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A Precious Purchase (1 Peter 1:17-23)

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We’ve all had moments when we realized something costly was given for us. Somebody made a sacrifice for us that we didn’t earn. Maybe a parent working long hours, a teacher spending a lunch break with you, a friend standing by us when it would have been easier to walk away, or a stranger offering unexpected kindness. Those moments can change how we live. They invite us to respond, not out of obligation, but out of gratitude and love. In 1 Peter 1:17-23, we are reminded of a far deeper gift. The writer says, “You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors… not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish” (vv. 18-19). This is the heart of the gospel: God’s grace reaches out to us before we ever respond. We call this prevenient grace: God is already at work, drawing us in, making a way where there was none. This grace doesn’t leave us unchanged. God’s grace isn’t ju...
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Gratitude for God’s Faithfulness (Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19)

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In Psalm 116 , the psalmist begins with a beautiful declaration of love: “I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live” (vv. 1-2). This isn’t some distant God we worship; it is a God who leans in close, like a parent bending down to hear our faintest whisper. Even in our most desperate moments, when “the snares of death encompassed” us, God was already there, reaching out before we even knew how to ask for help. Consider how the psalm moves from desperation to gratitude. “What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord” (vv. 12-13). The psalmist recognizes that grace received invites a response. Not repayment, because grace cannot be earned, but a life of thanksgiving, worship, and faithful living. This is the beginning of sanctifying grace at work, shaping a heart that desires to love God more dee...
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Turn, and Live (Acts 2:14, 36-41)

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There is so much contained in Acts 2:14, 36-41 . People hearing Peter’s words are “cut to the heart” and want to know what they must do. They are told to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. But what does it mean to repent? The word metanoia (μετάνοια) is usually translated as repentance. Some translations use the expression “change of heart and life” (e.g. Common English Bible) and others include the expression “a change of mind.” When we hear the word repent, we tend to think about a feeling of remorse, but it must be more than that. Repentance is indeed a change of mind, heart, and life. Is is a “turning back to God event.” Scriptures speak of the need for the “fruit of repentance.” In other words, true repentance is evidenced by a change of mind, heart, and life, that demonstrates a desire to live a life pleasing to God and is expressed in tangible evidence of loving God with all our heart, mind, and strength, and loving our neighbors as ourselves. Peter’s answ...
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Remember How Far You’ve Come (Isaiah 51:1-3)

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Sometimes it helps to remember where we’ve come from. Think for a moment of the family you were born into (or the family that took you in). Where did you grow up? Did your family stay rooted in the same place or did you move around much? What schools did you attend? Who were your friends? Did you grow up in a church? How have all these things influenced who you are today? As we are told during our Baptismal Renewal services: Remember who you are. Isaiah speaks to people who have forgotten their own holy beginnings ( Isaiah 51:1-3 ). “Listen to me, you that pursue righteousness, you that seek the Lord. Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug” (v. 1). God reminds Israel to remember their roots, not in power or abundance, but in the small, faithful beginnings of Abraham and Sarah, who trusted in God’s promise when everything looked impossible. From one man and woman came a multitude, and from their faith came blessing upon blessing. God’s r...
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A New Life (Sermon for Easter 2, April 12, 2026)

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In this sermon titled “A New Life,” I explore how the risen Christ meets us in our most fearful and isolated spaces , just as he did with the disciples on that first Easter evening. We often find ourselves huddled behind locked doors due to psychological paralysis or the weight of a world that has fallen apart, but the miracle of the resurrection is that Christ does not wait for the air to clear before he enters the room. This message highlights the “new birth” as a radical, internal reconstruction of the soul rather than a mere behavioral “patch job,” anchoring us in a “living hope” that persists even through suffering. Grounded in the Wesleyan truth of prevenient grace , we see that God always moves first, taking the initiative to breathe his Spirit into our wreckage and transform us into a forgiven community. Ultimately, I want to emphasize that this new life is not about the exhaustion of trying harder, but about trusting in the divine promise of the one who has already conquer...
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A Graceful Boldness (Acts 2:14a, 22-32)

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Since my retirement from full-time ministry, I have been doing about one wedding a year. One thing that is common to all weddings is the celebration of a new connection. People, friends and family, gather to celebrate these two people and their decision. When the wedding service ends, those gathered celebrate with joy. It is a clear, unmistakable point of entry into a brand-new shared story, rooted in love. Just like at a wedding where a new family is announced, on the day of Pentecost, Peter announced something new: the life of Jesus was for  all people. This announcement, fueled by God’s grace set off a ripple effect that we’re still feeling today. 22  “Fellow Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know—  23  this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified an...
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Trusting What We Cannot See (Isaiah 55:6-9)

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Isaiah 55:6-9 6  Seek the Lord while he may be found;     call upon him while he is near; 7  let the wicked forsake their way     and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,     and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8  For my thoughts are not your thoughts,     nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. 9  For as the heavens are higher than the earth,     so are my ways higher than your ways     and my thoughts than your thoughts. (NRSVue) Isaiah 55 was addressed to the exiles returning to a home that few had ever seen with their own eyes. They had been uprooted and forcibly relocated about 70 years earlier. God is calling out to a people who have wandered, who have grown tired. They were weary, thirsty, and hungry.  The opening of chapter 55 reads… ...
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