University Christian Church Sermons

On Trinity Sunday, Jeremiah seeks to help us understand the relationship between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—a relationship the church has been trying to comprehend for centuries. How might reckoning with the mystery of the Trinity deepen our discipleship? Listen in...

God moves when God's people come together. God moves when God's people wait. God moves when God's people surrender to the Spirit's movement. The Spirit's movement unites the unlikeliest of characters—living stones built-up together in God's house.

What's possible when we open ourselves to the leading of the Spirit as we engage the Scriptures? Anything! Everything. More than we can imagine. In today's sermon, Megan tells some stories, and shares what she's learning when it comes to engaging the Spirit in the reading of Scripture, and invites us to consider some practices we might explore to help us become better listeners.

Are there different kinds of truths? Are all facts truthful, all truths factual? How do you communicate truth that can only be seen through the eyes of the heart? In true Marty fashion, we ask questions, seeking to fill our toolbox with a few more tools for engaging the bible well.

Today, Marty invites us to consider how we posture ourselves towards the bible, suggesting that “asking better questions of the bible,” is one way we mature in our discipleship. Marty touches on many themes including: why it’s important to understand the bible as a singular, cohesive narrative; the differences between the bible’s distinct sections and why that matters in the work of interpretation; and what changes when Jesus enters the story.

In order to understand the bible well, apply the bible well, engage the bible well, and utilize the bible well, the bible must be (scary word) “interpreted.” In this second teaching in our, “How We Read the Bible” series, Jeremiah invites us to look closer at how we draw meaning from this collection of ancient voices—that which comes from the Spirit of God and the work of humans.

In this first of a six-part sermon series, Jeremiah invites us to explore how the bible came to be, and what difference the bible can make in our lives today as we learn to love it, absorb it, and allow it to form us.

Weird things happen in the Bible. Including in the story of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. On Palm Sunday, we look closer at Luke 19 and the bizarre events that transpire at the beginning of Jesus’ passion.

A final reflection on Lamentations, guided by Marty Solomon. What needs to die in us? Who might we need to walk with in solidarity through suffering? What new perspective is God showing us? Can we embrace the dying and trust the new life to follow? Let us hope.

We “round the corner” in our 5-part series through Lamentations and ask: is there any hope? Might the circumstances we suffer, the situations that bring us sorrow, the realities that leave us anguished bring us closer to new life? So it was for Jesus. So it might be for us?

The poetry of Lamentations invites us into “the tensive interplay of unresolvable, open dialogue”—with affliction, with grief, with persistent suffering. In week three of our Lamentations series, Katie asks us to consider the role unanswerable questions, incomplete answers, and the more complex aspects of human experience play in our formation into Christlikeness.

Lament is a physical and embodied expression of grief, based on the recognition that things are not as they should be. When we take our pain to God, we proclaim hope—to ourselves and to our communities—that we believe things will change. Today, we continue our series through Lamentations, looking to faithful followers of the past to learn how to practice lament in the present.

To “lament” is to take our sorrows before the Lord. This Lenten season, we’re working our way through the five chapters of Lamentations. Jeremiah kicks-off our series by inviting us to take a closer look at what we do when we encounter suffering—in our own lives, and in the lives of those around us.

Jesus brings transformation into the lives of all who encounter him, into every place he goes. Today, we look at what transpires when Jesus meets God people in three different settings: a private place, a public place, and a hidden place. As we continue our journey through Mark’s Gospel, we invite you to reflect on the ways you’ve already experienced transformative encounters with Jesus, and allow yourself to stay open to new possibilities for experiencing fresh encounters with Jesus today.

Jesus comes onto the scene with power from on High. If we believe Jesus’ authority comes from God Almighty, what are we to make of his teaching? What could change in our lives, if we lived believing there is STILL power in Jesus’ name?

On Christmas Eve morning, Shannon took us on a journey across the arc of scripture, and invited us to reflect in new, deeper ways on the love God has for all his people. Just what kind of love is this? We hope this re-recording of Shannon’s message blesses you as much as it did listeners who gathered on the eve of Christmas.

Today, we continue along in Mark’s Gospel, where we see Jesus driven into wilderness; Jesus proclaiming Kingdom nearness; and Jesus calling his first disciples. What can we learn about the Good News from these three stories?

This morning, we begin our journey into Mark's Gospel, "the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." What is this so-called "Good News?" And what difference does believing it make in our lives today?

What can the story of the Magi, these “odd,” star-gazing wanderers, who follow a rising star to Bethlehem, teach us about God? About who God reveals himself to? About how and where God shows up? Much, for the one humble enough and curious enough to go looking.