Jordan Rimmer Sermons

The Book of the Twelve: Amos

This is a sermon about the book of Amos. I look at a couple of texts to get the lay of the land in the book. I can't help but be amazed at how much Amos has to say about our world today.

The Book of the Twelve: Joel

Sermon on the book of Joel. Joel is strangely not specific about the sins of Israel, so much so that scholars don't agree about when it was written. But it is a great call to repentance and a strong claim of the grace of God.

The Book of the Twelve: Hosea

This sermon takes a look at the book of Hosea. We might get a little offended when God tells Hosea to marry a prostitute, but we cannot help but be amazed at the power of the imagery as the story unfolds. Hosea could be called the first Gospel, and it is good news that we need every bit as much as Israel did.

The Book of the Twelve: Introduction

This is the intro sermon for my summer series on the Book of the Twelve- often called the Minor Prophets. I plan to do an overview of each book every week. There will be some gaps throughout the summer for special Sundays or days I am on vacation.

For this intro sermon, I do a quick introduction to the Old Testament, give a big picture overview of Israel's history in the OT, and then look at what prophets do in the Bible.

The Temptation of Jesus (and us)

In this sermon I take a look at the temptation of Christ on four levels. Satan is tempting Jesus to act like God and not like man. The temptation mirrors the temptation of Adam and Eve. It parallel Israel. It is also symptomatic of our own temptations.

A Sermon about Sermons

In this sermon I talk about sermons--what they do, how they developed, and what kind there are. I focus especially on how to listen to the sermon and the responsibilities of listening to a sermon. 

So I Send You

In this sermon I take a lot at what it means that we are sent by Jesus just as the Father has sent Him.

A Lame Trip to Church

Sermon on Peter and John healing a lame man on the way to the temple.

Finding Your Identity in Christ

This sermon was very focused on that particular Sunday. It moved into communion, where people were asked to look into mirrors before and after partaking in the sacrament. I also showed a commercial that is listed below.

https://youtu.be/XpaOjMXyJGk

        

Easter 2016: Why the Resurrection?

This is my sermon from Easter 2016. I talk about why Christianity is not Christianity without the Resurrection.

The Chronology of Holy Week

I gave this sermon on Palm Sunday in order to set up Holy Week. I lay out the events of Holy Week chronologically and talk about what is going on politically, what it is like for the disciples, and what Jesus is doing and thinking about in the Gospels.

The Cross: Recapitulation

In this sermon I talk about the work of Jesus on the cross as a Recapitulation or a Recap. Jesus is the "New and Even Better Adam" who sums up and retells the story of humanity. This sermon helps put together the whole Bible as well as helping explain how people work. I am indebted to the work of Scot McKnight particularly in the book The Blue Parakeet. In this sermon I drew a picture which is included here to help the listener understand what I am talking about.

The Cross: Substitution

In this sermon I look at the idea of Substitution. To illustrate this, I had several people wear shirts that said things out of Isaiah 53 like Guilt and Sin. I then, playing the role of Jesus, put on their shirts and took them to the cross. I then gave them new shirts that said things like Righteous and Peace. For this part of the sermon I walked all over the sanctuary changing shirts and talking. The recording catches what I am saying, but it obviously misses the visual.

 

The Cross: The Courtroom

This sermon is about the motif of a courtroom and legal language that is so prominent in the Bible and specifically related to the cross. I use 5 images to teach on the topic. Those pictures are below. I also a couple of times tell Spike when to switch the slide which makes sense in person but may sound funny on the  recording.

 

The Cross: Ransom and Redemption

This sermon continues my series on motifs of the cross in scripture. This one looks at Ransom and Redemption. We talk about ransom with kidnappings and redeeming coupons, but these words are loaded with meaning and images in the Bible. What do they tell us about the death of Jesus on the cross?

The Cross: The Blood Sacrifice

This starts my Lent series called "The Cross." I am taking a look at the metaphors and motifs of the cross in scripture to explore why Jesus went to the cross and what the cross accomplishes. Here I look at one of the most used metaphor for the cross in the Bible- The Blood Sacrifice. This is probably also the most uncomfortable metaphor for us today.

The scripture is from 1 Corinthians 2. I forgot to hit record as I began so the recording starts halfway through the passage.

Paradox: You Give to Receive

In this sermon I wrap up my series on paradoxes of the faith by talking about how you have to give in order to receive. This is an idea foreign to our world today.

This series was inspired by the book Paradoxes for Living by N. Graham Standish. I highly recommend that book.

Paradox: Maturity is being Childlike

In this sermon I take a look at the paradox that for Christians maturity actually means becoming childlike. I distinguish this from being childish and from how the world defines maturity. The sermon is light and short to fit the occasion. The children of the church led worship including reading the scripture from Matthew 18:1-6. They even led children's songs for the hymns. It was very fun and this sermon was written to fit with and accentuate our childlike worship service.

Paradox: Small is Big

In this sermon I take a look at the paradox that in God's kingdom small is big and the trivial is often important.

My State of the Church Address

This sermon is much more specific to my own congregation. In it, I take a look at where we are as a church and what issues we are facing as we try to be a church in the world today. I also announce good new about our capital campaign and invite everyone to a celebratory dinner.

Paradox: Lose Your Life To Save It

Here I being a new series on Paradoxes of the faith. The series is inspired by the book Paradoxes for Living by N. Graham Standish. In this first sermon I introduce paradoxes and look at Luke 9:23-25.

Getting Ready for a New Year

As we come into a New Year, I reflect on how we as Christians should approach our plans. Do we wait for God or do we set goals and plan our lives? I talk about 4 kinds of people in the world- driftwood, docked boats, motor boats, and sail boats. As Christians we should be sail boats--setting goals and following the wind of the Spirit.

A Theology of Church Music

In this sermon I look at the power and importance of church music including carols, hymns, and praise music. I begin with why God's presence in the Bible is accompanied with singing and then move into why singing and music is so important to our faith.

What are you Longing for?--WONDER

There are 2 things I have never noticed about the story of the shepherds. 

1.) The angel are not shiny. It is the glory of the Lord that shines. 

2.) The angel does not tell them to go to see the Bible. The angel just tells 

 them where to find the baby an they decide to go.

 in this sermon, I unpack these 2 insights and suggest that they point to 2 related thing that people long for--the glory of God and a sense of wonder.

What are you Longing for? COMFORT

Here I continue my sermon series on what we really long for. In this sermon I take a look at COMFORT. The sermon is left a little open ended because it set up an experience where church members decorated a tree with ornaments memorializing family and friends that are not with them for Christmas.

What are you Longing for? PEACE

For Advent I am preaching about what people are "longing" for. I don't mean what do we want. What do we long for in our gut that we may not even be aware of that influenced the decisions we make.

In this sermon I take a look at peace. But when the Bible talks about peace, it means way more than just simply peace. The lesson about peace is the same lesson that breaking bricks teaches to martial artists.  

Walking in Darkness

 

In this sermon I take a look at the image of darkness. Why do we fear the dark? What does the Bible say about darkness? What do we do when we face dark times in our lives or see the darkness of our world in events like the attacks in Paris?

This sermon was inspired by the book Learning to Walk in the Dark by Barbara Brown Taylor though it is not based on the book.

Stressing Faith, Hope, and Love

In this sermon I take a look at how stress works in our lives and how faith, hope, and love can help us deal with stress.

Death, Where is Your Sting?

 

 

In this sermon I take a hard look at death. We don't want to talk about it. We don't want to deal with it. But it is part of life. In fact, Christians have lots of reasons for it to not sting near as badly.

Biography of John Knox

 

This year for Reformation Sunday I did a biography of John Knox. He is one of the bravest men I have ever read out and is the father not only of the Scottish Reformation but also of Presbyterianism.