Weekly sermons from Haverhill Commons Church located in Haverhill, MA.
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Rahab was a woman, a Canaanite, and a prostitute. She is the kind of person the Israelites would have written off and ignored. And yet, her faith in the God of Israel defies expectations. Before she even asked to be included amongst the people of God, she offers that kind of inclusion to the Israelite spies. In faith, she’s already done the very thing that she hoped God would do for her. As she…
This was a special morning of worship we called More to Your Story. We dedicated an hour to sing and pray together, engage with scripture, and reflect upon our own stories. This summer we’ve been revisiting some of the most famous and familiar stories in the Old Testament and allowing the enduring powers of these narratives to shape and reshape our lives. But instead of asking these questions of…
In The Odyssey, Odysseus’ crew couldn’t trust his promise that they would survive without eating the cattle. In Exodus, Israel couldn’t trust God’s promise while Moses was on the mountain. And in our lives, we struggle to trust God while we’re waiting for the next chapter of our own stories. Like the Israelites, who make and worship a Golden Calf, we often turn to other things to try to save…
None of us hear the stories of the Bible in a vacuum. We show up to them with our own values, assumptions, and life experiences and we use these things to help us make meaning out of these stories. Similarly, Abraham used his own values, assumptions, and previous experiences with the gods of the ancient world to make sense of this God, the God of Israel. But what Abraham soon discovers is that…
Rocky. Mulan. Aladdin. The 1980 USA Olympic hockey team. What do they all have in common? They’re all underdog stories. And we love them. We often think of David and Goliath as an underdog story but there’s actually more to the story. It’s the story of what happens when people turn away from God and put their trust in something else. It’s a story about God giving his people what they wanted. It’s…
Of all the ways God could have chosen to reveal God’s self to the world, why stories? Why not a systematic theology textbook? Or an easy to read list of principles? Why not just a giant collection of rules? Often we just want the point, the lesson, the answer, the takeaway, but stories, good stories, work differently. Stories invite us to slow down and get curious. To notice details and ask…
The road to healing, strength, and peace is not a smooth digital superhighway spanning the universe. It's a river that grinds away our rough edges so that we can embody the other-oriented love of God. The world tells us that the best life is one of comfort and ease, one without struggle, one that is padded and comfortable. But that’s a lie. The best life is the one that Jesus lived in the real…
What happens online stays online, right? Surely the rage baiting and the angry comments sections don’t have an effect upon the real world? Well, we’re learning they do and perhaps that shouldn’t be surprising when we consider that for the first 6 years of Facebook’s existence, the official slogan emblazoned on the walls of its corporate headquarters was “Move Fast and Break Things.” It seems that…
It takes wisdom and discernment to navigate the complex realities of interpersonal or social conflict or to find truth in the sea of disinformation. So, how do we become wise? In this passage, Solomon recognizes he is still a child and does not know how to lead the people of Israel. Instead of asking for wealth, military victory, or a long life, he asks for “a discerning heart to govern your…
Our passage this morning is one you’ve probably heard before, likely at a wedding. But Paul didn’t write these words for a wedding, rather, to a church that was in danger of falling apart. Paul says that they’ve championed some gifts over others, some people over others. He says that giving everything to the poor and similar other-oriented actions, though good, can be done with selfish motives for…
In Greek mythology, after leading his fellow titans in a revolt against the Olympian gods, Atlas was condemned to hold up the heavens for all eternity. Over the centuries, the details of the story got kind of mixed up, so when we now think of Atlas holding something, we picture him holding the whole world. He’s, as we say, “carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.” We, however, carry the…
The digital age promised a revolutionary new world marked by connection, life, and the sense that we’re all a part of something greater than ourselves. And it has somehow done the exact opposite. There’s something different about these online spaces. It’s as if they’re trying to replicate something that we can only truly experience when we gather together in a room with other people. The book of…
For most of human history, relationships were entirely local. Studies of medieval church records find that most people lived their whole lives within a 10 to 30 mile radius from where they were born. Friendships were maintained through physical presence, shared meals, and working side-by-side. The internet has changed everything. We can maintain meaningful, instant, on-going contact with one…
Most depictions of technology we see in popular culture arrive at the same conclusion. Technology is going to end us… Now the Bible doesn’t mention iPhones, the internet, or social media apps, but it does have a lot to say about why things keep going off the rails, and what God has done to put it right. It is not a list of self-help practices, but it does show us how to be healthy and whole human…
Today, we conclude our series on the gospel of Mark and instead of sermon, today is an opportunity to engage and come up with our own takeaways to a question central to the gospel. It’s the same question that Jesus asked his disciples: “Who do you say that I am?” There isn’t one right answer to this question. Our relationship with Jesus is not static but dynamic. Our thoughts about Jesus change…
Can you think of times in your life when you were really surprised? Like, really stunned. How did it feel? Three women arrive at Jesus’ tomb expecting one thing… only to find something they were not at all prepared to deal with. A moment that would change the trajectory of their whole lives. Sometimes the surprise is so shocking, so earth shattering, so eternally consequential… and so good, that…
Good Friday is the day we remember God's great love to us, expressed to us in the person of Jesus. On this night we gather at the church to sit at the foot of the cross and consider Jesus' crucifixion and death. But who is Jesus? What does his life have to do with anyone else’s? What does his life have to do with ours? Does what Jesus said and did 2000 years ago speak to us today? Three of our…
Jesus tells Peter that he will deny ever knowing Jesus, not once, but three times. To which Peter adamantly proclaims, “even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” Then, after Jesus is arrested, Peter is recognized. The fear of possibly being arrested too takes over, and Peter says the first thing he can think of to distance himself from Jesus. Later, Peter is recognized again... and…
It’s often easier to just let someone else make the call. Pilate did not think that Jesus was guilty of the crimes he was accused of. However, he tried to avoid making a call: he sought more information, he tried to buy time, he basically phoned a friend. He was in a position to protect an innocent man, to alleviate his suffering. He had an obligation to do what was right; to bring justice to an…
“How does following Jesus inform the way we worry about the world?” In Mark 13, Jesus says to his disciples that the temple will be destroyed, which would have meant the end of the world for the disciples and the rest of the Jewish people as they knew it. Four of them took Jesus aside and pressed him, “Tell us, when will all this happen? What signs can we look for?” They wanted to know when and…
When asked to sum up all the commandments into one, Jesus says, “You will or you shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” And the second is like it, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The word Mark uses here is the Greek word agape. Agape is different than say romantic love, affection, or friendship. Agape is less of a feeling and more a state of the will. It is…
What’s the one thing that made Jesus mad? Like, really mad. As Jesus enters Jerusalem, he sees their magnificent temple and passed through its fortified walls. The place is bustling, but Jesus sees through it all, claiming the temple had become a den, a home, an assumed place of comfort, for those who were not living their lives in a way that reflected God’s glory. Tragically, the church, instead…
In Mark 10, James and John, approach Jesus with a bold request, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” In the ancient world, the person on the right of the king was the second in command. The person at the left was a dear, intimate friend. Just make us the two most important and most powerful people in your kingdom. The disciples knew what it felt like to be…
Our community believes God cares deeply for kids who need homes. We partner with Fostering Hope to care for children in vulnerable circumstances. Their founder and director, Jonathan Reid, shared with us this Sunday. We also heard from one of our own members serving on a Care Team. The God who is high above all things bends His power toward the powerless: the fatherless, the widow, the sojourner,…
What does it mean when we say we believe in something? The Cambridge Dictionary defines believing as “thinking that something is true, correct, or real”. We believe in things all the time, but what happens when things don’t go the way we believe they will? Whether it’s simple like sleeping through an alarm we believed would wake us up or looking at the chaos and injustice in the world around us…
A group of children are brought to Jesus so that he would bless them. Unfortunately, the disciples rebuked the adults who had brought them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant and he said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never…
Runner’s often experience something known as a runner’s high. At the exact moment you’re not sure you can keep going, you get a second wind. Even though you’re still running, your heart rate drops and your breathing stabilizes. It’s like you’ve tapped into a hidden source of unlimited energy and you can keep going. The Transfiguration was like that for the disciples. They saw Jesus transformed.…
Psalm 91 is not a psalm about domination, conquest, control, or certainty. It is about shelter, refuge, dwelling, and connection. It assumes that danger is real and that what we as human beings need most in this world is not rugged independence but presence and connection. Or, to use a more modern phrase, humans need secure attachment. When we call, God answers. When trouble comes, God responds.…
This year, 54% of Americans report feeling lonely. Being around people doesn’t always help. We can be in a crowded plane, classroom, or church, and still feel alone. We can be at a work party with colleagues and friends and still feel unseen. We can be gathered around a dinner table with our own families and still feel misunderstood. But the miracle we’ve gathered to remember this Christmas Eve is…
Have you ever noticed that when it's very dark, noises sound louder? Or that it’s harder to tell what’s real and what isn’t? That’s our brain trying to keep us safe by increasing our fear. And when we say things are “dark” we don’t always mean a dark room or the darkness of night. Sometimes the whole world feels shrouded in a kind of gloomy darkness. When we find ourselves in the darkness, even if…
Human beings are highly resistant to change. Change often involves embracing an unknown future and often, we fear what we don’t know and therefore, we fear change. When we fear change it becomes hard to move on from a miserable job or end an unhealthy relationship. We refuse to loosen our control over our children as they grow. God appears to Moses in the burning bush as change itself. A fire—the…
One of the things that gets lost in the coming of Jesus is the fact that the people of God had been waiting a long time for a Messiah. We’re not talking about waiting for Christmas morning to come again… we’re talking about waiting hundreds of years. How much longer could the people of God cling to the dim light of promises written hundreds, probably a thousand years prior? How long until they…
Variations of “do not fear”, “do not be afraid”, and “fear not” appear more than 100 times in the pages of scripture—it’s clearly something that God wants to address, and it’s clearly one of the things we’ll struggle with most in life. We live in a world that pours fuel on our anxieties so that we stay in a state of perpetual fear. What should be healthy, helpful fears can grow into a gigantic…
Mark structured the first half of his gospel so that we would arrive at this moment of truth. The disciples have seen and heard enough. They should be able to answer the question that Jesus posed to them. “Who do people say that I am?” Peter had been taught that the Messiah would be a royal figure, the offspring of King David, whom God would empower to deliver Israel from her enemies. The Messiah…
When you think about your life and the ways you move through the world, would you say that you see yourself as the main character? If so, what does that mean for how you view those around you? Are you so focused on your own chances to stand in the spotlight that you forget to shine a light on the needs of others? Or do you relegate yourself to the role of background character in everyone else’s…
It’s easier to claim to be virtuous, than be virtuous. It’s easier to talk the talk than walk the walk. And that's what Jesus was talking about in this passage—the discrepancy between what we project on the outside and what’s actually going on in our hearts. Jesus was highlighting one of the big problems with rules that govern external behavior. It gives you, and everyone around you, the feeling…
Wealthy people, poor people, kids, adults, progressives, conservatives… we all get hungry. Using their stomachs as a common denominator, Jesus was teaching them that their needs united them in solidarity with every other person. And if we can see that what another person needs is the same thing that we need, it has the power to awaken our compassion for that person. Recognizing our common humanity…
We like to suppose we control of our lives, but if you’ve ever found yourself outdoors in a storm, you realize just how small and helpless we really are—completely at the mercy of a storm so much bigger and more powerful than anything we can handle. This story is also about a storm, but it’s a storm raging inside of a person. This man in Mark 5 lived among the tombs, possessed by demons. We don’t…
Sometimes the stories we tell ourselves can get in the way of what is actually possible. We sometimes assume our problems are not big enough compared to what else is happening in the world. Or, we may believe we're not worthy or deserving of God's love and care. Maybe you think if you're honest about what you've been struggling with others will judge you or think you're weak. These kinds of…
What is a parable? Parables are stories thrown alongside real life to illustrate or explain something. It’s a story with a lesson, a creative way to make a point, a mirror to help us see ourselves more clearly. At the end of chapter 4 Jesus says the Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does…
According to Jesus’ family, he was, “out of his mind”, beside himself, not seeing things clearly. The religious leaders also thought he was “out of his mind” and were threatened by ruling breaking and challenges to their authority. The two groups of people who should have been the most on board with Jesus, the religious leaders and his own family, wanted to stop him. Whether out of fear or pride,…
In his gospel, Mark is purposefully stringing seemingly random and unrelated stories together and in doing so, invites us into the interpretive process. He wants us to not examine these stories in isolation but in relationship to one another to see for ourselves the bigger picture he is painting. This bigger picture of course is a picture of Jesus, who he was, what he did, how he did it, and why…
In Mark chapter 1, Jesus is a disruptor. He’s not merely tweaking the system, he’s re-writing it, stirring the pot, unsettling the status quo. It’s clear here that Jesus has authority to restore not just one aspect of our brokenness but every aspect. We see him healing bodies. Restoring spirits. Bringing people back into community. Upending systems of exclusion. Terrifying those who benefit from…
In the first chapter of Mark’s gospel, Mark declares, that Jesus is the gospel, or in every day English, the good news. The word “gospel” is that the Romans, the ones who ruled Judea in the time of Jesus, had already been using that same word for years. In the Roman world, when they pronounced a gospel, messengers were sent throughout the empire to share the “good news” that a new Roman Emperor…
Though the Israelites had been delivered from Egypt, Pharaoh’s economy of never-ending work, greed, and oppression had formed and patterned their relationship to work. We live in economy like that of Pharaoh’s—an economy governed by the almighty dollar and not by generosity, justice, and mercy. In Isaiah 65, we see God’s hopes for our work. Work is meant for our good and for the common good. As we…
Misión de Caridad was formed to break the cycle of poverty for displaced women and children on the Mexico side of the United States border by educating and empowering families to build healthy lives of purpose within self-reliant communities. When families come to the border, they often settle on land in an area near Misión de Caridad’s facility. The streets are dirt. Families construct houses out…
Revelation 7 gives us a glimpse of what worship could look like when we get to heaven. Here, the church isn’t plagued by debates over different worship styles and practice or what’s the “right way” to worship. The image presented is one of both diversity and unity. It’s not just people from a few nations, or just those who speak Greek and Hebrew, it’s representatives from every nation, every…
It important to look forward and visualize what we hope will happen. When I was a teacher, we would set goals for our classes and students. Knowing where we wanted to be at the end of the year helped us make decisions about what to prioritize during the year. Being able to see our destination helped us actually get there. Leading up to Micah 4, we see there’s an army at the gates and corrupt…
There is no doubt the world is a place of great need, and it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the extent and complexity of that need. It's hard to know where to even begin. Can do we end hunger? Can we fix unjust systems? Can we save the world? Only God can heal us and make whole what we have broken. God demonstrated this on the cross. Instead of creation ending in death, a new path was opened. In…
We’re kicking off a new summer sermon series called Spoiler Alert: God’s Story Rules. We are going to explore the end, or perhaps the culmination, of God’s story. We will talk about the ways that knowing the trajectory of God’s story informs how we think and live now. What’s the reason we do anything? The end of God’s story, the last pages of Revelation, give us some reasons. The picture we see in…
