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Sermon – April 1, 2018

April 1, 2018 By Leave a Comment

“The Wisdom of Foolishness“, by Rev. Mike Holly

The Word

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

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Sermon – March 27, 2016

March 27, 2016 By Leave a Comment

“The Six Words of Easter“, by Rev. Mike Holly

Easter is more than a special day in worship. It is the greatest news humanity could and has ever received. The very course of our lives was headed in a very different direction and then God, out of His love for the world and everyone and everything in it, defeated that last foe: death. Death is the last thing any of us wants to dwell upon. It either brings sadness and mourning to our minds as we remember the loved ones we have already lost. Or it brings fear and anxiety to our minds as we contemplate our own mortality. Death is inescapable. But what changed is the power of death over us.

You see, each and every one of us will face death. And yes, we will still suffer loss of loved ones and we will still be fearful of our own mortality. But we have a God who sent His own self in His Son, Jesus. And Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and promised that each and every one of us could anticipate our own future with God there. Even though death still stings, it cannot, or at least should not, create panic in our hearts because what is on the other side of death is eternal love. This news created such joy and passion in the early disciples and apostles that they did not fear punishment or capital punishment because they knew what is on the other side.

Easter, then, is the best news we could ever receive. The one last enemy may take our very bodies in the end. But on the other side is God. He is risen and that means everything has changed

~Mike Holly

The Easter Word

Luke 24:1-12

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

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Sermon – April 5, 2015

April 5, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Easter 2015“Alleluia“, by Rev. Mike Holly

There is a word that we haven’t used in worship since Ash Wednesday. That word is “Alleluia.” Today, Easter Sunday, we can again proclaim and sing the word “Alleluia.” You might wonder why we refrain from using this word, which is best translated as “Praise Yahweh,” or “Praise God.” The main reason is that the historical understanding of this praise word is that it is sung by choirs of angels praising what God has done. During Lent, we turn our attention not to what God has done, but to what God will do in and through the life, teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus. We wait with anticipation both to see what God will do in the Scriptures we read, as well as to be able to sing with the angels praising God for what He has done.
Easter Sunday is the opportunity to celebrate God’s love and goodness. “If God is for us, who can be against us,” we read in Scripture. We celebrate that God did the miraculous thing, and raised Jesus from the dead on the third day for our sake. At the empty tomb which we have been journeying toward, we gather each and every year to heap praises and alleluias to God. Amen!

~Mike Holly

The Word

Mark 16:1-8

When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

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