Sermons

Sermons Hosted at HolyCrossHilo.com

  • Sermon: We Are Not Farmers (Mostly)
    July 12, 2026 Isaiah 55:10-13Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 I have only briefly been a farmer or a gardener. My parents decided one year to plant a small vegetable garden behind our house. It wasn’t a great location. Between hedges, a small garage, and fruit trees, it didn’t get much sun. The soil wasn’t terribly rich. And … Continue reading Sermon: We Are Not Farmers (Mostly)
  • Never Satisfied
    July 5, 2026 Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 Some people – and apparently some birds, if my story has any connection to reality – are never satisfied. Serve them coffee and they’ll ask for tea. Serve them hot tea and they’ll ask for iced. Serve them iced tea and they’ll ask for coffee. That’s … Continue reading Never Satisfied
  • Sermon: Mister Bad News
    June 28, 2026 Jeremiah 28:5-9Matthew 10:40-42 Ah, Jeremiah. My favorite prophet. No, really. He is. Despite the fact that, as a college student, I had to take a break after reading the book of Jeremiah because it was so depressing (I told you that story last week), I took a course on this book during … Continue reading Sermon: Mister Bad News
  • Sermon: Better than the Bible
    June 21, 2026 Genesis 21:8-21Romans 6:1b-11 What could be better than the Bible? Yes, that title is deliberately provocative. If we’re honest with ourselves and others, however, it’s true that the Bible is an uneven work of literature. The first time I read through the Bible, I didn’t read it exactly through. Jeremiah ends with … Continue reading Sermon: Better than the Bible
  • Sermon: Assignment: Mercy
    June 14, 2026 Exodus 19:2-8aMatthew 9:35-10:8 Jesus’ travels through Galilee disturbed him. D. Mark Davis, writing at LeftBehindAndLovingIt, translates verse 36 as, “Yet having seen the crowd he was wrenched with compassion about them that they were having been harassed and tossed aside like sheep not having a shepherd.” Then he writes: “This verse is … Continue reading Sermon: Assignment: Mercy
  • Sermon: God Desires Mercy
    June 7, 2026 Hosea 5:15-6:6Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26 Do you remember the Pushmi-Pullyu from Doctor Dolittle? The fictional animal (I repeat, fictional) had a body like an antelope or a llama, with a head at both ends and with two pairs of legs and feet that pointed in the same direction as the head and neck … Continue reading Sermon: God Desires Mercy
  • 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

Sermons Hosted at Ordained Geek