Don't get knocked out of the race

The Way to Happiness

This one starts with the scripture read by a young church member. Happy are those who…all sorts of terrible things. Duke looks at our definitions of happiness and compares the Princess Diana vs. Jackie Kennedy versions. And talks about how true happiness is a state of being that knows "there is no place that I can be that God isn’t there." God wants us to be happy – to know that God has got us. The people who know this are not just blessed. They are also a blessing. Blessed are those who know that God is in charge and live in that.

Don't get knocked out of the race

In this sermon, Duke looks at America’s favorite word: freedom. How it looked in the 60s. How it looked in the early 2000s. Sometimes we believe we’re in a different lifeboat than others. But we’re in the same one. Trust in the God we see fully in Christ.

Does it work for you?

Duke asks us to examine if our faith is working for us. And says if it's working it should change how we live. Duke admits he likes doing funerals because he gets to know how people lived. He shares some great people stories from recent funerals. And he illuminates how FAITH is not what you claim to believe in, it’s how you lean into life. Faith gets you to remember where the solid ground is – and helps you go there to stand.

Heaven Inside of You

In this sermon, UNC had won the night before. But Tarheel Duke managed to tell a nice story about Coach K. It's a sermon about crossing borders. The Good News is not about enforcing borders but crossing them. Faith is more than orthodoxy – it’s a willingness to cross boundaries, to seek a better life. Jesus does not want to make people normal. He wants to move us from keeping our distance – to coming closer to each other. Both salvation and life are ALL gift.  It’s not about obedience, it’s about thankfulness. Thankfulness allows you to cross boundaries.

The Temptation of Corruption

In this sermon from 2006 Duke examines how the status quo leads people to corruption, and examines what's essential and what's possibly trivial in worship (not the beautiful needlepoint cushions, imo!) He dissects the story of Jesus in the temple -- where he's not just mad, he's "temple mad." And he even tells of a wild dream connected to this scripture where Jesus comes to clean out at Dilworth UMC - needlepoint cushions, leadership and all. Do we too often make the important trivial and the trivial important to protect what makes us feel safe and important?