warned against those who caused trouble and divisions in the Roman church. In Romans 16:17-23, we hear those warnings and then more greetings, this time to the Romans from the other Christians who were with Paul as he wrote. As we hear those greetings we remember the grace and hope they shared and we share with them in Christ our King. 20 Nov 2011 14:22:19 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-11-20.htm The text for this Sunday, Romans 16:1-16, looks like a dull list of unpronounceable names. Yet it's a rich mine of spiritual insight into the role of women in the church, the variety of ways in which churches can form and worship, and the personal love of God for each of us. The naming of names is a sacred expression of our Christian faith. 13 Nov 2011 14:16:31 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-11-13.htm At the end of Romans 15, verses 23-33, Paul talks again about visiting Rome... on his way to Spain. For Paul, Rome is a pit stop on the way to the next part of his mission to bring the Gospel where it hasn't been heard before. But as any racing fan knows, pit stops are crucial. In this text, Paul also mentions another matter dear to his heart, the collection for poor Christians in Jerusalem. 30 Oct 2011 13:51:04 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-10-30.htm In Romans 15:14-22, Paul explains why he has not come to Rome before. The Holy Spirit "hindered" him. That hindering was a divine push to keep Paul preaching in places where Jesus had never been known before. Similarly, what we may feel as hindrances in our church or in our own individual lives may be a holy push toward new ground where the Spirit wants you and I to make Jesus known in and through our lives. 23 Oct 2011 13:53:42 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-10-23.htm Ricky Nelson sang, "You see, you can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself." Paul the Apostle wrote in Romans 15:1-2 that we ought not please ourselves, but please our neighbors. Then he points out that Jesus Christ did not please himself, but accepted insults and worse for the sake of others. So who is it that we will believe, Paul and Jesus, or Ricky? 16 Oct 2011 14:12:48 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-10-16.htm When is doing what you have a right to do not right? Paul tells us that it's not right when when exercising our rights and freedom causes a brother or sister in Christ to stumble, to fall into sin or lose faith. So like sympathetic friends or family members we put ourselves on a "kingdom diet," a diet of love willing to restrict our own freedom for the sake of other believers who believe something we know to be right is for them wrong. 9 Oct 2011 13:58:08 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-10-09.htm Is it right to shop at Walmart or not? In Romans 14:1-12, Paul begins his response to a shopping question for the Christians in Rome. In addressing it he states some high truth about the meaning of the Gospel in practical life and about what the lordship of Christ means for the ways we relate to each other over some differences. 2 Oct 2011 14:12:51 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-10-02.htm F7738137-1148-4244-9CFC-FEDD11CD8C28 A good day of fishing sometimes requires waking up in the night, before dawn, to get dressed and ready. Challenging us to obey both human law and God's law of love, Paul asks us to be awake and ready in the "nighttime" of the world, clothed in the armor of light, clothed in Christ, awaiting the dawn of God's new day. 25 Sep 2011 13:59:07 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-09-25.htm Love is at the center of Christian living. In Romans 12:9-21, Paul describes the practical outworking of love both toward other Christians and toward the rest of the world. The key is a two-fold love that burns the hearts of others with conviction, as we refuse to retaliate for evil done to us and instead return blessing and good for the hurts we receive. 18 Sep 2011 04:29:28 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-09-18.htm 98B183A0-8D45-4CD0-8183-45C4F5E16517 We're often ready to critique the worship services we experience. In Romans 12:1-8, Paul gives us a vision of what would make for "perfect" worship. 11 Sep 2011 13:58:25 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-09-11.htm What about the people we love who turn away from faith in Christ? What is God doing with them? For Paul in Romans 11 that question is asked about his own Jewish people. The answer has to do with God's larger plan and is illustrated by the olive grower's practice of grafting branches from one sort of tree onto another. In the end it is all part of God's plan to save the whole tree. 4 Sep 2011 14:23:58 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-09-04.htm At the center of this week's text, Romans 10:5-15, is the incredibly simple way to salvation, confess aloud that Jesus is Lord and believe in you heart that God raised Him from the dead. It's not an impossible spiritual task. It's a faith near and accessible to anyone who desires it. And that faith which is so near us in our hearts and mouths also leads us to employ yet one more part of our bodies, our feet. 28 Aug 2011 14:47:00 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-08-28.htm If most of the Jewish people have failed to believe in Jesus, how is that God's promises and covenant are fulfilled for Abraham and his descendants? That's the hard question that bothers Paul in Romans 9 and the next two chapters. Of course, we tend to see the problem of this chapter as, "If God knows and even 'predestines' the fate of His people Israel, how is that He holds anyone accountable?" The answers to all such questions are complex, but at the heart of them lies the irrefutable reality of God's mercy, even if it has some "lumps." 25 Aug 2011 15:26:53 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-08-21.htm CF1EE389-5BCE-40E2-90E2-540F9AD65F2B Guest preacher Mike Fargo looks at a difficult parable and asks us to consider just what reward we are pursuing in life. 25 Aug 2011 15:25:11 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-08-14.htm 6B734D39-9AE8-448B-BAC6-709E2FC32EE9 Guest preacher Mike Fargo encourages us to be nourished by Christ and to enjoy true unity in Him. 25 Aug 2011 15:24:01 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-08-07.htm B11FE419-2244-4751-992F-5C77AB7E5E96 Guest preacher Mike Fargo asks us to begin thinking about our Christian behavior with what goes on inside of us rather than external action. 25 Aug 2011 15:22:22 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-07-31.htm Where is God when all the hard things happen to us? That's the question Paul addresses and overwhelmingly answers in Romans 8:26-39. Quickly affirming that "all things work together for good for those who love God," the text moves on to a deep, profound affirmation of confidence in "the love of God through Jesus Christ our Lord." As the day's parables from Matthew 13 also affirm, that victorious love is at work even when we can't see it. 24 Jul 2011 14:37:48 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-07-24.htm In one of the dearest passages of the letter, Paul in Romans 8:12-25 assures us of our status as adopted "children of God." Along with Jesus Himself, we are given the gift of calling God, "Abba! Father!", the intimate name a little child gives a father. In that adoption and in the inheritance we enter as God's children, we receive a hope that includes not only our own redemption and glory, but the glory of all creation. 19 Jul 2011 16:00:14 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-07-17.htm Where will you live? It's a choice you might make exercising the freedom we have in the United States. In Romans 8:1-11, Paul talks about exercising the freedom Christ gives us to live in the Spirit rather than in the flesh. The flesh leads to sin and death, while the Spirit offers us peace and life. Our text shows us that the only good choice for us is to live in the Spirit, live in and through God's presence and power alive in us. 10 Jul 2011 14:01:11 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-07-10.htm Like a "No Trespassing" sign on private property, God's law is a gift that highlights our sin. In Romans 7:13-25, Paul places himself in the personna of the Jewish people receiving the Law, only to find themselves unable to keep it and thus that much more clearly sinful. Yet the Law remains good. It is sin which enslaves us and from which we are delivered by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Jul 2011 14:56:22 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-07-03.htm In Romans 6:1-11, Paul begins to take us on a journey, the Christian equivalent of the Exodus journey of God's people. It begins through water, baptism instead of the crossing of the Red Sea. What this journey means is that we are no longer in the old land of sin. We've left it behind and now live and walk in a new place. We are brought into this new life by our inclusion and incorporation into Christ. 19 Jun 2011 14:55:47 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-06-19.htm On Pentecost we hear in Romans 5:12-21 about Jesus' restart of the human race. In a series of contrasts between Adam and Christ we see how God means humanity to begin fresh through the grace of Jesus. That brings to us the gift of the Holy Spirit who offers a recovery of the original easy communication and understanding between persons which God meant us to have. 12 Jun 2011 15:38:54 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-06-12.htm In justification through faith in Christ, God gives us a hope that carries us through the sufferings and disappointments of life. Our hope is evidenced by love for God in our hearts, but it is ultimately guaranteed by the love which God showed us when Jesus died for us while we were still sinners. Like pioneers slogging across the country on the Oregon trail, we grow in character and in hope with every step we take on the journey of faith. 29 May 2011 14:36:34 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-05-29.htm The world didn't end on May 21, 2011, which is good, not just for obvious reasons but also because God promised the world to Abraham. That promise is Paul's subject in Romans 4:13-25, as we learn that God brings all the nations of the world together as Abraham's inheritance through faith. In the death and resurrection of Jesus, God creates a people which didn't exist before, Abraham's spiritual heirs in the Church. 22 May 2011 14:29:44 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-05-22.htm The blessing is for everyone, teaches Paul in Romans 4:1-12, not just for those who are physically descended from Abraham and who keep the Law God gave to his descendants. Everyone who comes to God like Abraham did, in faith, is included in the one family of God's covenant people. 15 May 2011 14:30:55 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-05-15.htm Facebook would like to be the social network that connects the world, but there is really only one thing which can connect everyone on earth across all our differences, and that is faith in Jesus Christ. As we study together the second half of Romans 3, verses 21-31, we find Paul contending for that one faith in Jesus as the answer to our universal dilemma expressed in verse 23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." 1 May 2011 14:13:17 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-05-01.htm We hear stories of "cover ups" all the time. Usually it's crimes or moral failings of some sort being hidden, but occasionally even good news is covered up. On Easter morning we extend the assigned reading from Matthew 28:1-10 another five verses to hear about the attempted cover up of the Resurrection of Jesus. And we learn that no cover up of that event is possible. 24 Apr 2011 14:14:43 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-04-24.htm What would it feel like to make yourself completely available to Jesus, to go only where He leads you, to carry Him wherever He wants? As we hear the Palm Sunday story from Matthew 21:1-11, we listen to the unusual voice of one who made himself available to Jesus in just that way. 17 Apr 2011 15:03:30 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-04-17.htm Who holds the boss's son accountable? Who will hold everyone on earth accountable for our failures to do what is right? In a complex passage from Romans 3:1-20, Paul argues that while there is some advantage for Jewish people in having been the first to know God's law, ultimately God will everyone, both Jew and Gentile accountable. Everyone is guilty before God and even having the law will not keep one from accountability. 10 Apr 2011 13:43:51 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-04-10.htm What makes a person a child of God, a member of God's people? That's Paul's concern as the argument of Romans continues to unfold. In the second part of Romans 2, verses 17-29, he shows that belonging to God is not merely a matter of external behavior, but consists in and demands an internal transformation. 3 Apr 2011 13:48:56 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-04-03.htm Paul's project at the beginning of Romans is to remove our excuses, our excuses for not acknowledging God and our excuses for judging others while continuing in sin. In Romans 2:1-16, he wants to leave neither Jew nor Gentile with any excuse for not living in light of God's law. We will be judged by what we have done in this life and at that point no excuses will be accepted. 27 Mar 2011 04:22:12 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-03-27.htm We might smirk at folks who are taken in by con artists, trading their life's savings for a phony investment. Yet in Romans 1:18-32 Paul shows that we have all been taken in by the bad trade of the truth about God and about ourselves for the worship of gods of our own devising and for the pursuit of our own evil desires. The only hope we have is the good trade which God offers us in grace. 20 Mar 2011 13:48:54 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-03-20.htm The letter to the Romans is often regarded as Paul's most important epistle. It its opening verses, Romans 1:1-17, Paul quickly establishes the key theme of the letter, faith. In the rest of the letter he will have much to say about faith in Christ as the gateway to salvation and that which establishes us "in Christ." Yet for now we get a picture of faith being shared, of Christian faith passing from Jew to Gentile, from Paul to Rome and beyond, from them down through the ages to us, and from there to ? As verse 17 says, "from faith to faith." 13 Mar 2011 14:03:15 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-03-13.htm In a world where choices abound and there seem to be any number of possible spiritual guides and sources of wisdom, the closing phrase of the Transfiguration text from Matthew 17:1-8 rings strange, "no one except Jesus." Yet if Jesus truly is who the disciples found him to be, then following and listening to "no one except Jesus" is the only real path of wisdom. 6 Mar 2011 14:32:04 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-03-06.htm Our lives are like walls painted in dim light. When daylight strikes them, all the flaws and missed spots are revealed. In I Corinthians 4:1-5 Paul anticipates the Day of Christ's return as a time when the Lord's judgment will show the true quality of our work. Yet that anticipation of being judged is not the occasion for fear, but a source of hope and confidence. 27 Feb 2011 13:50:19 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-02-27.htm Churches are not made of wood and stone and steel. In I Corinthians 3:10-23, Paul teaches us to be wise church builders by investing the very best materials into the life we share together as God's temple. On the foundation of Jesus Christ, we raise God's building together. We are God's building together. 20 Feb 2011 13:47:40 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-02-20.htm Using an incredible phrase at the end of I Corinthians 3:1-9 Paul calls those who serve in Christian ministry "God's co-workers." Exploring the larger context of the whole passage shows us what it means for God to work together with human beings and what that implies for the way we work together with each other. 13 Feb 2011 14:12:18 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-02-13.htm As we await the President's State of the Union address, expecting a response thoroughly divided by party spirit, we read Paul's admonitions about party spirit in the Church. Paul tells us that divisions in the Church are like dividing or cutting up Christ Himself. They ought not to happen. He calls us to set aside our parties and factions in the Church by returning to the center of who we are. 23 Jan 2011 14:07:26 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-01-23.htm As Paul's first letter to Corinth opens, he begins at the end, talking about the Corinthians anticipation of the return of Christ. Starting at the end puts the whole letter, and the whole of Christian life, in perspective. Our identity in Jesus Christ is already set by the gifts of grace and we start out called to live in a way that moves toward our endpoint as people who are blameless because we are in fellowship with Jesus. 16 Jan 2011 14:33:51 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-01-16.htm In Psalm 29 we hear the voice of the Lord in a thunderstorm. We are awed and humbled in the presence of His might and power. Yet the Gospel text today, from Matthew 3:13-17, invites us to hear God's voice in a more clear, more gentle way. 9 Jan 2011 14:41:55 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-01-09.htm As the new year begins, Psalm 72:8-19 calls us to bless our King by displaying Him to the world in a favorable light. We want to live and serve in ways that cause no image problems for Jesus. 2 Jan 2011 14:35:14 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2011Sermons/2011-01-02.htm In Psalm 80, the song pleads with God to "come and save us." Three times it expresses the confident hope, "make your face shine on us, and we shall be saved." We can empathize with that desire for salvation, for the rescue an almighty God can offer. Yet we also need to hear the Gospel lesson from Matthew 1:18-25 to understand that God came not to save us from our enemies of the moment, but to save us from our sins. 19 Dec 2010 14:17:17 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-12-19.htm Psalm 146 begins and ends with the single word "Hallelujah," which means "Praise the Lord." On this Advent Sunday in which we light a candle for joy, we remember that the joy for which we were created is the giving of praise. 12 Dec 2010 14:21:38 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-12-12.htm Our texts today from Psalm 72 and Isaiah 11 sing songs of a perfect world, with perfect justice. They are expressions of hope for the coming of a King who bring justice to the earth. Yet if they are not to be complete fantasies, then we must realize that the coming of that King, the coming of Jesus Christ, calls us to be people of justice here and now. 5 Dec 2010 14:16:08 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-12-05.htm On the first Sunday in Advent, we begin a journey through the Psalms assigned for these four weeks. The first, Psalm 122, is a prayer for the peace of Jerusalem, which we learn is a call to prayer for the peace of the Church. 28 Nov 2010 14:51:18 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-11-28.htm Zechariah's song at the birth of John the Baptist, from Luke 1:68-79, is our text as we remember on Christ the King Sunday that our King is merciful. It's by His mercy that we come out of the darkness of our sins and our led into the light of peace which aims at being merciful to others. 21 Nov 2010 14:06:01 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-11-21.htm 4F9186F0-05D3-42EC-B697-F89E74DD77F6 In Psalm 149 we are met with the startling image that the saints of God are to have "the praise of God in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands." On All Saints Sunday, we reflect on what it means for us as Christian saints to wield a sword that brings justice and judgment to our world. 7 Nov 2010 13:38:21 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-11-07.htm When we do a favor or suffer some hurt, we often think that somebody owes us. We may even think that about God, that a time of trial ought to be repaid with a time of blessing. In Joel 2:23-32 God promised Judah repayment for years of crops ruined by locusts. Yet God does not owe us and He wants to give us something better and more lasting than material compensation for our losses. 24 Oct 2010 14:40:52 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-10-24.htm Destiny seems inescapable, whether it's the biology written into our genes or the social status into which we were born. Our spiritual destiny to sin and disappoint God seems especially inevitable. Jeremiah addresses the problem of inexorable fate with God's promise of a new covenant that will remake us from the inside out by writing God's law on our minds and hearts, that will place an intimate knowledge of God and a relationship with Him deep within our beings. 17 Oct 2010 14:10:20 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-10-17.htm Films and politicians and writers spin dreams we want them to have for us. But in a letter to exiles in Babylon the prophet Jeremiah warns them and warns us not to listen to the dreams we want others to spin for us. Instead, he offers us the beautiful hope and promise of God's true dreams for us, which may not be at all what we thought we wanted. 10 Oct 2010 14:11:30 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-10-10.htm The tiny book of Lamentations opens our minds and hearts to the depth of pain and sorrow experienced by the exiles to Babylon after the fall of Jerusalem. In the process it also opens us once again to feel our own hurts and griefs of whatever kind. Yet the Church's worship tradition around one of these sorrowful verses leads us toward the blessed message that our Lord is with us in it all. 3 Oct 2010 14:03:23 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-10-03.htm In Jeremiah 32, in the midst of siege around the city of Jerusalem, the prophet Jeremiah does a real estate transaction. He buys a field in a hopelessly bad business deal. He will never take possession of the property. An invading army is camped on it. Yet he buys the field and trusts God for the future. In Jesus Christ we are called to the same kind of hopeful living even in bad times. 26 Sep 2010 14:05:25 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-09-26.htm We think of terrible geniuses like Lex Luther or Bond villains or Hitler as people skilled at evil. Jeremiah 4:22 asks us to hear God saying that all of us are skilled at evil, good at doing bad. Yet along with that indictment we also hear the Gospel and Paul reminding us that God is patient even with the worst of sinners. 12 Sep 2010 14:31:18 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-09-12.htm On Labor Day weekend, we learn a spiritual lesson from one of the oldest trades as in Jeremiah 18 the prophet visits the potter's house. As clay in the heavenly Potter's hands, our lives are crushed and reshaped at His will when we turn out badly. Yet in that crushing and reforming lies an image of the hope of resurrection which we enjoy in Jesus Christ. 5 Sep 2010 14:37:50 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-09-05.htm Water from a stagnant, dirty, leaky bucket or cool, clean fresh water from a running stream? It seems like a no-brainer of a choice, but God's people in Israel seemed to prefer their own stagnant and cracked cisterns to living water that their Lord poured out for them. It was a choice of dead, worthless idols over the one true living God. We today often make that same mistake, choosing worthless things over worship of our living Lord. 29 Aug 2010 15:14:50 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-08-29.htm What is your calling, your purpose in life? Hearing Jeremiah's call to be a prophet in Jeremiah 1:4-10 may not answer that question for you, but it offers great insight and assurance about how God calls each of us. 22 Aug 2010 14:55:24 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-08-22.htm Any gardener or farmer knows that a crop can be disappointing. It may be less in quantity or less tasty than one hoped and expected. In Isaiah 5:1-7, the prophet makes God's disappointment with the fruit of His people into a bitter love song about a vineyard. We can hear this song and and ask ourselves some good questions about the kind of fruit we are producing in the Church today. 15 Aug 2010 15:10:14 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-08-15.htm In Isaiah 1:10-20 we find God saying that He doesn't want anymore worship or sacrifice from His people. What they are offering has a stain on it, the stain of hypocrisy that claims to love God while neglecting love toward others. But then we find the wonderful promise of verse 18, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white like snow..." What we cannot do for ourselves, God will do for us. He has a plan for stain removal. 8 Aug 2010 15:10:14 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-08-08.htm In Hosea 11 we hear God speaking from the depths of His heart, expressing the pain felt by a parent whose child turns away on self-destructive paths. We hear how God is hurt by seeing that rebellion and its consequences for His people. Yet we also learn that God's love is unfailing, and that He comes to lift up and restore even the sinful and rebellious. 1 Aug 2010 15:01:24 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-08-01.htm God made the family life of Hosea the prophet a living and continuous picture of His own love for His people. The awful names Hosea is told to give his three children mirror the terrible identities we place upon our own selves when we are apart from our true identity in Jesus Christ, our identity as children of God. 25 Jul 2010 14:51:27 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-07-25.htm We are starving, not so much for food here in America, but for the sound of God's voice. Amos chapter 8 addresses the spiritual famine which afflicted Israel and which afflicts us. In the midst of frantic business as usual, we are unable to listen to God's perspective on our lives. Turning off a cell phone or a computer might be the beginning of a feast. 18 Jul 2010 14:56:07 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-07-18.htm God holds a plumb line in Amos 7:7-17, demonstrating that His people are out of line with His basic standard of love for our neighbors. That plumb line comes alive in the Gospel lesson from Luke 10:25-37 as Jesus' famous parable offers a living example of God's standard of love. 11 Jul 2010 15:14:00 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-07-11.htm Naaman the Syrian follows advice for healing his leprosy that leads him to the Elisha in Israel. But then he is reluctant to do what's asked by the prophet. We learn that what God asks of us is often not spectacular or dramatic but simple, small acts of faith. 5 Jul 2010 21:44:35 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-07-04.htm Guest preacher Mike Fargo speaks about Elijah's departure in II Kings 2:1-14 and shows how it calls us to center our lives in devotion to God. 5 Jul 2010 21:40:39 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-06-27.htm Oil spilling into the waters of the gulf is a vivid image of the darkness that blankets our lives when we live, like King Ahab did, for getting what we want. Yet even as we covet what we do not have and fall into further sin, God gives us grace and mercy we did not expect. 13 Jun 2010 14:11:58 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-06-13.htm God loves it when His plan comes together. That's the message of a text we don't read very often, Proverbs 1-4, 22-31, which is assigned for Trinity Sunday. Here we see Lady Wisdom declaring that she was with God when He created the world and we learn from early Christians that Wisdom can be identified with Christ. Jesus is God's plan and design for creation and for our lives and God is delighted when it all comes together. 30 May 2010 14:01:48 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-05-30.htm Pentecost is often said to be the undoing of Babel, that ancient story in Genesis 11:1-9 of God coming down to confuse the languages of humanity. That's not quite the whole truth. The coming of the Holy Spirit does not so much undo Babel as transform it into a blessing. 23 May 2010 14:51:34 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-05-23.htm We hear Joshua himself tell us about his parting speeches to the people of Israel in Joshua 23 and 24, encouraging them to serve the Lord and warning them of the consequences for failure. We are reminded of the choice before us today. 16 May 2010 14:09:11 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-05-16.htm It's hard to see children grow up and move away. We worry about how they will fare and how they will behave when they are far from home. In Joshua 22, the larger part of Israel on the west side of the Jordan had cause to fear what those on the east side would do as they departed after all the wars were over. There was a misunderstanding that almost led to war. Fortunately it led to a renewed and stronger unity, even over the distance and barrier of the Jordan River. 9 May 2010 14:17:38 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-05-09.htm We wonder why God puts us in the places we land, often not where we expected or even where we want to be. We don't have all the things or the home we would like, yet here we are. That's the way it was with the Levites as they are scattered around Israel in Joshua 21, taking potluck of whatever cities the other tribes choose to give them. Yet God had a purpose in spreading the Levites out over Israel and He has a purpose in scattering us around our communities. 25 Apr 2010 13:59:48 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-04-25.htm Sometimes we would all like a safe place to hide, a refuge. As we hear in Joshua 20 about the cities of refuge set up by Joshua in ancient Israel, we learn about the greater refuge God has set up for us in the grace of Jesus Christ. We see that refuge offered specifically to Peter at the end of John's Gospel and we realize that we have a part in offering God's refuge to all who need it. 18 Apr 2010 14:07:45 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-04-18.htm The seven chapters of Joshua 13-19 appear to be "mind-numbingly" dull. Yet they are the heart of the story. God kept His promise to give His people an inheritance of land, a place for their own. In Jesus Christ, God kept His promise to give you and me forgiveness and salvation and eternal life. Yet both in Canaan and in our lives there has been much unclaimed territory. As the Israelites had space to conquer and claim even after receiving their divisions of land, we as Christians have spiritual and mission "spaces" that still need to be claimed for our Lord. 11 Apr 2010 13:56:33 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-04-11.htm To live as long as a tree would be a wonderful thing, and Isaiah 65:17-25 pictures just that kind of human lifespan in a new world to be recreated by God. Christians believe that new world began on the "eighth day of creation," the day after Saturday the old Sabbath, the Sunday on which Jesus rose from the dead. We gather on Easter to celebrate the new beginning and hope we have because Christ is risen. 4 Apr 2010 14:36:56 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-04-04.htm In May 2003 President Bush made what seemed like a premature announcement of victory in Iraq. In Joshua 11 and 12 there is a seemingly premature celebration of Israel's victory over the Canaanites and total conquest of the Promised Land. We learn how it's possible to celebrate victory in Christ even while the war is still going on. 21 Mar 2010 14:14:24 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-03-21.htm As we set our clocks ahead to extend daylight into the evening hours, we hear about a day long ago when God extended daylight further than ever before and ever since. God's purpose in Joshua 10 was to allow Israel to finish saving their allies in a war of rescue. We remember that God patiently extends the present day of salvation so that all who want may receive the grace of Christ and so that we who believe may have every opportunity to share the good news. 14 Mar 2010 14:07:00 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-03-14.htm Con men lie and deceive in order to steal and sometimes to save their own skins. In Joshua 9 we meet some clever con men from Gibeon who trick Israel into saving them from God's wrath on the Canaanites. Yet their trick strangely turns out to be a vehicle for God's own greatest trick, mercy for those who do not deserve it. 7 Mar 2010 14:22:11 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-03-07.htm Like a skater getting back up after a fall on the ice, Joshua and the army of Israel get back up the mountain for another try at conquering the city of Ai. In Joshua 8 we watch the commander and his people be restored to fighting courage and also watch them be renewed in their covenant with God, receiving His blessing. 28 Feb 2010 14:41:19 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-02-28.htm One man takes what does not belong to him, and a whole nation suffers defeat in a battle. It seems unfair, but the story of Achan is a lesson in how seriously God regards sin. It's also an occasion for us to discover how our salvation in Jesus Christ is rooted more in a corporate identity than in our individual spiritual condition. 21 Feb 2010 14:17:22 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-02-21.htm On Transfiguration Sunday we read the Old Testament text which tells of Moses face shining as he came down the mountain from speaking with God. This prefigures the shining countenance of Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration. The brightness of God at first seems unbearable in all that it reveals about us. Yet as we spend time in the glow which Jesus brings we discover that it is bearable -- in two ways. 14 Feb 2010 14:46:50 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-02-14.htm A story often told to children, the battle of Jericho, offers us lessons in devotion to the Lord. First, a lesson in the patient devotion of regular worship, then a harder, darker lesson about devoting to God everything that we have. 7 Jan 2010 14:28:00 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-02-07.htm In Joshua chapter 5, God gives His people a spiritual "reboot" through the events of three odd little narratives about circumcision, the Passover, and a strange visitor carrying a sword. We are reminded that God regularly reboots our lives so that we can begin again and enter the new lands into which He is calling us. 31 Jan 2010 14:30:24 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-01-31.htm As the Israelites camped beside the swollen, flooded Jordan River, it must have seemed impossible that their thousands of men, women, children and animals would cross it the next day. Yet the presence of God led them on a way they had never been before and they saw amazing things. In the same way, God's presence in Jesus Christ gets us through whatever deep waters we are facing. 17 Jan 2010 14:05:33 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-01-17.htm Foes found friends behind enemy lines in the story of Rahab in Joshua chapter 2. Rahab sheltered and saved a couple of Israelite spies and in the process found her own salvation. Yet the story is even larger, for Rahab has a place in our own salvation through Christ. God is at work behind enemy lines. 10 Jan 2010 14:23:24 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-01-10.htm Beginning a series of sermons on the book of Joshua, we see how chapter 1 offers a recipe for courage as we face the unknown challenges of a new year. 3 Jan 2010 14:19:37 GMT http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/sermonarchive/2010Sermons/2010-01-03.htm