Holy Words from Holy Cross

23rd Sunday after Pentecost

Where God's Treasure Is

Sermon on the Mount - We Worship What We Treasure

Sermon on the Mount - Fasting

Sermon on the Mount - Utterly Dependent Prayer

Sermon on the Mount - An Audience of One

Sermon on the Mount - Dealing with Enemies

Sermon on the Mount - Personal Retribution

Sermon on the Mount - Oath Making in the Kingdom; Total Transparency

Oath Making in the Kingdom - Total Transparency

Sermon on the Mount - Divorce: Staying on the Path of Holiness

Divorce: Staying on the Path of Holiness

12th Sunday after Pentecost

Sermon on the Mount - Lust and Disordered Desire

Sermon on the Mount - The Holy Path of Anger

11 Sunday after Pentecost

Sermon on the Mount - Anger in the Community

9th Sunday of Pentecost

10th Sunday of Pentecost

8th Sunday of Pentecost

The Nature of Anger

Sermon on the Mount - The Nature of Anger

Sermon on the Mount - Righteousness that Exceeds

What can it mean that our righteousness must exceed that of the Scribes and the Pharisees?  How can we do that?  The answer lies in the Biblical concept of justification. Let's learn about that together.

Righteousness that Exceeds

What can it mean that our righteousness must exceed that of the Scribes and the Pharisees?  How can we do that?  The answer lies in the Biblical concept of justification. Let's learn about that together.

Sermon on the Mount - A New Life with Which to Live

How can we possibly keep Jesus' new commandments and possess a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees?  The answer may surprise you.

A New Life with Which to Live

How can we possibly keep Jesus' new commandments and possess a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees?  The answer may surprise you.

Sermon on the Mount - More Than a New Law to Live By

As Jesus presents His most comprehensive moral teaching in the New Testament, what is He really doing?  Is He just giving us more rules to live by?  What is the ongoing significance of God's Law given at Mt. Sinai?  Jesus' at first perplexing words at this point should draw us into deep reflection.

More Than a New Law to Live By

As Jesus presents His most comprehensive moral teaching in the New Testament, what is He really doing?  Is He just giving us more rules to live by?  What is the ongoing significance of God's Law given at Mt. Sinai?  Jesus' at first perplexing words at this point should draw us into deep reflection.

What Are We to Do With All This?

Verses 5:13-16 in Matthew's Gospel mark a transition in the Sermon on the Mount.  What is going to be the purpose of the rest of Jesus' lengthy discourse?  Let's listen in and find out.

Sermon on the Mount - What Are We to Do With All This?

Verses 5:13-16 in Matthew's Gospel mark a transition in the Sermon on the Mount.  What is going to be the purpose of the rest of Jesus' lengthy discourse?  Let's listen in and find out.

The Beatitudes - Blessed Are...

What are the famous "blessed's" that kick off Jesus' Sermon on the Mount?  A prescription for living?  A declaration of God's grace?  Something else entirely?  Let's explore Jesus' words together.

Sermon on the Mount - The Beatitudes - Blessed Are...

What are the famous "blessed's" that kick off Jesus' Sermon on the Mount?  A prescription for living?  A declaration of God's grace?  Something else entirely?  Let's explore Jesus' words together.

Text and Context: The Sermon on the Mount

Who heard Jesus preach His most famous sermon?  Why is that important to our understanding of it today?

Sermon on the Mount - Text and Context

Who heard Jesus preach His most famous sermon?  Why is that important to our understanding of it today?

The Source of Our Hope

The doctrine of the Trinity is monumentally confusing for many Christians and a positive stumbling block to non-Christians who might become Jesus' disciples if they didn't have to believe it?  Why does the Church not only hold on to it, but even hold onto it as one of the only two doctrines that define you as a Christian?  Let's explore this question together...

The Holy Spirit Alone Can Grant Understanding

There are so many voices out there telling us what the Bible means... how are we to sort among them?  God has given us a guide by giving us Himself in the Holy Spirit.

Universal, Ubiquitous, and 4U

What is the significance of Christ's ascension?  In a day and age when we can send people to the moon, what does it even mean to say He "rose to the right hand of the Father?"  It means a great deal, and is no artifact of a primitive time.

From Fear to Faith

Jesus' famous words "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" were spoken in the midst of a time of great fear... a time like we are experiencing now.

The Lord is My Shepherd

The words of Psalm 23 are very familiar to most Christians--maybe too familiar.  In this sermon we slow down to linger over the words of this familiar section of Scripture and consider what they meant to David... and what they might mean to us today.

Walking Beside Us Still

During this special sermon, reference is made to the picture to be found at the following link:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Supper_at_Emmaus,_by_Rembrandt.jpg

Doubting Thomas

If there is one person we sympathize with in Scripture it is Thomas.  We have all been zealous for God at times and at other times had our doubts.  How are we all like Thomas?  What is Jesus' reaction to Thomas?

Into Our Fear

In 2020, the Coronavirus pandemic is the center of our focus.  What good amid this is the Easter proclamation?

Our God or the God

When faced with a choice, why did the crowd ask for the release of a murderer rather than a man who raised the dead and taught the love of neighbor?  Would we do otherwise?

Suffering, Evil, and a Good God

If God is all-powerful and all good, why does He permit suffering and evil in the world.  It is an important question that philosophers and theologians have largely answered to their satisfaction, but it still afflicts us... especially if we aren't familiar with those disciplines.  Let's explore this topic together in the light of God's Word. The video referenced in this sermon can be found here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrrSZboiKNU

Our God in the Midst of Pandemic

What does it mean to have a god?  How we answer that question will tell us a lot about our relationship with Jesus, even if we have professed Christianity for any years.  How do we answer the question?  Let's find out together...

Encountering Christ in Worship

Why do you come to worship?  Do you encounter Christ when you come? If not, why not?  John's Gospel story gives us some clues.

How Long to Fulfill a Promise?

How long do you give someone in your life to fulfill a promise before you assume they never intend to do so?  In his second letter, Peter says, "the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness," but at times it feels like He is.  How do we have hope that God will accomplish His purposes, even when the process seems painfully slow?

The Vocabulary and Process of Evil

How does evil work?  How do we become what we despise and engage in what we deplore.  "Temptation" is a word used by advertisers to draw us in... how do we learn to see it as what it is and resist it?  Jesus teaches us today.

Called in Conscience

That people should be free to worship--or not worship--God according to their conscience is not an Enlightenment idea... it has its roots in the teachings of Christ.  As Lent begins, we are called in conscience back to the living God.

Peter's Transfigured Journey

We have all had experiences that have forever changed us.  How did the Transfiguration of Jesus change Peter?  How should it change us?