Soma Spokane Sermons

Full-bodied faith is both intellectual and emotional, enlightening the mind and stirring the affections of the heart. This Advent we’re exploring the emotions of faith, looking at how the movements of God’s Story - Creation, Fall, Redemption - stir our hearts to feel deeply wonder, heartbreak, and hope. This week we look at the emotion of heartbreak, considering how the pain and strain of our lives, our relationships, and our world brings about a deep and abiding sorrow. What do you do with your own heartbreak? Do you minimize it? Look for someone or something to blame? Or do you just check out of reality, finding ways to numb and avoid really feeling anything? Advent invites us to feel deeply the sorrow of the world, and to own our responsibility in it, while also looking for rescue beyond us. Jesus came to save us from our sins and to be God with us, the perfect solution to the heartbreak we all deeply feel.

We’ve covered a lot of Biblical ground over the fall, tracing the Story of Redemption from Creation to New Creation every single week, and considering how we tell that Story in word and deed in everyday ways. For Advent, we’re going to slow way down, cover less content, and instead engage the emotional landscape of faith. What does faith in God’s Story feel like? What emotions does the Biblical storyline - Creation, Fall, and Redemption - invite us to discover? The Gospel Story is both intellectually credible and emotionally satisfying, making sense of our lived experience as humans. Over the month of December, I want to invite you to feel deeply the wonder of Creation, the heartbreak of the Fall, and the hope of Redemption. In a season when we’re all more prone to numbing and checking out, Advent 2020 invites us to press in, to fight the malaise, and to connect with God and one another in meaningful ways. This week, we’ll explore Mary’s Song in Luke 1.46-55 as we talk about the power of Wonder.

We end our Everyday Rhythms series this week, remembering both the cosmic and personal nature of God’s Story. On one hand, God’s Story is about God: from beginning to end, the Story is about the goodness of his creation, all he has lost through human rebellion, and his ongoing work to heal and restore the world, culminating in the incarnation, substitution, and resurrection of Jesus. On the other hand, God’s Story is about us: He created humanity so he could sharing his love and joy and glory with us, and though we’ve rebelled and run from him, he’s gracious pursued and rescued us, at the cost of his own Son. And because both of those are True, we’re not wrapped up into God’s Story, sent to tell our own stories of rescue as a way of demonstrating and proclaiming the Lordship of Jesus. In Galatians 1.11-24, Paul recounts exactly what happened to him when Jesus rescued him, how the script of his story was flipped, and how he was wrapped up into God’s Story.

While there are many reasons most average Christians don’t live missionary lives, there’s really only one main reason: we’re not happy enough! Seriously. If we could for a moment keep the Story of the Gospel in front of our eyes, the ridiculously good news of all that Jesus is and has done for sinners like us, lost and dead and alone, we’d have a hard time containing the joy! In Luke 15 Jesus tells 3 stories to illustrate the heart of God for those who need rescue, the extravagant lengths to which God has gone to seek out and find the lost, and the joy that God has at finding his lost ones and bringing them home. And he urges us to join in the party of grace, marveling at the goodness of God in his rescuing pursuit and calling us to share his joy in everyday mission!

For the Jews of Jesus’ day, there was nothing that set them apart from the secular culture quite like observance of the Sabbath - it was one of the key marks that they belonged to God as his special, chosen people. Unfortunately, they’d turned God’s good gift of rest into a ton of work, adding 39 additional rules and regulations to the command, making it all but impossible to keep, especially for the most vulnerable people. Jesus confronts their religiosity, removing the burden of the Sabbath and restoring its true nature. Most shockingly, Jesus claims that he alone defines the meaning and purpose of the Sabbath, stating that his mission is to give real, true rest. We join the mission of Jesus by learning to live in the unforced rhythms of work and rest and inviting others to join us.

What images come to mind when you think of missionaries? If Jesus is our model for what it means to be a missionary, then one image that ought to come to mind is a long, slow, shared meal. Jesus was actually accused of being a glutton and a drunkard because he ate so many meals, and often with notorious outsiders and sinners. From the very beginning of the Story, eating has a central place: Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating; God rescued his people from slavery by way of a meal; much of God’s promises and blessing revolved around abundant food; and many of the images of God’s final salvation are cast in terms of rich food and good wine. And when we get to the end of the Story in Revelation, we see that God is inviting us to an eternal marriage feast, where we’ll enjoy God and his good gifts forever. For followers of Jesus sent into the world as witnesses, some of the simplest and yet most powerful missionary work we can practice is to share meals, turning strangers into neighbors and neighbors into spiritua

From the “In the Beginning” of Genesis, God’s purpose and character has always been the same. He is a generously good God who loves the world and His creation and has begun a story that will bless and remake it. God is looking for people to partner with Him to trust the story and to bless the world. And He has done everything in Christ to be able to include us in this family and in this mission to generously bless the world. Our job is to trust in this person, Jesus, the rescuer of the story and our redeemer, and to then take on His image, being filled with His Spirit, and allow Him to bless the world through us.

In a season of so much uncertainty, we’re leaning into that which is certain: Jesus is Lord, and we are his witnesses. He was sent into the world; crucified for sin but raised to new life; the firstborn of the new creation; and is now exalted at the right hand of God Almighty. The church is his blood-bought family, rescued from sin and death and wrapped up into his mission to restore all things. To be a disciple is to be sent as Jesus was, to join his mission as a witness in word and deed. This week we look at Acts 2, the birth of the church, when Jesus filled his people with his Spirit to empower their witness in the world. Jesus is still empowering his people to be his witnesses by his Spirit, and the promise of the Spirit is just as available to us today as it was to his first disciples 2000 years ago.

Over October and November, we’re walking through a new series exploring both the Story of Mission in the Bible and the (crazy!) invitation Jesus gives to us in John 20.21: “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” That's wild! The gospel is the news of the cosmic redemption of all things in and through Jesus, the Son of God who came to deal with Sin, to restore us to God, and to open the way to the Presence of God now, and eventually forever in a renewed world. And just as the Father sent the Son into the world to accomplish salvation, the Son now sends us (in the power of the Spirit!) to announce his salvation to the world and to call the world to repent and believe, to turn from false gods, empty hopes, and vain promises and to trust in the Son who is the once and future King of the world! We've been commissioned by the King, sent to bring the good news into our neighborhoods and relational networks, to embody, announce, and demonstrate the good news. Each Sunday we’ll unpack the various "missi

The Christian life is characterized by 3 fundamental priorities - being with Jesus in a transformational way, being connected with his people in a real-life, and following Jesus into the world as disciple-makers, from our neighborhoods to the nations. Every disciple of Jesus is called to these priorities, though we have a great deal of freedom to discern how to live them. As we conclude our Trellis series, we’re summing up these priorities, looking at how Jesus empowers us to be about his purposes in all of life. We’ll dig into our Trellis document, and offer practical suggestions for creatively living as disciples in the coming season.

We’re concluding our September series, looking at our priories - gospel formation, life in community, and everyday disciple-making mission - in John 15. In John 14-16, Jesus is preparing his disciples for his coming departure, and his main theme is the continuation of his mission and ministry through them. Jesus says that all who believe in him will do his works, and that he will give the Spirit to empower believers to fulfill the mission. In John 15, he commands the disciples to do the Father’s business, the same work they saw him doing. He promises to make them fruitful as they go about this mission, and that he will assist them by the Spirit and prayer. Ultimately, they will be fruitful in this mission because Jesus will make them so. Every disciple of Jesus is called to be a disciple-maker, and the church is called to be a disciple-making community.1. Soma is strong in our gospel-centeredness and a in our practice of community, but we’re weaker in mission. To what degree would you say that is true for you

In John 13, Jesus washes his disciples' feet, a visceral picture of his servant-hearted, sacrificial love for them. In John 15, he tells his disciples to love one another in the same way he has loved them, a direct reference to his foot-washing in John 13. For Jesus, there is no such thing as being a disciple without being deeply connected to a community of disciples. The foot-washing imagery tells us that real Christian community is messy, intimate, mutual, and redemptive. It cannot be done from a distance, cannot be a product of our imagination, and cannot be done in our own power. Only as we come to Jesus as needy sinners - in full acknowledgment of the stinky mess of our own feet! - can we know his love in a way that frees us to build life-giving community together.

Over the month of September, we’re digging deep into John 15, exploring Jesus’ imagery of the Vine and Branches, and considering how we’ll live our 3 Biblical Priorities - Gospel Formation, Life in Community, and Everyday Disciple-Making Mission. This week we’re looking at Gospel Formation and unpacking what Jesus meant when he told his disciples “Abide in me, and I in you.” Jesus says abiding means having our lives shaped by his words, his love, and his commandments. Abiding means we allow his words and teaching to shape our vision of life, and we trust his ways. We also learn to believe and receive the love he has for us, allowing all that is ours in him to fill and delight us. But abiding also means we submit to Jesus, surrendering and obeying him, especially when his ways contradict our own. The end result of this kind of abiding is the joy of Jesus being in us and filling our lives - Jesus calls us to abide because he wants our joy to be full!

In John 14-16, Jesus is preparing his disciples to carry on his ministry after he is gone. In the middle of all that, he gives them a simple image to describe exactly how he envisions them becoming fruitful in their mission. Jesus is the True Vine, the source of love, life, and joy. The Father is the Vine Dresser, pruning for fruitfulness and cutting off dead wood. And the disciples are branches, fragile offshoots, wholly dependent on the vine but surprising in their capacity for fruitfulness. Over the month of September, we're digging into this rich metaphor, exploring the kind of fruitfulness Jesus promises to create in us and what our role is in that process.Discussion:1. Read John 15.1-17. Explore the metaphor of the Vine and Branches. What is Jesus emphasizing?2. Has this been a season of fruitfulness for you? Why or why not?3. Are there any current habits or practices that are helping you to be with Jesus, his people, and on his mission?

John concludes his great argument on Jesus as our God Savior of the World. There is a detail he wants to wrap up with Peter, and in doing so Jesus shows us that He uses restored sinners to serve his people and mission.

While Pontius Pilate is seemingly putting Jesus on trial, really, Jesus is confronting Pilate with the same question that He asks all of us, "Who do you think I am?" and Pilate puts his answer on the cross.

Jesus’ movement is really gaining momentum. Everywhere he goes people are being healed and changed by him. His following is regularly increasing. In what seems like the most exciting climb to the top, Jesus takes a dramatic turn toward Jerusalem with the cross in mind. His friend Lazarus is sick and dying, but instead of hurrying to help, Jesus delays, allowing time for Lazarus to die and many Jews from Jerusalem to show up to comfort and mourn with Lazarus’ sisters. With a crowd to see, Jesus gives truth to Martha, life to Lazarus, a sign to the Jews, and the ministry of tears to Mary. He always gives what is needed, although oftentimes it is shocking to the recipient and the onlooker. If we are willing to receive him and truly believe, it changes everything!

Not only does John 9 record one of the most vivid stories of Jesus’ power and purpose, and it might be one of the more hilarious stories in the bible. Jesus heals a man born blind, which not only transforms his life but also sets up a series of ridiculous interactions and collisions with his neighbors, family, and the religious authorities. Jesus is arguably the most compelling and important person in human history - and simultaneously the most divisive. His claim is that he is the light of the world, the key to spiritual reality, and the one to whom all people must give total allegiance. For people on the outside, broken by sin and suffering, without access to power or privilege, Jesus brings light and life. But for those in positions of power and authority, for those wanting to remain in control and unwilling to bend their knee to him, Jesus brings judgment. The same sun that melts the wax hardens the clay.

Jesus feeds the masses food miraculously and then switches the topic on them and tells them there is much more food than for the belly. He is the Bread of Life we are to feast on.

John 5 begins with a simple story of healing: Jesus finds a man who has been lame for 38 years, and gives him the gift of wellness, even though the man shows no sign of genuine faith. The healing, however, becomes the catalyst for collision between Jesus and the religious leaders, and the lame man becomes a living picture of the inability of religion to bring life. Just as the lame man could not heal himself, so the religious leaders cannot through their diligent efforts find real spiritual rest or fullness of life. Jesus has come to give life, but we must first give up on our own efforts, admit our inability, and come to him empty-handed - which is easier said than done!