Gospel Fragments // Pastor Karina Johnson // April 19 2026

Bridgebuilders: Shalom in the City // Rev. Matt Kennedy // May 31 2026

Divided. Isolated. Fractured. Atomized. These are the words we often hear used to describe our current cultural moment. There is discontent and a hurt in the world that creates estrangement, injustice, and violence (we call it sin). Yet in the face of these forces, God's people have been called to be peacemakers, rebuilders, and repairers (Isaiah 58:6-12). That's a huge task! What power makes it possible? For the Christian, we believe it comes from the hope of the gospel. When human beings are reconciled to God, reconciliation among people often seems to follow. This week we begin a new sermon series on the public witness of the church: the work we're called to do on behalf of our neighbors at the intersections of evangelism, compassion, and justice. We begin by examining the biblical definition of peace: something more than the absence of violence, but the presence of a hope and a future that pulls us towards a flourishing life. In one of the more radical examples of this work, we'll turn to the prophet Jeremiah and his commendation to exiles living in Babylon to, "seek the peace of the city..." (Jeremiah 29:4-7, 11). In the simple acts of living with hope (like planting gardens or raising children) we make peace even for our neighbors most estranged from God and us!

The Paraclete // Rev. Matt Kennedy // May 24 2026

"It is to your advantage that I go away" (John 16:7). I think a great number of us come to worship because we want to become closer to Jesus, so how then is it advantageous that Jesus "goes away"? Without some understanding of who the Holy Spirit is, you might get the sense that the point of the Christian life is to suffer in God's absence until one day we might be reunited, but the Bible tells a different story. Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit (in Greek, "the Paraclete") follows him and does all that he does (16:14). God is never far from us because the Spirit walks alongside us! On the traditional church calendar, this Sunday is set aside as "Pentecost", a day to remember the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4). Traditional liturgical colors of red adorn the sanctuary as a symbol of the Spirit's flame, but this day is not just to remember a singular historic event long ago. We’re celebrating the ongoing reality that God is not just the mind who designed the universe, but God is ever-present and ever-active as our counselor, helper, advocate, intercessor, and the very breath of God within you!

Confirmation Sunday Homily // Rev. Matt Kennedy // May 17 2026

Confirmation is a long tradition in many Christian churches in which our youth commit to study, reflect, and practice their faith in the hope and preparation that they will continue to be life-long followers of Jesus. It culminates on Confirmation Sunday, which includes our students sharing their faith stories. The traditions, rites, and celebrations of Confirmation Sunday spotlight our youth as individuals and rightfully honor the steps of faith they are taking. Yet at the same time, there is something almost ironic about some of our Confirmation traditions: while we publically celebrate and honor our students' faith, the New Testament also commends a faith that is quiet and modest, that are lives are to be, "hidden in Christ our God” (Collosians 3:2). This Sunday as we worship, I will urge us not to overly fixate on what our students have done but more importantly reflect on what they might teach us, that, "Christ is all and is in all.” (Collosians 3:11). May their lives and witness point us to the real life of the world.

Good to All // Rev. Matt Kennedy // May 10 2026

Over the last 5 weeks we've surveyed ancient cultural customs, re-examined the stories of Hebrew patriarchs, considered the context of Israelite law, looked at historic heresies, and had plenty of time to reflect on historic doctrine. The book of Galatians is indeed "a crash course" of the gospel and would be an excellent textbook for "Christianity 101." Yet all these challenging thoughts and ideas and beliefs are not just for pondering in the mind, but putting into action. On the final page of Paul's letter to the Galatians he offers some practical application for how the good news of grace finds practice in our lives: be gentle with people who struggle in their sin, bear each other's burdens, don't boast, examine yourself first before complaining about others, and do good to all (Galatians 6:1-14). The Good News isn't a manual for how to live a flawless life, it's the knowledge that helps us bear the conflicts, contradictions, and paradoxes of a world in which we are simultaneously sinners and saints.

Freedom & Fruit // Rev. Matt Kennedy // May 3 2026

Many political scientists and statesmen have observed that while freedom is the bedrock of democracy, freedom requires exercises of responsibility to keep from collapsing on itself. It's sometimes described as the difference between "liberty" and "license". License thinks freedom is for your own self-satisfaction. Liberty is freedom that we extend to others for the sake of common good. In the first 2/3rds of Paul's letter to the Galatians, he makes an impassioned case against legalism and moralism. Grace through faith is what saves the Christian, while overconfidence in "works of the law" is a kind of slavery. Yet in the fifth chapter of his letter Paul now reminds the Galatians that gospel liberty is not license to indulge our selfishness, but the freedom of grace empowers us to, "serve one another humbly in love." (Galatians 5:13). Jesus frees us from the impossible pressures of legalism, but he does not free us from the Spirit of Love who first wrote the law. Grace for sinners is the merciful invitation to "walk by the Spirit", "bear good fruit", and so fulfill the heart of the law, "love your neighbor as yourself" (5:14).