Pastor Colin's Sermons
By Colin Cushman
Pastor Colin's SermonsNov 11, 2018
Christmas Eve Service 2019
Here's the entirety of our Christmas Eve service. Merry Christmas!
Riches
This week, we look at a passage from 1 Timothy, which encourages us to not focus on wealth but on doing good.
Creation(s)
When we're trying to get our heads around the Creation story, we have to look at a completely different creation story, from Babylon where the people were exiled. Take a listen to see a whole new side of the Creation stories in the Bible.
Jude: How to deal with those who stumble
For the second and final installment of our series on Jude, we look at those affected by the "bad guys" in the letter. Some have fallen for their dangerous ideas. How should we deal with them?
Wait, there's a book of the Bible called Jude?
Today, we start to take on the wacky and confusing book of Jude. Meaning, first of all, we have to try to figure out what the heck Jude is even about. Which is not that easy to do! Take a listen to see if you can make heads or tails of it!
Hell: Gehenna
This week, we look into Gehenna, a valley of fire and garbage and dead corpses, that just happened to be the inspiration for Early Christian view about Hell. So, learn more about that, as well as another way to think about Hell that might be more helpful nowadays.
Hell: Sheol
Is there such a thing as Hell in the Old Testament? We look at Sheol, a murky, shadowy underworld; see how that's the Old Testament's remedy for evil; and explore how else we might conceptualize evil.
Changing Your Mind
Today's sermon takes on a tough story to crack, and digs into the ins and outs of how a civil war was averted, people were terrified of being left out, and a hothead was able to keep it together to avoid a disaster.
Early Christian Care for the Poor
Today's sermon looks at a bunch of different stories to try to figure out, How should Christians take care of the poor? Take a listen.
Mephibosheth
Today's story features the obscure story of Mephibosheth and King David. To make sense of it, we take a look at the Marshall Plan, years-long chases, and a tragic accident.
Healing: Disabilities
Today's sermon, the last in our sermon series on healing, looks at an odd story of a blind man being made to see. It involves spit, interrogations, screaming matches, and a Swedish teenager. Take a listen!
Healing: Why Doesn't God Heal People Anymore?
This week, we look at the question of Why doesn't God heal people anymore like in the Bible? Our journey takes us through the fields of anthropology and sociology to investigate healing around the world and our own Western culture's disenchantment.
Healing: Geresene Demoniac
This week, we dive into the passage of the Geresene Demoniac, looking at how the Roman Empire relates to the demon Legion.
Healing: Praying for Healing
For our first sermon in this series on healing, we will be thinking about the nature of prayer and what it means to be praying for something.
The Queer, Ethiopian, Eunuch
This week, we look at the famous story of the Ethiopian eunuch and dive more into the background of the story.
Christmas in July: Jesus vs. Caesar
This week, we have the showdown to end all showdowns: Caesar vs. Jesus. Listen to learn how Luke is twisting Roman propaganda to get across his message of Christ's Lordship.
Christmas in July: Christ vs. Herod
Today, Jesus takes on Herod. And in doing so, he gets us into thinking about the plight of refugees in our own world.
Christmas in July: The Incarnation
What does an ancient hymn have to do with Christmas? Quite a lot, it turns out. See how God coming in the form of a person is related to the theological concept of self-emptying, and why that might help our own relationships with others.
Christmas in July: Nunc Dimittis
Today, we kick off our series "Christmas in July." By looking at these important stories at a different time than in December, we can see new features of them pop out at us, and enrich our understanding of the event of the Incarnation.
Wilderness as Detox
This week, we look at the story of the Israelites in the wilderness. Why were they out there for so long? What good did it do them? We dive into the psychology of slavery. the 10 Commandments, and more. Take a listen!
What to Do with the Old Testament?: What Do We Do with the Jews?
Who wants to try to make heads or tails of a super complex passage of Scripture? You do? Great! We take up Romans 11:1-33 and try to figure out what in tarnation Paul is saying about the Jews, of which he was one.
What Do We Do with the Old Testament?: Marcion and Matthew
Today's sermon does deep into the story of a man named Marcion, who came up with a novel way to read the Old Testament that didn't go over too well. And then we see something 180-degrees different from Matthew, which was.
What Do We Do with the Old Testament?: The Jerusalem Council
This week, we start to explore what we as Christians do with the Old Testament. And to start, we look at Acts 15 and the raucous council that debated whether or not Gentiles need to be circumcised.
Easter 2019
Happy Easter! Reflect on a new facet of resurrection in our short sermon this week.
Learning to Lament for Lent: The Hope of a Restored World
Finally, we reach a (somewhat) happy end to our series on Lamentations. We look at how the author is able to both hold the grief that they have experienced and the hope that God will be doing a new thing.
Learning to Lament for Lent: The Silence of God
This week, we look at a quirk of the book of Lamentations: God is completely silent in the face of that devastation. Come dive into what might be going on here.
Learning to Lament for Lent: The Rupture of Theology
This week, to understand our reading, we have to take up two ideas, which help us to understand why exactly the book of Lamentations have such disturbing images of God.
Learning to Lament for Lent: The Siege
This week, we dive deep into the backstory behind Lamentations. It's grim, but it helps to understand so much better what the book of Lamentations actually saying.
Learning to Lament for Lent
This Lent, we explore the book of Lamentations. What is lament? What might it have to tell us? But to start, what is Lent anyways? And why does Lamentations have something to say about it?
Women in the Bible: Manoah's Wife
To round off our discussion of fascinating yet obscure women in the Bible, we're looking at the wife of a man called Manoah. She has her stuff together, in contrast to him, and we see that ultimately the angel of God takes her side. Take a listen!
Women in the Bible: "The Woman Caught in Adultery"
This week, we look at "The Woman Caught in Adultery." What's really going on in this story? Is everything that is going on as it seems? Take a listen to find out!
The Magi
We learn a lot from our Christmas pageants and carols, but what of what we know about the magi is actually true? Take a listen to find out!
(Apologies for the hiccup in the recording partway through.)
Advent: Magnificat
This week, we're taking a look at the Magnificat, a poem from Mary before Jesus was born. And she has some interesting things to say about power and how God thinks about the poor and downtrodden...
Advent 2018: Zephaniah
Advent 2018: Jeremiah
Revelation for not-crazy people: The (re)new(ed) Heaven and the (re)new(ed) Earth
Revelation for not-crazy people: The Great(?) Battle
Revelation for not-crazy people: The Sea Beast and the Land Beast
Revelation for not-crazy people: Economic Destruction
Revelation for not-crazy people: The Whore of Babylon
Revelation for not-crazy people: God vs. Rome
Revelation for not-crazy people: The Letters to the Churches
Revelation for not-crazy people
1 John: Going Way Overboard
1 John: Forgiveness
1 John: Love in Action
Leviticus' Food Purity Laws
Revelation 12: The Woman and the Dragon
Wrestling with God
Genesis 32:23-32