Sermons

Sermons Hosted at HolyCrossHilo.com

  • Created
    May 31, 2026 Genesis 1:1-2:4a2 Corinthians 13:11-13 The first chapter of Genesis is not the Bible’s only account of Creation. There’s another one in Proverbs 8, in which the figure of Wisdom works alongside God in the building of the world. Probably the most famous additional text is the first chapter of John’s Gospel, which … Continue reading Created
  • Sermon: Receive the Holy Spirit
    May 24, 2026 Acts 2:1-21John 20:19-23 There’s a reason why this morning’s story about the house finch guarding his treasure had him guarding… whatever it was. I think we have a similar problem with the Holy Spirit. We know it’s valuable. We know it’s important. We know it’s something to embrace. But… What is it? … Continue reading Sermon: Receive the Holy Spirit
  • Sermon: Suffering and Rejoicing
    May 17, 2026 1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11John 17:1-11 Suffering is one of the great questions confronting religion – any religion. Christianity, it must be said, doesn’t have as close a focus on it as other faiths. Christianity has much clearer answers to the questions of sin – we are forgiven through Jesus Christ – and … Continue reading Sermon: Suffering and Rejoicing
  • Sermon: Connections
    May 10, 2026 Acts 17:22-31John 14:15-21 In Acts 17, Paul and Silas had been traveling hard for a while. They’d made a few friends in Thessalonica, which is toward the north of the Greek peninsula, but they’d also found a good few enemies who had stirred up the authorities against them. They’d gone to a … Continue reading Sermon: Connections
  • Sermon: Rough Road
    May 3, 2026 Acts 7:55-60John 14:1-14 Philip Ruge-Jones writes at Working Preacher, “Back in the day, my seminary professors told us that our proclamation should recreate the effect in our own congregation that the Word had on its first hearers.” He goes on to suggest that the most faithful result of a sermon on the … Continue reading Sermon: Rough Road
  • Sermon: No Stranger
    April 26, 2026 Acts 2:42-47John 10:1-10 Chapters nine and ten do a lot of heavy lifting in the Gospel of John – that is, they are packed with event and import and tension and meaning. It’s not the most poetic writing in the Gospel – I think we have to say that “In the beginning … Continue reading Sermon: No Stranger
  • Sermon: The Moment of Recognition
    April 19, 2026 Acts 2:14a, 36-41Luke 24:17-35 We come to this story on the third Sunday of the Easter season. We’re in a “move on” kind of place. Jesus rose two weeks ago, after all. Last Sunday we heard about events a week later – that’s convenient timing, isn’t it? So we’re ready for the … Continue reading Sermon: The Moment of Recognition
  • Sermon: Assumptions
    April 5, 2026 Acts 10:34-43John 20:1-18 It’s very difficult to get through the day without making decisions based on assumptions. Absent any reason to believe otherwise, I assume that the sun will rise in the morning and set in the evening, and I act accordingly. I assume that gravity will hold me to the ground … Continue reading Sermon: Assumptions
  • Sermon: Help Us!
    March 29, 2026 Philippians 2:5-11Matthew 21:1-11 As Jesus rode the donkey – maybe two donkeys, according to Matthew – into Jerusalem, the crowds gathered and shouted. They quoted Psalm 118, a song of thanksgiving and, quite possibly, related to an ancient religious procession from the city entrance to the area of the Temple at the … Continue reading Sermon: Help Us!
  • Sermon: The One You Love is Ill
    March 22, 2026 Ezekiel 37:1-14John 11:1-45 Someone you love is ill. What do you do? You might well say, “I go visit them.” But is that what you do? Don’t you think about it first? Thinking is a good idea, because the people you love aren’t all the same. There are some who really do … Continue reading Sermon: The One You Love is Ill

Sermons Hosted at Ordained Geek