Langdon Palmer

Estrangement, Reconcilliation, and becoming a Christian - 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

Sometimes when we hear too many details, our minds go numb, and we miss the big picture of the forrest because of the clutter of the trees. In our scripture for this morning, Paul sweeps away all the clutter, all the secondary concerns and lays out the gospel and the Christian life in a clear and challenging way. It turns out there is one word we need to get deep down in our bones if we are to live the Christian life - there is one word we need to understand - and it is the word RECONCILE.

Four Smooth Stones - 2 Corinthians 5:11-16

There are ideas that empower us and draw us closer to God, and there are ideas that undermine us and paralyze us, leaving us defeated. We look at an episode in The Hobbit, where a small, uncertain, very ordinary person who felt trapped and lost, learned how to act when faced with powers that seemed overwhelming. We discover in 2 Corinthians four smooth stones that can help us when destructive ideas come knocking.

Why Christians Act So Weird 2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Why do Christians act so weird ? It has to do with seeing the world differently. But is this view accurate? What does it mean to walk by faith and not by sight? Is Christianity 'blind faith' ? Do you have to turn off your brain to be faithful ? We get a beautiful image of what the Christian life actually is from one of the most beautiful places on earth - the Grand Canyon. To see the image that this sermon is built around, go to http://www.southridgeworship.com/2_corinthians.htm

Till We Have Faces - 2 Corinthians 3:7-18

What is the key to a life well led ? Is the good life based on what we do or fail to do? What is the relationship between the Old Testament law and the Grace and Freedom found in Jesus ? How can we experience for ourselves the presense of God? All these important questions are tied up with the section of scripture we study today. And it turns out that the Old Testament law is alot like the nail gun being you will hear being used during this sermon !

Nicene Creed 11 - The Ressurection of the Dead - 1 Corinthians 15:1-20

Is holding on to dogma as bad as people in our culture think it is? How about the dogma that declares that God loves us so much that he wants to give us eternal life? What does the wilderness portage of a canoe from one lake to another have to do with eternal life? In this last sermon on the Nicene Creed, we look both at a summary of the creed as a whole, and the particular meaning of it's last phrase: "We look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life everlasting" In our moder...

Nicene Creed10 - One Baptisim for the Remission of Sins - Ezekiel 36:25-29, Mark 1:4-8, Acts 2:36-38

Ever try some new experience and look at everyone else and wonder - am I doing this right ? Is what I am feeling what I am supposed to be feeling when I do this? How do you know that you are really a Christian? How do you know that what you are experiencing is what other people experience as the life of faith? How do you know if you are doing it right or if you are missing something? It turns out that baptisim gives us a window into the entire Christian thing. But what is baptisim ? ...

Nicene Creed 7 - His Kingdom Shall Have No End - John 18:33-40 Phillipians 3:17-4:1

If the kingdom of the Son of God is real and shall have no end, why does it seem like our culture is falling apart ? Why are we falling apart ? In the year 410 the Christian thinker Augustine was struggling with the same questions - he came up with profound answers and he began by asking one of the most basic questions - 'How can I be happy?'

Nicene Creed 9 - One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church - ACTS 2:40-47

Does the church every drive you nuts ? Do you ever look around in church and think this doesnt look much like the church I see described in the New Testament? Today we dig into the fours signs of a healthy church - that it is one, holy, catholic and apotstolic.

Nicene Creed 5 - Suffered Under Pontius Pilate - Luke 24:50-53 1 Corinthians 15:1-8

What is a two bit political hack named Pontius Pilate doing in the middle of Christianity's most holy creed? How can we believe in God in a world full of suffering? What did Jesus achieve on the cross? Who should you vote for in the next presidential election ? All this and more is covered in our sermon for this week!

Nicene Creed 3 - One Lord Jesus Christ - Hebrews 1:1-4, Colossians 1:15-20

If Jesus was born on the first Christmas, but the Son of God existed before all worlds, where was he before the first Christmas? Today we explore one of the most challenging and amazing aspects of the Christian faith - the implications of Jesus being fully God and fully human. We take a quick look into Einstein and relativity as way to look at the relationality of the triune God.

Nicene Creed 2 - One God the Father Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth - Acts 17:16-34

Every word of the first phrase of the Nicene Creed was carefully chosen and is packed with scripture, history, and meaning. Is it obvious that this phrase touches on why we still need the Old Testament, Discuses how God can be all powerful and all loving yet there is evil in the world,the use of male pronouns in scripture, or the use of bumper rails when you go bowling? Come join as we explore the first hallway of the Nicene Creed. The recording begins halfway through the reading of Acts...

Credo - a song

A song written and recorded within our church community that talks about what we believe the church should be about. For lyrics goto http://www.southridgeworship.com/credo_lyrics.htm

Nicene Creed 1 - We Believe - Joshua 24:14-15, Mark 9:14-27

What should your church be all about ? What are the signs of a healthy vibrant church that is headed in the right direction? We talk about six distinctives of a great church and discover that the first one - a commitment to the basic gospel as found in the Nicene Creed is the foundation upon which the other five are built. Today we begin our series on the Nicene Creed by asking first "What do we believe the church should be" and then focusing on the first two words of the Nicene Creed ...

Easter - If the switch really has been thrown - Luke 18:31-43, Ephesians 3:10-12

What happens when a commuter train filled with 1000 peoples travels down the tracks 600 miles in the wrong direction?

The Seven Deadly Sins #7 Sloth - John:12:12-19

Is being lazy really that bad ? After all, isnt busy uptight people who cause all the wars ? Why would the ancient church consider Sloth a deadly sin? It turns out their understanding runs much deeper than ours and is brutally conviciting. On this Palm Sunday we turn to C.S. Lewis' Screwtape letters to get a perfect picture of the habit of sloth, and to Jesus in the gospel of John to see it's opposite: Diligent Love. For more information about the 7 deadly vices, go to http://www.sout...

The Seven Deadly Sins #6 - ANGER - Proverbs 15:1, Mark 3:1-6

What do I do with this Anger? Many folks struggle with anger, and many Christians don't know what to do about it. Is it OK to be angry? If so, when? When does Anger turn evil? How can I handle it ? We look at Jesus and the wisdom of scripture and discover what it really means to Rage Against The Machine. We have put up a prayer meditation on line so that wherever you are and whenever you need it, it's available at http://www.southridgeworship.com/anger.htm

The Seven Deadly Sins #4 & #5 - GREED & GLUTTONY - 1st Timothy 6:3-10

Is it wrong to want more money? How much food is too much ? What are gluttony and greed and where do they come from? More importantly, how do I say no when they come knocking at my door? Join us as we face these two G's of the seven deadly vices with wisdom from the word of God.

The Seven Deadly Sins #2 VAIN GLORY Matthew 6:1-7

Ever know someone who, no matter what the conversation begins about, they always find away to make it all about them? Ever known someone who constantly needs attention and praise? Turns out, there is some of it in all of us, and this old sounding vice of VainGlory actually ends up cutting us off from both God and the people whose attention we want. We take a tough look at this and then the remedy found in scripture. Our long term happiness really turns on turnning from these seven prima...

The Seven Deadly Sins #1 ENVY Genesis 4:1-16

Envy doesn't feel good at all. It's easy to see other people's envy, but aren't most of us tempted to get bitter when others have it better? It turns out that Envy is not just a cute phrase used in commercials, it is one of the deepest rooted sins in the human heart. It is more than coincidence that the very first sin recorded in the bible after the fall of Adam and Eve is the birth of Envy captured in the story of Cain and Abel. Join us for this tough but crucial topic. We start firs...

Starting on the road of Ashes - a sermon for Lent

Nudge 6 - The Smell Test and the Woman with the Alabaster Jar - Luke 7:29-50

Do you ever go by the smell test - when something just smells wrong, seems fishy, but you dont know why? It is the one time when listening to your gut can pay off. In this installment of the Nudge Series we look at the amazing gift of smell, and how we can use the spiritual smell test in our lives. We end with the question - when you come into a room - can people smell Jesus on you ? We find out how it can be so!

Nudge 3 - The Gift of Taste - The Spice of Life - Song of Solomon 4:9-16

The Song of Songs has some awfully sensual langauge in it. Spicy Language. In fact spices are mentioned over 40 times across 16 books of the Old and New Testament. Jesus himself enjoys giving sensual experiences to people. What is going on here? Is there a whole side of the bible we have been missing? What about the Cross? It turns out that after the Cross, one of the primary images of the scriptures is the Table. Come join us as we learn how to live in the space between the Cross...

Nudge 2 - The Gift of Listening - The Sower, the Soil, and the Seeds - Mark 4:1-23

What does Jesus mean when he says "He who has ears - let him hear?" Why does the bible talk so much about listening for God? It was God's idea to give us the gift of physical hearing in this physical world. It turns out that the kind of sonic environment God designed and intended for our emotional and spiritual well-being included a lot more silence than most of us are experiencing today. In this interesting study we explore the famous parable of the sower, the soil and the seeds and t...

Nudge 1 - Awakening each other to the God who is already there - Matthew 16:1-17

How is it that something can be right in front of our face and we don't even see it? If I had been there to see Jesus when he was walking the earth - would I have noticed, or totally missed it? I don't want to miss what God is doing in the world all around me here and now. It turns out that God has given us two books - the book of Scripture and the book of Nature - to help us pay attention to what is really important. This world is full of sign posts and wonders - if we only have eyes t...

Advent #4 Waiting Like Mary Luke 1:26-56

No matter how hard we try to avoid it, we are going to wait. The question is not whether we are going to wait but how we are going to wait. Mary teaches a way to wait that redeems the time and frames our life and our waiting in the big story of the redemption of the universe!

Advent #2 John the Baptist - Luke 3:1-18

Recent neuroscience research indicates there is far more going on inside us then we realize. This is why it is so hard to change our selves - we don't even have access to some of the things that are broken in us - but God does. John the Baptist shows a way to live that opens us up to God's work deep beneath the surface of our lives. It is also a way to prepare for Christmas, it is the way of life that Advent is all about - Preparing and Turning to God. See http://www.southridgeworship.co...

Mountains Into Molehills - a song for our NUDGE sermon series from our SouthRIdge community starting 1/8/12

LYRICS Why do we tear down everything we cant explain? Break it all to pieces till it all looks the same We reduce mighty men, honest men of great deeds To a pocket full of unmet needs. CHORUS: Somebody tell me why we turn Mountains into Molehills we turn Mountains into Molehills we turn Mountains into Molehills Better change them before they change you Why do we tear down everything we cant explain ? Does it cause us that much pain? Who stole our wonder for this wild world - who stole ...

How to read the book of Revelation - or - 3 questions that will set the course of your life - Revelation 1:4-11, 21:1-8, 22:1-10

How do we read the book of our own lives? How do we read the book of Revelation? It turns out there are three questions and how we answer them will impact the course of our lives - who and where we will be five years from now. And those three questions are the very ones that the book of Revelation is trying to get us to think about.

How to read the OT Wisdom Literature - Ecclesiastes 1:1-2:2:11 The Blunt Honesty of an Athiest - and then some

Does life ever seem meaningless to you? Or, have you made some bad decisions, or are you facing some hard choices? In each of these cases what we need is wisdom - godly wisdom... and it can be found the section of the bible known as the books of wisdom. Job,Proverbs,Ecclesiastes are known as the books of wisdom and together with Psalms and The Song of Solomon are also known as the books of Poetry. Each of these five books gives a different type of wisdom that we desperately need to hear. ...

How to read the Epistles - Philippians 4:10-20

Can you really be content in all circumstances? Why does Paul say things that seem harsh ? Have you ever been inspired to read a book of the bible based on a great quote you saw, only to find there was a lot of other stuff in the book that seemed not so great? Was Paul grumpy in some of his comments to the Philippians? All of these questions turn around how we interpret the Epistles - the letters of Paul. Reading the Epistles is like reading someone else's mail and so we really need to ...

How to read the Gospels - Luke 19:1-27

If Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God, then the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are a crucial and logical starting point for our first readings in the bible. The gospels contain both the story of Jesus' life and his teachings. It turns out the Jesus of the gospels is much more startling than the Jesus of American imagination. We illustrate two practical tools for reading the gospels and then apply them to the section of Luke's gospel that gives us both an example of narrative ...

How to read the Bible - using the lens of God's generosity - Deuteronomy 14:22-29

Like reading a book with a pair of glasses, we all read the bible through our presuppositions, through the conclusions we have before we even start to read it. Some glasses distort what we read while others correct a defect in us so we can actually see what is there. It turns out that when we realize that God's primary characteristic is generosity we begin to see both the bible and our selves in focus.

How to read the Old Testament Prophets - Amos 1-9

If God sent you a prophet - would you actually listen? What if he was gruff, loud, and self-confident? How can you tell a true prophet from a false one? Why do the old testament prophets have so much doom and gloom? What guidelines can help me to read the old testament prophets for myself ? Join us to find out!

How to read the Old Testament Law - Deuteronomy 6:4-9,Leviticus 19:9-14 & 18-19

Why are there so many strange laws in the Old Testament? Do the laws of the Old Testament still apply today? We look at the TV Series LOST, and white water rafting to discover a set of basic principles that will allow you to read the Old Testament Law in a way that makes sense for today.

How to read Old Testament Narratives - Genesis 37:12-36, 50:15-21

In part 2 of "How to read the Bible for yourself" we realize that if you really want to know what the bible says you need to recognize that it includes many different genres - proverbs, songs, laws, history, letters - and that do justice to each we must read each according to it's particular genre. This week we look particularly at how to read Old Testament narratives as they were intended. Is so doing, we discover an amazing insight into how to think about our own family history and how ...

Getting personal - letting God invade your personal space - Psalm 139

We dont like people invading our personal space, but the whole point of the gospel is that Jesus came to invade our lives... and save them. We look at this beloved psalm including the part no one wants to talk about. Join us as we look towards the one who knows us better than we know ourselves

C.S. Lewis and the Great Divorce 09A - the Grumbler and the Artist - Psalm 131

Do you sometimes think 'If only I was more organized, and my house was more organized, and my schedule was more organized, then I could have some real peace and satisfaction? Maybe what is more important than being organized is what your life is organized around. With our busy schedules and hectic lives, is it possible to be both active and still and centered on God? Yes. We contrast the deep peace of the Psalmist in Psalm 131 with what organizes the grumbling woman and the artist descr...

Psalm 137 - What about all the awful stuff in the bible?

Why are there such awful things in the bible? Today we look at one of the most difficult passages in all of scripture: "Blessed is he who seizes your babies and dashes them against the rocks!" How can the bible be the word of God if it contains a verse like this? It turns out this verse is crucial for helping us understand our sense of rage and indignation at the unfairness of the world. We look at the history of ancient Israel and discover the true story behind this verse.

Psalm 103 - Taking Bearings and Recieving Revelations

What if there was a book only 22 sentences long that covered the following topics: The nature of God, the nature of human beings, what actually happened on the cross, the role of social justice in the Christian life, the role of personal morality in the Christian life, and how to live a life full of meaning! Psalm 103 contains 22 windows that not only allow us to look out and get our bearings but also allow the light of God's self-revelation to break in and illuminate our world. Join us as...

Psalm 73 - Why do the Wicked prosper ? Lucius Malfoy and Harry Potter

Ever have a day where nothing is going your way and then you see someone who seems to have it easy even though they are a jerk? If God is real, why isn't life fair? Why is there no justice? I think one of the reasons the Harry Potter series is so successful is that JK Rowling gets what it is like to live in an unfair world. It turns out that Psalm 73 shows us the way to live in a world where the wicked prosper.

Psalm 42 - Do you feel like giving up on Christianity ?

Ever feel like you are in a wrestling match with yourself - where part of you is trying to hold on to your faith and the other part of you is questioning the whole Christian thing? Do you know someone who has walked away from the faith? This morning we find in this ancient psalm a brutally honest examination of how doubt works and we find a clue to the way out in a really surprising place!

Psalm 1 - Gateway to the Psalms

Imagine a life which is like a tree planted by the streams of living water. Compare that to a life like chaff where you are blown all over the place, where there is lots of motion and movement, but very little to show for it. With this podcast we begin our journey through the book of psalms, with the beloved gateway - Psalm 1. Here we are given a way to live and a way to avoid. It turns out there is a sin that seems insignificant to us which can turn our lives to chaff, yet there is so...

Acts 2:1-21 Second Wind...

What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit ? What was the first Pentecost all about? When people say they are being led by the Holy Spirit - how do we know if it is true, or they are just making things up ? We look at wind surfing, running and gas masks to come to grips with the reality of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that is described in Acts 2 at the very birth of the church.

Acts 28 I just want to be Happy...

When faced with difficult times or thinking about your future have you ever heard yourself say "I just want to be happy." In this sermon on the last verses of the last chapter of the book of Acts, we find discover an ancient quote from the book of Isaiah reveals clues about the practical things that turn us from people with calloused hearts to people with joyfull hearts.

Acts 15 - How should the church handle hot button issues and what should we do when we disagree ?

Should churches have standards of behavior for members, and if so, how do we decide? How should Christians handle disagreements? We look at these two very timely questions as we study Acts 15 verse by verse and discover some general principles that apply directly to our own struggles today.

Acts 17:16-34 Philosophy 101 - Is Christianity outdated ?

What is the good life and where is it found? Some used to say 'In Christ.' But has Christianity outlived its usefulness? Is it nothing more than a narrow minded relic from a bygone era ? Today we see Paul on Mars Hill encountering the philosophers of his age. It turns out there is a lot that the Cynics, the Stoics, and the Epicureans can teach us about the good life. There is much to learn. But is philosophy enough ? Paul wants to introduce us not to another approach to the good li...

Acts 4:32-37 Great Grace and the Grinch

The picture of the early church painted in today's scripture reading is so beautiful it can actually depress us - how can our own church experience fall so short of it? But there is more going than first appears and in fact this scripture describes things that can be true about us and our own churches today. Many of us enjoy the classic child's story the Grinch who stole Christmas, but what if we are the ones whose hearts are two sizes too small? What if this is exactly what the Holy Spi...

Acts 1:1-26 Introduction to the Book of Acts

What would it feel like to live a life fully empowered by and guided by the Holy Spirit? What if part of being led by the Spirit was being good at waiting? In this first part of our study on the book of Acts, we look at the days after the ascension of Jesus and what it can teach us about how we can be the church together today.

Easter - On the first day - Matthew 28:1-10

What really happened on the first Easter? How can it be that Jesus really came back to life? Even if it happened, what difference does it make to our lives here and now? It turns out that an analogy from 8th grade math can help us come to grips with the true meaning of the Christian story. The images shown during the sermon can be found at http://www.southridgeworship.com/easter_2011.htm

To Kiss the Son and mean it - Palm Sunday - Matthew 21:1-11, Psalm 118

Does life ever feel like a random collection of fragments of unfinished stories to you? Pieces of stories that just don't make sense when you try to put them next to each other? How can there be so much beauty and so much horror mixed up in the same world? Where can meaning and hope be found in a world like this where one minute the crowds welcome Jesus with Palms and the next minute cry out Crucify him? We take what appears to be three random fragments: The story of Palm Sunday in Matt...