I’ve been spending a good amount of time the last week or so looking over maps for the East Coast to get familiar with the lay of the land before Alex and I head out for a long weekend trip there the end of the week. One thing that stands out as you look at a map of that area, or really in a lot of places in the United States, is how often the “New” prefix is added to the front of place names. New York, New Hampshire, New England, New Mexico. All of these exist because people were going from their home to a new place, and they had the goal to make the new place like their home, but better. It’ll be like York—but new and better. The region will be like England, but new and better.
"The LORD Reforms Us" (Sermon on Jeremiah 31:31-34) | October 26, 2025
When do you need reform? Activist groups may call for reform in some area of leadership or government when they sense that the plans and actions of those in charge are not in line with the leadership’s stated goals—or the desires of the people involved. You may sense a need for reform in your own life when bad habits start pushing out good habits, and you find yourself not dedicated to your priorities and values like you want to be. Reform may be called for when a group’s actions or policies reflect a different era. These ways of doing things may have made sense in the past, but perhaps that reasoning no longer applies today.
"Confidence Is a Gift from God" (Sermon on 1 John 5:13-15) | October 19, 2025
What is worse—the car that won’t start or the car you’re not sure if it’ll start or not? I might argue that the one that will not start is the preferable one. You at least know what you’re getting there. You’re not going to make plans to use that car, only to have them dashed by seemingly random failures. You know that you have to do some work on it, or get it towed, or just let it sit till you have the time or money to fix it. You have confidence in that car—in this case, confidence that it will not work—rather than a total lack of certainty. At least with a totally busted car, you won’t get stranded on the side of the freeway miles from home.
"Gratitude Is Powerful" (Sermon on 2 Corinthians 9:10-15) | October 12, 2025
Happy Thanksgiving! That might be rushing it just a little bit (unless you’re in Canada, in which case the holiday is actually tomorrow!), but this morning, as you’ve noticed in our readings and hymns, we’ve been focused on gratitude and giving thanks. So while it might be early for our designated holiday at the end of November, it is a good reminder that we’re not really supposed to relegate gratitude to one day per year, but it should be a continual way of life.
"God Lifts You Up" (Sermon on Hebrews 13:1-6) | September 28, 2025
Have you ever had a coworker who seemed to make everyone around him better, or at least look better, at their job? Have you ever had a friend who always just elevated the group, came up with the best ideas for things to do or brought hightened levity or sincerity to any conversation? Do you have a family member who particularly skilled at navigating and bringing peace to inter-family strife and conflict? They can elevate the entire family dynamic.
"Be Shrewd with God's Gifts" (Sermon on Luke 16:1-13) | September 21, 2025
“Shrewd” is perhaps not a word we use often in everyday conversations, but it is a good word. To be shrewd is to be carefully discerning, able to measure a situation accurately and act appropriately, or at least in the best interest of your primary concerns. We might describe such a trait as being level-headed, able to read a room, discerning, and able to weigh the pros and cons of each individual action in a given situation.
"Found!" (Sermon on Luke 15:1-10) | September 14, 2025
What is your value? Where do you look to understand your value? In school growing up, there was a whole lot of talk for us about self-esteem. You have value! You are special! You are unique and that’s wonderful! Today’s messaging isn’t so different, though usually in the context of social-emotional learning that also tends to include empathy and care for others in a way I don’t remember being emphasized a lot when I was growing up, but I think it’s a change for the good.
"Show Selfless Love, Not Selfish Favortism" (Sermon on James 2:1-13) | August 31, 2025
This world is obsessed with getting ahead. Perhaps you’ve experienced a cut-throat environment at work where someone would throw you under the proverbial bus without a second thought if they figured it would get them the promotion. Maybe you’ve been tempted to or even have participated in that me-first culture at work, school, or even in your home.
"Strive to Enter Through the Narrow Door" (Sermon on Luke 13:22-30) | August 24, 2025
If you’re going to take a flight either for fun or otherwise, you don’t even have to tell me what your favorite part of that experience is; I already know. Above all else, you cherish the line and the TSA security checkpoint scan. Who doesn’t love putting all of their stuff on a conveyor belt and then walking through a narrow metal detector or standing in that claustrophobic scanning machine so they can see what joints inside you are now metal replacement parts? And if you’re lucky, you get to spend a few intimate moments with a TSA agent where you both get to know each other a little too well.
"How Does Jesus Divide Us?" (Sermon on Luke 12:49-53) | August 17, 2025
There are seemingly endless ways to divide people. Even if we take our relatively small sample size gathered here this morning, there are plenty of division opportunities, even among us who would seem to have a lot in common. In some ways, you are self-divided today. Are you sitting closer to the front or the back? Are you sitting on the left or right side of the church? And then we can get more granular. We could divide our group by age, by gender, by music preferences, by net worth, by favorite food, by least favorite food, by ethnicity or family heritage—the list goes on and on and on.
"Do Not Be Afraid, Little Flock" (Sermon on Luke 12:22-34) | August 10, 2025
How are you doing? And I know this is clearly a rhetorical question because I’m asking it in the middle of a sermon, not exactly known for its question-and-answer format. But actually, it’s a question I want you to think about and internalize and I would cherish the opportunity to hear your honest answers when we’re done here today. How are you doing? And when I ask that I mean how are you really doing? Not the standard small-talk answers of “Good… good,” or, “You know, I’m fine,” or “Busy…” but what is the real answer?
"Let's Not Chase the Fog" (Sermon on Ecclesiastes 1:1-2, 12-14, 2:18-26) | August 3, 2025
This past week, I was reminded in several ways that we have entered into what is colloquially known around us as “Fogust.” Now, this might not be as true in the East Bay, but certainly in Belmont, we are getting into the time of year when the fog can be thick and prominent (which has sort of been true for this whole weirdly cold summer up here on the hill). But whether it is a reality for us where we live or something we run into as we travel around the Bay Area, we know what it’s like to be under blankets of thick fog from the marine layer. Seeing the sun here before noon is often a novelty during these foggy days.
"Let Us Pray for All" (Sermon on 1 Timothy 2:1-7) | July 27, 2025
It is often a good idea, when having a conversation with someone (especially where there’s some amount of confrontation involved), to avoid sweeping generalizations. Words like “all” or “always” or “every” or “never” can be hyperbolic and completely shut down another person’s ability to listen to what you’re saying. For example, if you’re talking to someone about how they often belittle your ideas and wishes, it is probably not helpful to say, “You never take me seriously,” because that’s probably not true. It might happen often, it might happen even a vast majority of the time, but saying that it’s the only thing that happens can distract from the point. The person you’re talking to may get defensive and be ready with counterexamples, and then you very quickly get away from what you wanted to talk about in the first place.
"Find a Neighbor to Love" (Sermon on Ruth 1:1-19a) | July 13, 2025
We like to find limits, or even loopholes, in the rules. “I know I set a budget for myself, but this sale is too good to pass up.” “Sure, the speed limit says 65, but I know they don’t enforce that until you’re more than 10 over, so it’s no problem if I drive 74.” “Mom only said to go to my room, so setting two feet inside the door and then turning around and coming back out shouldn’t be a problem.” Those “loopholes” won’t do much good for your bank account or your interactions with the police officer. And I don’t think I’ve ever met a parent who likes to discuss the technicalities of outlined discipline with their child.
"How Committed Are We?" (Sermon on 1 Kings 19:19-21) | June 29, 2025
Commitment, dedication, and drive—all of these are concepts that you might hear associated with lifestyle choices. How committed are you to eating right, exercising, and getting to or maintaining a healthy weight? How dedicated are you to growing your knowledge and understanding of core subjects necessary for work or home life, or even expanding into new areas? What is your drive to be the best or do your best in competitions or personal goals?
"Different Messengers Share the Same Message" (Sermon on 2 Timothy 1:3-10) | June 22, 2025
If you ever played the game of telephone, you know how a message can be distorted as it goes through different people. Perhaps your real life was impacted by such an event. News gets passed from one person to another, but that news can get warped because someone mishears, misspeaks, strips away context, or even warps the original meaning to serve their purposes. Thus, it may radically differ from what was initially spoken when it reaches you. This is a good reminder to not engage in or trust in gossip because those things are so easily distorted to the destruction of someone’s reputation!
"The Triune God Bless You" (Sermon on Numbers 6:22-27) | June 15, 2025
How can you be a blessing to other people? There are as many answers to that question as there are people here, multiplied by the people you interact with. For someone, you might lend a listening ear. For someone else, you might give advice. For someone else, you might bring encouragement. For someone else, you might bring some kind of physical support—giving money, providing food, etc. For someone else, your needs might enable their love to bless you, and in that way, you are also a blessing to them, allowing them an outlet for their thanksgiving to God, their Savior.
"Behold! The Victor!" (Sermon on Revelation 19:11-16) | June 1, 2025
When the clock ticks down on the championship game, it’s not too hard to figure out who won and who lost, even if you don’t look at the score. The body language on both teams will make that clear. In one, you will see joy springing from out of a well of energy they didn’t know they had. In the other, you will see the weight of disappointment hang heavy.
"Love!" (Sermon on John 13:31-35) | May 18, 2025
What is the mark of a Christian? You could point to something like a cross on a chain around someone’s neck as a possible sign, but that’s not always going to be clear-cut—surely anyone can wear that if they wanted to, whether they believed that Jesus was their Savior or not. A piece of jewelry could as easily be a sentimental piece (perhaps it belonged to a loved one now passed away) as it is an expression of what is in someone’s heart. Perhaps the mark of being a Christian is attending church regularly. While that might be a better indication than jewelry choices, it’s still not a slam-dunk because what if someone is going because they're curious or feel it’s an obligation, not because they believe? Certainly, not everyone sitting in a church for a worship service could be called, or would want to be called, a Christian.
"Has Your Sorrow Turned to Joy?" (Sermon on John 16:16-24) | May 25, 2025
That night in the upper room, just before Jesus was betrayed, he had many heavy and difficult things to share with his disciples. Last week we heard that command to love one another, and noted that that would be their guiding life principle in the difficult hours ahead, but more to the point, in the years ahead as they would clearly live their lives as Christians, loving to all, in this fallen world.
