Category Archives: Sermons

Resurrection: More Than Heaven When You Die

Posted on April 8, 2026 by salooper57

(…the phrase, “think outside the box” originated with the nine-dot puzzle.) Once you go outside the box, there is more than one way to solve the problem. That is what Jesus does with Martha. He takes her outside the box, beyond the confines of the tomb. Continue reading →

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Shutting Jesus In: An Easter Skit and Sermon (Matthew 27:65-28:15)

Posted on April 7, 2026 by salooper57

Resurrection is Jesus getting out—out of death itself, out into the world, into our lives; into everything. He’s worse than any kid: he is always getting into everything. Continue reading →

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If Only (John 11)

Posted on April 1, 2026 by salooper57

His mom said, “I’ll have to vacuum it up.” Phin asked, “How does it get up there?” His mom, thinking he was talking about the bug, said, “They fly.” Phin looked at her in amazement and said, “Vacuums fly?” Continue reading →

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Put It Where It Belongs: Where the Incarnation Fits in God’s Big Story

Posted on March 18, 2026 by salooper57

They think that if the faith is true, they should see evidence for it everywhere – a thousand … astonishing healings and nature-defying answers to prayer. Those things certainly happen …, but they usually happen in clusters around significant actions (some might call them intrusions) of God in history. Continue reading →

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Don’t Give Up on God (2 Samuel 7)

Posted on March 4, 2026 by salooper57

God hardly ever does things the way we think he should. What kind of kingdom is ruled by a crucified King? Continue reading →

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The God of Second Chances (Joshua 3-4)

Posted on February 25, 2026 by salooper57

When another chance – second chance or hundredth chance – will be helpful, it will be given. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the God of Second chances. Continue reading →

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Ungraven Images (Exodus 19-20)

Posted on February 18, 2026 by salooper57

The form we have here comes from the kingdom of the Hittites and the so-called suzerainty treaties that conquered nations were required to sign. But there is a difference: God did not conquer Israel and force them into a treaty. Rather, he rescued them and offered them the choice to be his people. Continue reading →

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The Passover: He Delivers (Exodus 12)

Posted on February 11, 2026 by salooper57

He did everything God told him to do … and things got worse! Much worse. And what’s more, the Hebrews blamed him (which is just what Pharaoh intended)! In frustration, Moses lashed out at God. He said (5:22), “Why did you [even] send me? . . . you haven’t rescued your people at all.” Continue reading →

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Laughter Will Not Die (Genesis 22)

Posted on February 4, 2026 by salooper57

And now we come to chapter 22 where God’s Plan-Only, which was entirely dependent on a boy named Laughter, was put at risk. And it was God who put it there. Continue reading →

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The Call of Abraham (Genesis 12)

Posted on January 27, 2026 by salooper57

Abram is the beginning of the cure because he is the beginning of a line … The long line runs through a young woman – hardly more than a child – named Mary. Then the line becomes a point: a point of contention for some; a point of no return for others; but the point of it all for us who believe. Continue reading →

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