Jordan Rimmer Sermons

PURVES LECTURE ON J. MCLEOD CAMPBELL

      

On Friday February 21 I sat down with Dr. Andrew Purves to get help for a Torrance ready group I am a part of.  He shared much of a chapter from his upcoming book on Scottish theologians.  It is very deep theological content and is really intended for the people in that group.  If you normally listen to my sermons this will probably not be real helpful to you.

THE FUTURE OF THE CHURCH

This sermon wraps up a series I am doing about the current changes in our culture and the future of our church.  I give a little historical perspective and then give 8 shifts that I see coming in the future of the church.  I gave my congregation a handout with blanks so that is why I say some phrases awkwardly slow and repetitive on the recording.

THE STORM OF POST-ENLIGHTENMENT

In this sermon I take a look at how people's thinking and life paradigms are changing as our culture reject modern or enlightenment thinking.  I showed the two commercials that I have posted below and also poll the audience on some questions so for listening online you just have to stick with me.

THE STORM OF POST-MODERISM

In this sermon I look at the Storm of Post Modernism.  In it, I refer to a commercial that I showed earlier in the worship service.  It can be viewed HERE:

THE STORM OF POST-CHRISTENDOM

This sermon I continue my look at what is going on in our culture and what it means for the church.  I talk here about living in a post-Christendom culture.  For many in established churches, this is scary stuff.  But I think the church has great opportunities ahead of it.  

I am thankful to Leonard Sweet and his book "The Church of the Perfect Storm" for the general themes of this series.

I want to also say that I had a picture of Jesus as a prop today.  That is important when you listen because there is a point where I reference the symbol on our Christ comment and, as people strain to see it, I made a joke about seeing it later if Jesus is in the way.  It was a reference to this picture.  

THE CHURCH OF THE PERFECT STORM

This is the start of a series on what is going on in our culture today and how the church will need to change in the future.  Its title comes from a book of essays by Leonard Sweet.  I describe the storms differently than he does.  I talk about Post-Christendom, Post-Modern, and Post- Enlightenment.  This sermon is the introduction.  I will be looking at each storms in more detail each of the next three Sundays, and then will do a final sermon on my thoughts on the future of the church.

AN INTERVIEW WITH DR ANDREW PURVES

This is is not a sermon, but is an interview that I did with Dr. Andrew Purves about his teacher TF Torrance.  I and a number of other pastors are reading some of Torrance's work throughout this year.  I did this interview for those who are reading.

This is a very theological discussion so you might find yourself swimming in deep water if you are a regular sermon listener.

Sorry also about how quiet it is.  I recorded it in Dr. Purves' living room on my phone and it is clear but quiet.

FROM THE MOUTH OF AN ASS

This sermon is on the story of Balaam.  I am a bit playful with the story, but also really work to get at what the story is all about.  What does it mean for us as Christians to have God's words in our mouths?  How might this story challenge us for this new year?

Christmas Eve 2013

Here is my Christmas Eve sermon.  Why did Jesus come?  Why a manger and swaddling clothes? 

The Genealogy of Jesus

This sermon is an exploration of the Genealogies of Jesus.  For the most part, we ignore these passages because they are just a bunch of names to us--and different names in Matthew and Luke.  But they same some important things about Jesus...and about us.

Taking Back Christmas

This sermon is about Isaiah 59 and our need to acknowledge our need for the Christmas message.  Part of an Advent spirituality and part of taking back Christmas from our culture may be a personal journey like Scrooge had to go through.

Taking Back Advent

In this sermon I take a look at the great divide between the message of Christmas and the message of Black Friday.  I propose an Advent spirituality as an answer to the craziness that most of us face every December.

DEFIANT GRATITUDE

This is a sermon that I gave at a community Thanksgiving Service.  I preached about how the Bible encourages us to be thankful in all circumstances.  Is this foolish optimism, or is something else going on?

JESUS + NOTHING = EVERYTHING

For Christ the King Sunday I preached my own thoughts from the book Jesus + Nothing = Everything by Tullian Tchividjian.  If we had Jesus and nothing else it would still be everything we need.  Do we really believe that?

Principles of Stewardship

In this sermon I take a Biblical look at financial stewardship and share my own journey in this area.

Kingdom Economics

This sermon is about the Parable of the Sower.  Most people want to talk about this as the Parable of the Soils, since that is the part of the story that Jesus explains.  Here I focus on the Sower and how sloppy his sowing work is.  In fact, many of Jesus' stories and actions include things that do not economically or logically add up.  Perhaps this is on purpose. Perhaps Jesus' kingdom does not work like our world.  Perhaps that is why Jesus speaks so often in parables. 

I apologize for the varying sound quality.  I walked around a lot and the microphone (my iPhone) was stationary.

John Calvin: A Heart for Truth and Mystery

For Reformation Sunday, I did this biographical sermon about John Calvin.  I found his story so interesting as I dove into it.  I had been sick the week before and had lost my voice so you may hear my voice crack at times.

Up From the Ashes

How do we handle difficulties in our lives?  We understand that God is with us, but how do we live that out when we do not feel that God is close?

This sermon was given on the 50 year anniversary of the fire which burned down the building that we previously held.  It is an amazing story of God's presence through difficulty.  I weave the story of the fire with the story of the fiery furnace in Daniel 3.

Discerning God's Will

In this sermon I reflect on how we make decisions in our lives.  While we analyze our options, the Biblical characters discern God's will.  What is the difference and how do you discern God's will?

Global Christianity (and what we can learn from it)

For World Communion Sunday this year I preached on the state of the church around the world and what Western Christianity needs to learn from them.

Pittsburgh Steeler Jon Kolb Guest Preacher

Pittsburgh Steeler great and Superbowl Champion Jon Kolb was our guest preacher on September 29.  He brought a challenging and engaging message on living out your faith.  

Sorry about the quality.  I recorded it from my phone but Jon walked around and the sanctuary echoes so the recording is not super clear.

How Christianity is like Farming

This is the third and final sermon in my series called "Who do you Think you are?"  I look at Paul's view of church and Christians from Ephesians 3.  He expects that the gospel has so much power that it changes people.  He expects that the church has so much power that it can change the world.  He expects Christians to sometimes suffer.  I used farming to help the people connect with Paul's vision.  I wore overalls and barn boots to get into character.

Who do you think you are: RECONCILED

Who do you think you are?  How do you think about yourself and your life?  In the book of Ephesians we see that we are reconciled to God and Christ.  We must, therefore, be reconciled to one another.  What does that look like?

Who do you Think you are: IN CHRIST

This is a sermon about our identity.  How do we look at ourselves?  I used a little character in a jar to talk about what it means that we are "in Christ."

Bitter Idols

I finish off the sermon series on stories of the Bible with the story of the Golden Calf from Exodus 32. I wrestle in this sermon with Idols today.  How do texts about idols speak to us today?  What does idolatry look like today?  What do we do about our idols?  I owe much in this sermon to Pastor Mark Driscoll and Pastor Timothy Keller.

The Woman at the Well Part 2- A Comparison with Nicodemus

Today I had a well and a bed up front as I compared the story of the woman at the well in John 4 with the story of Nicodemus in John 3.  I added at the conclusion to worship that we believe that Nicodemus does become a believer later, though I held onto that information during the sermon.

Woman at the Well: Alone at the Well

This is part 1 of 2 sermons on the woman at the well.  In this sermon, I try to open up our view of who this woman is and why she asks her question about worship.

In the Lion's Den

This sermon is about the story of Daniel in the Lion's Den from Daniel 6.  I also tie it into communion for the day.

A Wee Little Man

This sermon is on the all too familiar story of Zacchaeus.  The text is really about 2 conversations- one between Jesus and Zacchaeus, the other between Jesus and the crowd.  What can we learn from these conversations?

David and Goliath

This is a sermon to get past the "children's sermon knowledge" that many of us have of the the story of David and Goliath.  I read the entire passage from The Message and then look at the story from the perspective of Goliath.