Sermons

Sermons Hosted at HolyCrossHilo.com

  • 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
  • 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

Sermons Hosted at Ordained Geek