Church Of The Cross

Jon Yeager - Acts 13.44-52 - This sermon explores the responses to the message that Paul preached in Antioch in Pisidia and invites us to more fully move toward the God of life who enables our joy. This joy is a signpost to the fullness of life that is to come, and it is the fruit of Christian outreach.

Mark Booker - Acts 13.14-41 - What is the message we share with the world around us? We consider the nature of our message in Christian outreach through the lens of Paul's first recorded sermon which takes place in a synagogue in Antioch in Pisidia. This sermon shows us that our message is sharing a true story that is centered on a person, grounded in an event, and includes an invitation.

Mark Booker - Acts 9.1-19 - The story of Saul's conversion teaches us something about the reach, the method, and the effects of God's saving grace. All of these are important to keep in mind as we think about the ministry of Christian outreach through the lens of the book of Acts.

Ryan Ruffing - Acts 5.17-32 - The apostles are called to share all the words of this life. This life they are to share is a life that they have first known personally. We are encouraged, by their example, to know and share this life as well.

Mark Booker - Luke 24.1-12 - What does the resurrection say to us in the midst of a world of sorrow and tears? This sermon reflects on the possibility of joy in the midst of our weeping over the brokenness that we all experience. Jesus is risen and this infuses our experience with a sure and certain hope that is assured by God's past action and God's unfailing word.

Jon Yeager - Romans 6.3-14 - We celebrate the fact that we have died with Christ and been raised with Christ. We enjoy new way of seeing our past, a new way of experiencing our present, and a new hope for our future - all because of our union with Christ. This night of the Easter Vigil is a time to celebrate all that is true because of our union with Christ through our baptism. And this is a reason to rejoice!

Jon Yeager - Luke 22.39-23.49 - In the midst of darkness and betrayal and guilt and shame, Jesus looks right at Peter. This look is not a look of condemnation but a look of reassurance, compassion, forgiveness and power. Earlier, Jesus had told Peter that he had prayed for him, that he might return after his betrayal and strengthen the church. Jesus looks upon all of us in the same way, in the midst of our sin and betrayal, calling us back to himself. Do we see his look?

Mark Booker - Micah 7.18-20 - The book of Micah concludes with a question that reflects the meaning of Micah's name: who is a god like you? The answer Micah gives in his closing oracle of praise centers on God's unique character as one who forgives sin, who defeats sin, so as to maintain his promise to bless the world through Abraham's offspring. God's commitment to his word of life leads him to taste death so that we might live forever with him. That's good news, the good news of Micah, the goods news of Scripture, the good news of God.

Mark Booker - Micah 5.1-5 - Micah tells of a future ruler who comes from humble beginnings who will be our peace. Jesus, as the good shepherd and true King, is the fulfillment of Micah's ancient vision. By his rule and his defeat of our greatest enemy, Jesus brings us to true peace, security, and reconiliation in the midst of this tumultuous world.

Jon Yeager - Micah 4.1-5 - We need true judgement that sees, names, and address evil leading to restoration, healing, and wholeness. God's last word is not solemn judgement, the “striking of a grievous blow” of God's “destruction” as we saw last week, as necessary as this is, it is only a means with which evil is named and addressed so that the restoration of peace, wholeness, and shalom arrives. This is the vision Micah gives Israel: the hope of shalom restored.

Jon Yeager - Micah 1.2-7 - God comes as a “witness” against his people, to be a faithful judge against them. As a faithful judge, he sets right what ought not to be, in order to heal, regather, and restore. He is committed to this, so that his people might embody his faithfulness, justice, patience and mercy. He is a faithful judge, and we need him to be, for the life of the world.

Mark Booker - Micah 6.9-7.4 - Instead of walking in the way of justice, God's people were walking in the self-centered way of sin that produced injustice through the exploitation of others. The dynamics of sin remain the same across the centuries, and this sermon considers how the seeds of Israel's sin remain in us. Having exposed sin, our forgiving and merciful God calls all of us to repentance, to the fullness of life in him.

Mark Booker and Beth Waterman - Micah 6.6-8 - Micah declares what the God of grace requires of us, his people: to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God. Doing justice requires solidarity with the vulnerable, poor, and marginalized, and this message concludes with Beth Waterman's testimony (Beth leads our justice and mercy team) about her life among the poor in India for 9 years.

Mark Booker - Micah 6.1-5 - We begin our series on the book of Micah by considering the nature of the covenantal relationshp between God and his people. This forms the backdrop for the ministry of all the prophets. We have a relationship with the God of the universe because of his incredible grace to rescue and redeem us. That's amazing and something we're called to remember.

Jon Yeager - Acts 2.42-47 - At its very beginning, the Christian community devoted themselves to practices that made room for the Spirit to do his work among them. The Spirit's work was manifest in signs and wonders, in sharing possessions, and in shared meals marked by generosity and joy. As we consider the earliest Christian community, we are challenged to think about how our lives are creating space for the Spirit to work among us. Does our life together reflect these new norms?

Mark Booker - 1 Timothy 6.19 - This is the third sermon in a three-part series on generosity and money from 1 Timothy 6.17-19. Paul turns to motivations, telling the rich that their generosity is an investment in the age to come and a means by which they can take hold of true life (as opposed to the counterfeit, fleeting life of wealth). This encourages us all the more to be generous, to invest in God's kindom with all that he has entrusted to us.

Mark Booker - 1 Timothy 6.18 - Paul now exhorts the rich, who, by definition, have margins, to use their margins to meet the needs of others. Excelling in doing good and generosity is both a manifestation of their hope in God and a way to continually direct their hope to God. If we have margins, do we use them in this way in response to the God who richly provides for us?

Mark Booker - 1 Timothy 6.17 - This is the first sermon in short series on generosity and money from Paul's words to the rich in 1 Timothy 6.17-19. This sermon establishes that most of us are rich - we have margins - and then considers the two pitfalls of riches that Paul mentions and the remedy for avoiding them.

Mark Booker - Psalm 90 - To live well, we need wisdom. This psalm shows us what a heart of wisdom sees and what it does.

Mark Booker - Psalm 40 - How do we press through situations of trial, remaining faithful to God and not turning away? Psalm 40 calls us to wait patiently on the Lord and shows us numerous features of what this entails.