Sermon: Pounding the Pavement Like Paul, Acts 17:16-31 (May 3, 2026)

Have any of you ever done door-to-door sales before? I never have, but I imagine it’s a pretty tough job. I mean, I know that as the person on the other side of the door, I almost always start out skeptical and annoyed when someone shows up at my house to sell me something. Before I even open the door, I have to convince the worst guard dogs ever to stop barking so that I can hear what the person is trying to sell me. But even after overcoming that initial hurdle, there are always plenty more. Maybe it’s an inconvenient time, maybe their product isn’t something I’m particularly interested in, maybe I’m wary of being scammed, maybe I’m just not in the mood to talk to anyone at all. More often than not, a door-to-door salesperson who finds themself on my front porch starts out at a distinct disadvantage. 

Liturgy: Paul's Sermon at Athens, Acts 17:16-31 (May 3, 2026)

         *You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know that you have either used or adapted it.*

Hymns

Hymn GTG #409, “God Is Here!”

Hymn GTG #317, “In Christ There Is No East or West”

Sermon: "Until We All Are Free", Acts 16:16-34 (April 26, 2026)

This story about Paul and Silas in prison is a strange one. It reads more like Christian gossip to me than Church history, with each claim more outrageous than the last: “Did you hear that Paul got arrested for driving a spirit out of a slave-girl?” “Well, *I* heard that he converted all of his fellow prisoners *and* the prison guard!” “Oh yeah? Well, *I* heard that God sent an earthquake so big that it knocked all the doors of the jail off their hinges and even loosened the prisoners’ chains!” 

Liturgy: Paul and Silas in Prison, Acts 16:16-34 (April 26, 2026)

         *You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know that you have either used or adapted it.*

Hymns

Hymn GTG #234, “Come, You Faithful, Raise the Strain”

Hymn GTG #653, “Give Thanks to God Who Hears Our Cries” [v 1-3]

Hymn GTG #772, “Live into Hope”

Sermon: "Switching Gears", Acts 1:1-11 (May 11, 2025)

Before I get started, I want to assure you that I didn’t wear this hilarious shirt by accident, and I promise that I’ll explain it later.

I should also probably take a moment to acknowledge that it’s not, in fact, Ascension Sunday yet, even though we just read the story of Christ’s ascension a moment ago. Normally, the Church celebrates Christ’s Ascension into heaven forty days after Easter (following the timeline of the original events), and we’ve still got three weeks to go. But I figured that since I won’t be with you on June 1 and I’ve given our guest preachers carte blanche to preach on whatever they want, it was worth making sure that we touched on this important story at least once.

And if I’m being entirely honest, it also feels like an especially fitting scripture reading for today. At the risk of comparing myself too favorably to Jesus, I can only imagine that the experience of the disciples here must have been similar to the experience of a congregation watching their pastor prepare to leave on Sabbatical. Both events represent significant shifts in the community’s life; confusion, uncertainty, and even fear are all understandable reactions. Even if you’re NOT experiencing any of these emotions, it’s undeniable that the next three months will be very different from the past six years. Just as the Ascension was for the disciples, the three months that I’ll be on my Sabbatical will be a time of transition and adjustment for all of us: a time of switching gears.

Liturgy: The Ascension of Christ, Acts 1:1-11 (May 11, 2025)

   *You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

Hymns

Hymn GTG #297, “In Christ Called to Baptize”
Hymn GTG #383, “Standing on the Promises”

Hymn GTG #313, “Lord, Make Us More Holy”

Sermon: "Eyes on the Prize", Acts 6:8-7:2a; 7:44-60 (May 4, 2025)

Let’s be honest – this is a pretty disturbing story. Up until this point, Acts has largely been a celebration of the Holy Spirit’s movement among the people, giving us joyful tales of miraculous healings, communal living, and exponential growth. Sure, the disciples were harassed here and there, but they always seemed to come out okay in the end. This, though – this is dark. There’s no “happy ending” for Stephen, even though he’s consistently described as righteous. Amid all the recorded successes of the early Christian movement, this story is a bleak reminder of the sinful reality of the human condition.

Liturgy: Stephen's Witness, Acts 6:8-7:2a; 7:52-60 (May 4, 2025)

   *You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

Hymns

Hymn GTG #267, “Come, Christians, Join to Sing”

Hymn GTG #250, “In the Bulb There Is a Flower”

Sermon: “The ABCs of Boone: We Create Change…”, Acts 2:36-47 (September 22, 2024)

Join us as we unveil Boone's new mission statement...

TO BE CONTINUED...

So far in our mission statement, we’ve talked about what we ARE and what we BELIEVE as a community. But a good mission statement has to be about more than that; it also has to describe what we DO. As a church, we obviously DO all the normal churchy things – worship, Christian Education, and service projects – but it’s important for us to remember that while these activities are pretty universal within Christian communities, they aren’t actually defining characteristics in and of themselves of the Church at large. We don’t do them for their own sake – we have a larger goal, in which these activities are more properly used as a means to an end.

Liturgy: Peter Preaches at Pentecost, Acts 2:36-47 (September 22, 2024)

   *You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

Hymns

Hymn GTG #298, “Lord, You Give the Great Commission”
Hymn GTG #767, “Together We Serve”

Hymn GTG #296, “God in Grace and Make Disciples”

Sermon: “A Pentecostal Truth”, Acts 2:1-21/Numbers 11:24-29 (May 19, 2024 - Pentecost)

Today is the day that we remember the first Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples – the so-called “birthday of the Church”. And what a celebration it was! The Apostles started babbling in other languages, resulting in the crowd assuming they’re drunk, which in turn causes Peter to quote scripture at them and yell, “Nuh uh, it’s only 9am” – you know; just your average first birthday party. But seriously, we actually call Pentecost “the birthday of the Church” because it’s the point at which the disciples pivot from being Jesus’ sidekicks to being apostles with their own ministries. And while the “speaking in other languages” thing is a neat party trick, the Holy Spirit also gives the Church its *actual* first birthday gift on this occasion: a new sense of power and authority to create global unity through the gospel.

Liturgy: Pentecost Sunday, Acts 2:1-21/Numbers 11:24-29 (May 19, 2024)

 *You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

Hymns

Hymn GTG #291, “Spirit, Spirit of Gentleness”
Hymn GTG #284, “Holy Spirit, Come to Us”

Hymn GTG #280, “Come, O Spirit, Dwell Among Us”

Sermon: “Smaller Miracles”, Acts 3:1-10 (April 14, 2024)

This is a pretty miraculous story, isn’t it? If I were to ask you what makes it miraculous, what’s the first thing you think of? ...The healing, right? This is the very first time we see the disciples do something seemingly impossible in Christ’s name; it’s the first time they prove themselves to be anything other than a bunch of ordinary dudes who happen to have an extraordinary best friend. This is the moment that makes us think the apostles are somehow fundamentally different from us – there’s certainly no reason to believe that any of US are capable of such things. Either they’re somehow special, or there was something in the first-century water. This appears to be a great story for celebrating the disciples’ ministry, but there doesn’t seem to be much in it that we can learn from.

Liturgy: Third Sunday of Easter, Acts 3:1-10 (April 14, 2024)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

Hymns:

Hymn GTG #451, “Open My Eyes, That I May See”
Hymn GTG #205, “Live in Charity”
Hymn GTG #320, “The Church of Christ in Every Age"

Hymn GTG #315, “In the Midst of New Dimensions"

Sermon: "Witness Protection", Acts 1:1-14 (April 7, 2024)

Happy Second Sunday of Easter! He is risen! [He is risen, indeed!]

Today, as we continue to celebrate the resurrection, we’re shifting from the terse, fast-paced narrative of Mark’s gospel to the book that contains all the stuff that Luke’s couldn’t cram into his. Although the styles of these two writers are about as different as they could possibly be, Acts is the only canonical record we have of the resurrection’s immediate aftermath, and the only one that offers us a full account of the Church’s earliest days – hence, the shift. But that’s a good thing as far as our curiosity is concerned. All those questions Mark left unanswered? The Book of Acts doesn’t leave us hanging. How did the disciples know the resurrection wasn’t a trick? “[Jesus] showed them that he was alive with many convincing proofs.” What did Jesus do in the time between the resurrection and his ascension to heaven? He instructed the apostles and spoke to them about God’s kingdom. We even find out exactly how long the resurrected Christ stuck around for (forty days).

Liturgy: Second Sunday of Easter, Acts 1:1-14 (April 7, 2024)

   *You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

Hymns:

Hymn GTG #234, “Come, You Faithful, Raise the Strain”
Hymn GTG #388, “Come All You People”
Hymn GTG #511, “Come, Behold! The Feast of Heaven"

Sermon: "Follow the Thread", Acts 2:1-8/Romans 8:26-30, 38-39 (May 28, 2023)

Today is Pentecost. It’s the day that we mainline Protestants finally remember that the Trinity is more than just the Father and the Son, that there’s another divine person who often gets forgotten in our sacred storytelling. So the pastors all unpack their trusty metaphors for the Holy Spirit and the props that help drive their descriptions home: pinwheels, bubbles, red streamers, candles; basically anything that can be used to represent wind or fire.

Sermon: “Silent and Unsettled", Acts 14:8-18 (April 30, 2023)

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[Before I begin, I want to acknowledge that this sermon is going to touch on some tough subjects, like sexuality and abortion. If you need to step away because these topics are too personal for you, I encourage you to do so. But if you find yourself squirming in your seat just because these topics make you uncomfortable, I encourage you to try and stick it out.]

I find this to be an unsetting passage. Do you? I don’t find it unsettling because it’s especially disturbing; it doesn’t contain anything particularly sad or violent or dangerous, as some Bible stories do. No, I find it unsettling in the literal sense – it just ends without any sort of satisfying resolution; it’s unsettled. Paul and Barnabas aren’t able to convince the crowd of their own humanity, there’s no successful conversions recorded, no minds or hearts changed. Just a failed attempt at evangelism. Especially after last week’s wonderful example of living out the Great Commission from Acts 10, this story is more disheartening than anything. Where’s the good news?

Liturgy: Paul's Mission, Acts 14:8-18 (April 30, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

Call to Worship (based on Acts 14:13)

Leader: Worshipers of Zeus and Hermes bring bulls and wreaths as sacrifices.
People: But the Lord takes no delight in burnt offerings and worthless gifts.

Sermon: "I Am Learning...", Acts 10 (April 23, 2023)

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On Easter, we completed our journey through Matthew’s gospel, finishing the story of Jesus’ life with the account of his resurrection appearances to his followers. Last Sunday, we punctuated that narrative sentence by focusing on Jesus’ very last earthly words, what we’ve come to call “The Great Commission”: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you.” This week, the Narrative lectionary offers a story about one of the disciples’ earliest attempts to do exactly that.