Our Brother, the Cosmic Christ

Psalm 26 | Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12

Jeremy Richards

The bulk of Jesus’ ministry took place in the region of Lower Galilee, in the northern part of Israel with the town of Capernaum serving as a kind of home base. But over time, especially after being rejected in his home town of Nazareth, he began to push the boundaries of his ministry out further and further. On one occasion, he travelled with his disciples to the city of Caesarea Philippi, at the northernmost point of Israel.

The Problem with Petitionary Prayer

Psalm 124 | James 5:13-20

Jeremy Richards

This morning I’m going to attempt a rather tall order: to give something of a theology of petitionary prayer, though such an explanation will always be incomplete because prayer always, inevitably, holds an element of mystery. Petitionary prayer is, simply, prayer where we ask for things – everything from direction in life and success at work to healing from illness and reconciliation of relationships to liberation of the oppressed and equity for the disenfranchised.

Renewing Love of Neighbor Pt. 4: Common Ground

John 1:1-5, 14-18 | Colossians 1:15-20

Jeremy Richards

There are many things we’ve learned and continue to learn from the Covid-19 pandemic. One lesson that has struck us most forcibly, especially in our individualistic, Western culture, is just how connected we are to one another – how connected we are to our neighbors here in Portland and in the United States, but also to our neighbors around the globe. Covid went from being a mysterious sickness in a relatively unknown city in China, to overtaking much of Europe, to finally arriving on our shores and quickly shutting the United States down as well.

Renewing Love of Neighbor Pt. 3: Saving Society

Jeremiah 29:4-7 | Matthew 5:14-16

Jeremy Richards

On June 1, 1886, the Second German Baptist Church in Hells Kitchen, New York ordained their new pastor, a recent graduate of Rochester Theological Seminary. His name was Walter Rauschenbusch. Rauschenbusch was the son of August and Caroline Rauschenbusch. August had come to the United States as a German Lutheran missionary, but later became a Baptist. Walter’s Christian upbringing was pietistic, focusing on the personal – personal faith, personal sin, personal salvation, and personal religious experiences. Despite the ways Rauschenbusch’s faith would change and grow as he got older, he never saw this as a negative thing, only as incomplete in and of itself. He said of his upbringing, “I was brought up in a very religious family, and I thank God for it.”[1] At the age of 17, after a rebellious period, he began to pray for help and, in his words, he “got [his] own religious experience.” This experience would stick with him for the rest of his life.

Renewing Love of Neighbor Pt. 2: Practicing Church

1 Corinthians 11:12-14, 27 | Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Jeremy Richards

I don’t think I come across as your stereotypical jock, but the truth is, I’ve been playing sports my whole life. My parents still have a picture of me with my dad, when I was just a couple years older than Esther, and I have full on football oufit on – shoulder pads, a helmet, and a Seahawks jersey. I still remember playing football with him out in the yard beside the house we used to rent.

Renewing Love of Neighbor Pt. 1: Becoming "That Kind of Person"

1 John 4:7-11, 19-21 | Luke 10:25-37
Jeremy Richards

It’s August 15th, we’re almost 8 months into a yearlong study on love, and, maybe a bit surprisingly, we are just now getting to loving other people. One would probably think that love of neighbor would come earlier. In fact, when we think of Christian love, we usually think of giving love as Christians. We think of the loving we do.