University Christian Church Sermons

Listen to fifteen brave and bold sharers tell us how they’ve experienced God’s goodness this year. All the time, God is good!

The Apostle Paul exhorts, “Rejoice always,” (1 Thessalonians 5:16) but what does this mean? And how do we do it? Daniel asks us to consider joy in the light of our Christian faith: what joy is (and isn’t); what can get in the way of experiencing joy; and how we might practice joy in ongoing, sustainable, life-giving ways.

Before we have peace on earth, we must have peace with God. Peace with God, is the foundation of our peace with others and with ourselves. We're joined by friends from Calvary Missionary Baptist Church this morning to consider together what it means to be recipients of Christ's peace, that which surpasses understanding.

Advent is a season of waiting. Waiting. Waiting. The challenge of Advent is learning how to let the waiting produce something beautiful in us. Perhaps, a deeper faith? Perhaps, a greater hope? This morning, Tyler weaves together the poetry of Shel Silverstein, the drama of Mark’s gospel, and parts of his own personal journey to help us hope more boldly in the Kingdom of God—that which is close at hand, that which will one day come in fullness when Christ returns. Come, Lord Jesus.

What does it mean to be people with sexuality? This week, we broaden our understanding of the word “sexuality,” (its more than “who can do what with whom!”) then take a closer look at Paul’s first epistle to the Thessalonians to glean what we can from the apostle’s teaching with regard to living in ways that honor God, honor ourselves, and honor one another. Follow along with us.

What does it mean to be made in the image of God? It means we are incarnational. It means we are called to vocations. It means we are made for community. It means we have sexuality. Dive into Genesis 1 & 2 with us this morning.

Striving to become a Jesus-shaped church requires us to pursue unity in the midst of disagreement. Today, we return to Romans 14 to explore how we go about living this out.

To be reconciled in the body of Christ requires us to forgive when we’ve been hurt. But how? This morning, we take a closer look at Romans 14/15 to see what we can glean from the Apostle Paul as it relates to finding unity after (and within) the experience of pain.

How do we find commonality? This morning, we look at Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth to discover what the Apostle suggests ought to be of first importance in our work towards unity.

In this second half of a 2-part teaching on leadership in the church, we look at a story from Acts 15—the early church leaders in communal discernment. What does it look like for us to practice these postures today?

What does it look like to lead more like Jesus? We explore a passage from Matthew 20 this morning to discover four postures we might take as we seek to lead more like Jesus in the church and as the church in the world.

As contemporary Christians, it’s tempting to look at the church depicted in Acts 2, and say, “Yeah! That’s how we need to be!” And yet, with the best of intentions, our attempts to practice the rhythms we see in the early church somehow always fall short. We fool ourselves thinking we can look exactly like the church in Acts. However, what can we learn—as 21st-century, America Christians—by giving the practices of the early church a closer look? Marty invites us into a morning of provocation and reflection.

What does it mean that church is “a family?” Jeremiah takes us on a tour through 1 Thessalonians Chapter 2 to explore this question.

The body of UCC models being the body today, as Marty leads us through the communal reading of five passages of scripture, and helps us reflect upon each. What do we do with passages that suggest that disciples of Jesus will suffer? Face persecution? Imprisonment? Death? Indeed…What do we do with that?

Today, we begin a multi-week series exploring the question: “What is church?” Jeremiah kicks us off this morning with the thought-provoking question: “What if the church looked more like Jesus?”

This week we look at a passage from Isaiah 51 to find God’s instruction for his people in the midst of suffering and struggle. Listen in, be encouraged.

Today we look at a story from Acts 8, the story of Phillip’s encounter with the eunuch from Ehtiopia. How does the prophet Isaiah speak good news to this “outsider.” How does Phillip respond?

Throughout scripture, God asks his people many questions. This week, Jeremiah takes us to 1 Kings 19: 9-18 where we find Elijah in a cave, prompted by God to consider “why he’s there.” What can we learn about ourselves by taking the time to reflect on the questions God asks us? How might learning to listen for God’s voice in silence lead to a deepening relationship with our Creator?