Preacher Paul's Blogs

As we gather this coming Sunday, we will reflect on a familiar verse that asks an unfamiliar kind of honesty from us. Micah 6:8 does not invite us to talk about faith or admire it from a distance. Instead, it presses us to consider how faith shows up in the ordinary choices of our lives. In the sermon, “Let’s Write Your Eulogy,” we will imagine what our loved ones might say about us if our lives were summed up by three simple questions: Did you do justice? Did you love mercy? Did you walk humbly with God? These are everyday practices that shape how we treat coworkers, neighbors, friends, and even those who frustrate us. The sermon is about invitation and possibility. None of us has finished writing the story of our lives, and Micah’s words remind us that faith is something we live into, one step at a time. Justice, mercy, and humility are not boxes to check someday, but a way of life we are invited to practice today, tomorrow, and every ordinary day God gives us. As you prepare for ...

  This week’s upcoming sermon, “My (Un)happy Place,” is rooted in God’s clear and compassionate invitation in Deuteronomy 30:15–20, where God sets before the people a choice between life and death, blessing and curse, and urges them to choose life. Together, we will reflect on the places in our lives that quietly drain joy, peace, and spiritual vitality. Some of these places exist because life is genuinely hard, but others persist because of thoughtlessness, unhealthy patterns, or fear of change. The sermon explores how God does not deny hardship, yet also does not ask us to normalize unnecessary suffering. Instead, God consistently points toward life, flourishing, and hope, even when that means having the courage to step away from what is harming us. We will also consider what creates unhappy places in the first place, how our words and actions can unintentionally wound others, and why staying in soul-crushing environments can diminish our ability to serve Christ with compassion ...

This Sunday we will turn our attention to James 3:1–12, a passage that speaks with surprising clarity to everyday life in the church. James reminds us that words are never neutral. What we say, how we say it, and why we say it all matter. The tongue may be small, but it carries the power to shape relationships, damage trust, and influence entire communities. James challenges us to take our speech seriously, especially as people who claim to follow Christ, because our words reveal what is truly shaping our hearts. The sermon also invites us to reflect on how easily assumptions, half-truths, and unchecked talk can take root among faithful people. The Gospels show that even Jesus was subject to rumor, mischaracterization, and false testimony. When words are used carelessly, even with good intentions or religious language, they can wound rather than heal. As we begin a new year, James calls us to live from our baptismal identity, choosing speech that reflects patience, restraint, and grac...

As we begin a new year and prepare to worship together on Baptism of the Lord Sunday, this upcoming sermon invites us to slow down and remember rather than rush ahead. Drawing on Matthew 3:13–17 and the familiar refrain of Auld Lang Syne , the sermon reflects on how faith does not begin with a clean slate or a list of resolutions, but with memory and identity. Before Jesus teaches, heals, or begins public ministry, Jesus is named beloved. In the same way, baptism reminds us that our lives of faith begin not with effort or achievement, but with God’s claim and God’s love, spoken over us long before we are aware of it. Rather than asking what we need to fix in ourselves this year, the sermon asks a different question: how might we live as people who already belong to God? Remembering baptism grounds us when life feels uncertain, reminds us who we are when we forget, and calls us to live faithfully out of grace rather than pressure. As you prepare for worship, I invite you to spend some ...