Sermons on Creation
Praise The Creator | Psalm 8:1-9 (Terry Shanahan)
Terry Shanahan, our CCCC Regional Ministry (soon-to-be retiring) preached on Psalm 8 on Sunday, June 5th, 2022. Enjoy. You can listen to all of his Cornerstone sermons here. Discussion Questions Ice Breaker: What is your favorite thing to do when you have leisure time? Get outdoors? Take a hike? Go camping? Prayer: Do you have a prayer or praise you would like to share? Let’s pray for one another. Reread Psalm 8: When was the last time you experienced God’s majestic…
A Great Big Snake Story | Acts 28:1-10; 1 Samuel 17 (David & Goliath the Serpent)
Elijah really likes The Jungle Book. One of the characters in that story is a really big and sneaky snake named Kaa. He’s a python, and he’s famous for his colorful, hypnotic eyes and his ability to put Mowgli into a trance. He nearly catches and eats Mowgli, but Mowgli escapes. Snakes are a part of popular culture, from Indiana Jones to Harry Potter to the movie, Anaconda, and Snakes on a Plane (neither of which I’ve seen). But, our…
Isaiah 66:7-13 Zion’s Birth Story (Labor & Delivery Sermon)
Monica Romig shared the following message at Gordon-Conwell’s chapel service on Wednesday, November 17th, 2021 (video link) from Isaiah 66:7-13. She talks about the biblical imagery of labor and delivery to describe how God is going to deliver and redeem his people. Enjoy the message. Since shops are already putting up Christmas lights and radio stations are playing Christmas music I thought it would be appropriate to consider this morning one of the prophetic birth passages of Isaiah. 7 “Before she…
Part 1. A Vision of Flourishing | Genesis 1-3 (Faith & Politics Sermon Series)
If you were to describe our nation’s political landscape, how would you depict it? Would you describe amber waves of grain and a fruited plain like America the Beautiful sings? Or maybe more likely, you would describe a barren desert with a tumbleweed blowing by, a snake slithering under a rock, and a lone cactus. I imagine most of us today feel politics are more like a desert than a field of wheat. But what if, as you were looking…
Life with God | John 15:1-8 (Jesus is the Vine, the Tree of Life)
The actual sermon on Sunday, September 26th, came out much differently than the one written below. Please watch the video of the service here to see how the Spirit moved. This summer I started reading (and am still reading) a book by Skye Jethani called With. In With Skye talks about the four different ways people generally relate to God (pp. 6-7, 169-170): Life Under God — You may relate to God this way if you feel like you never…
The Dance of Redemption | Song of Songs 2:8-10 (Ballet Sermon)
The ballet Giselle is a love story between a young frail maiden and a nobleman. Giselle lives in a small village with her mother where the villagers are preparing to celebrate the Wine Festival. The local huntsman Hilarion secretly loves her but so does another, Count Albrecht. The Count disguises himself as a peasant and shows her affection and care to win her love. The huntsman Hilarion will have none of it. He interrupts their dance and his suspicion grows…
Art & Beauty | Philippians 4:8
When Monica and I are on vacation we spot a contemporary art museum and I always say, “Hey, we should go check that out!” And then when we do go, I always hate it. I’m like, “What is this?!” So I’m preaching on art and beauty today… Let’s pray. I was sitting in one of my classes in seminary when a student raised his hand. I didn’t know this student very well. He was hipster; he wore a beanie to…
A History of Fire, Wind, and Smoke | Acts 2:1-13
What would you do if all of a sudden I yelled, “Fire!” Would you stop and look around to see what I was talking about? Would you just get up and run out of the building? Would you try to locate the fire-extinguishers? Or maybe you’d grab a pack of marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate for s’mores. What would you do if one Sunday you walked into this room and it was full of fire, wind, and smoke? Would you…
Peace That Lasts | Proverbs 3:13-35
Do you sleep well at night? No? Anxious? Worrying over something or someone? We all need peace. We need a peace that lasts. Proverbs connects wisdom with peace, but also something else… the tree of life.
A Tale of Two Sundays | Colossians 1:15-18
Earlier this week, I was talking with one of my Jewish friends named Rachel, and she was telling me about how she was celebrating Passover with her family this week. She then asked about my plans for Easter, and I was explaining to her that I was going to this thing called a sunrise service – at 6 AM on Sunday morning. So she asked me a good question – Why early Sunday morning? This might be a question that…
What does it Mean to be Human? | Genesis 1:26-31, 2:4-25
What does it mean to be human? Is it funny mistakes? Is it helping each other? Genesis 1:26-31, 2:4-25 tell us that to be human is to be made in God’s image, to be given life by God, and to experience relationship with God and others. We find our humanity when we find God… when we find Jesus.
Created to Trust | Genesis 1:1-25
In Genesis 1:1-25 we’ll learn five truths Moses taught the people of Israel as they wandered in the desert after leaving Egypt. They hoped to reach the promised land but because of their disobedience were sentenced to wander for 40 years in this wilderness. This is when they needed a message of hope, renewal, and re-creation the most. Moses gave them that hope in the creation poem of Genesis chapter one. The message is the same to us today. Come and trust…