A Family of Unity vs. Empires of Uniformity

A Family of Unity vs. Empuires of Uniformity

Family Reunion
Acts 2, Genesis 11, John 17
Kevin Makins

To save a podcast, right click "save link as" on the word Download above.

Pentecost Sunday is all about the Holy Spirit coming to bring Unity, NOT Uniformity! 

And if unity is the sign that Christ is King, perhaps our churches should worry more about how to practice peace and reconciliation instead of how good the band is or how "correct" our theology is!

Bodies: God Blessed Your Body

Bodies: God Blessed Your Body

Advent 2015: Sexuality & Incarnation

Genesis 1, John 1, Psalm 33, Isaiah 40 & 55 & 53

To save a podcast, right click "save link as" on the word Download below.

When God entered into humanity, he did so in a body. A physical body that got sick, and did manual labour, and smelled bad sometimes. 

He had a real body.

We live in a world obsessed with image, and sex, and weight... but it's a world that is very "anti-body".

But what if God, in taking on a body, blessed all bodies? 

Your body is blessed.

Music in the Wilderness

image

2015.02.22 - Kevin Makins, Alex Drumm, Jeff Wynands & Nimal Agalawatte - The Church Calendar

Music in the Wilderness

Mark 1:9-15

Click here to listen (right click and “save link as…” to download)

Most sermons start with information, and then move from your brain to your gut. We had a question: what if we had a sermon that started with your emotions and then worked to your brain?

This lead to an experiment: a musical sermon!

What exactly is a musical sermon? Give it a listen and you’ll hear.

The text:

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.“

The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Ash Wednesday... in Space!

2015.02.18 - Kevin Makins - The Church Calendar

Ash Wednesday… in Space!

Genesis 2, Ecclesiastes 1

Click here to listen (right click and “save link as…” to download)

What is Ash Wednesday all about? Why does it matter? And what does it have to do with death, two year olds, and outer space?

ACT IV: The Chapter We Don't Talk About - The Sign of Jonah

image

2014.10.26 - Kevin Makins - The Sign of Jonah

ACT IV: The Chapter We Don’t Talk About

Jonah 4

Click here to listen (right click and “save link as…” to download)

When you hear the story of Jonah it’s often told as a Three Act Play: Jonah hears God’s calling and flees, he’s swallowed up by a sea monster and changes his mind, he goes to Nineveh and BAM! they repent.

But there’s a fourth act in Jonah, a chapter we don’t talk about, and it’s probably the strangest part in the story!

And ultimately it asks the question: what do we do when we’re #blessed?

Note: At 41 minutes there is a brief financial update from Matt Willard!

Technology: The Stencilling on the Casing of an Atomic Bomb

image

2014.06.08 - Kevin Makins - So What?

Technology: The Stencilling on the Casing of an Atomic Bomb

Genesis 11, Acts 2

Click here to listen (right click and “save link as…” to download)

Some of the topics in this series are often talked about in church… but Christians rarely talk about technology.

Technology surrounds us: it’s cars and bikes and running shoes and smart phones and printed books and slides on a screen!

And it shapes us. Whether we want it to or not, technology changes us.

Sex: Lines in the Sand - So What?

image

2014.05.25 - Kevin Makins - So What?

Sex: Lines in the Sand

Click here to listen (right click and “save link as…” to download)

John 7-8, Matthew 5, 1 Corinthians 6, Galatians 5, Romans 1, Hebrews 13, 1 Timothy 1, Genesis 1, Song of Songs

Here it is: the most important (and awkward) topic on the list! We are surrounded by sex in our culture, but our culture fails to understand it. Our culture is sex OBSESSED, but is still as lonely and disconnected as ever. We are in desperate need of a better word on sex, and the church has tried to bring this word.

The problem is that sometimes, in trying to bring a good word, the church has heaped shame, judgement, and pain on people .

There must be a better way to talk about, and practice, sex as Jesus followers.

Additionally, there is reference to another sermon on sex that has been preached at Eucharist, that covers some additional ground. You can find that sermon by clicking here!

Vocation: When Good Work Sucks - So What?

image

2014.05.18 - Stephen Edwards - So What?

Vocation: When Good Work Sucks

Click here to listen (right click and “save link as…” to download)

Genesis 1-3, John 21, 1 Thessalonians 4

Work is created good: it’s good to work! But anyone who has ACTUALLY worked a job knows that it’s not all it was meant to be.

Let’s be honest, sometimes work sucks.

We need to redeem work! How can we learn to work as if Jesus is Lord over all?

Music is led by Jeff Wynands and starts 54 minutes in.

Creation: The Bible's Environmental Agenda - So What?

image2014.04.27 - Kevin Makins - So What?

Creation: The Bible’s Environmental Agenda

Click here to listen (right click and “save link as…” to download)

Genesis 1-2, 6, Psalm 19, 104, 148, 2 Chronicles 36, Romans 8

Sometimes when Western Christians talk about environmentalism it sounds like a BAD thing. People say “what does it have to do with people gettin’ saved?” or “don’t bring your environmental agenda into it!”

The problem is the Bible has an environmental agenda. And apparently God does too… Oops.

Music is led by Joel Cumby and starts 41 minutes in.

Just Hold On, We're Going Home - Church in the Wild

image

2014.04.20 - Kevin Makins - Church in the Wild

Just Hold On, We’re Going Home

Click here to listen (right click and “save link as…” to download)

John 20, Genesis 1-3

The Resurrection is the culmination of a very long story: a story about homemaking and home-breaking. Please don’t sue us Drake!

Music is led by Aaron Craig and starts 35 minutes in.

Back to the Future - "May I Be Ripped Limb From Limb"

image

2013.04.28 - Kevin Makins - Back To The Future: Old Sermons That Shaped Us

“May I Be Ripped Limb From Limb”

Genesis 12, 15

For the next two months we are going to be preaching through old sermons that shaped our community.

To start we are going WAY back to the early days of Eucharist and looking at our first impression of God, the cross, and how we hold multiple worlds together in Christ.

Original song by Alex Drumm starts at 43 minutes.

__

This sermon is a “re-preach” of an earlier sermon at Eucharist. You can re-listen to the original sermon (from 2010) by clicking here!

Soma: 1 Corinthians - Order & Chaos

Soma

2012.06.03 - Kevin Makins - Soma: 1 Corinthians

Order & Chaos

1 Corinthians 14:26-40, Genesis 1

“The women should keep silent in the churches” - thanks for that gem, Paul. How in the world can this text be good news?

But like all texts we struggle to understand, when we get to the heart of it, it is actually very good news; and it all has to do with order & chaos.

Music led by Joel Cumby - starts 55 minutes in.

Advent 2011: Angels

Angels2011.12.18 - Wendy Gritter - Advent 2011

Angels

Genesis 28, Ezekiel 1, Hebrews 1

The way you view the birth of Jesus depends a lot on where you’re standing.

For Advent this year we are going to look at the Christmas narrative from multiple perspectives, and ask the question: “how did each group view the incarnation?”

This week we look at the angels. What did the angels think about the incarnation?

Wendy Gritter returns to the Eucharist pulpit to help us become aware of the created connectors all around us, and the ways heaven and earth collide!

Monologue written by Alex Drumm and performed by Paige Louter

Music led by Justine Kormann - starts 53 min in

Advent 2011: Ox

Ox2011.12.11 - Kevin Makins - Advent 2011

Ox

Numbers 28, Leviticus 16, 1 Samuel 15, Amos 5, Hosea 6, Psalm 50, Genesis 22, Hebrews 10, Romans 12

The way you view the birth of Jesus depends a lot on where you’re standing.

For Advent this year we are going to look at the Christmas narrative from multiple perspectives, and ask the question: “how did each group view the incarnation?”

This week we look at the ox. What did the ox… think(?!)… about the incarnation?

The ox probably thought about the sacrificial system; all the stories he had heard about the altar growing up. He probably reflected on how so many of his friends ended up there, and wondered if this little child might change everything.

Apparently, the ox thought about all sorts of things.

Monologue written and performed by Alex Drumm

Music led by Andrew Huang - starts 1:03 in

Kevin Makins - Setting the Table: New Creation

Genesis 1-3, John, 2 Peter 3, 1 Corinthians 3, Revelation 21-22

The twenty-second sermon of our 23 week series “Setting the Table” - exploring the narrative of Scripture.

As we near the end we find ourselves back at the beginning. Something new is happening, something amazing is breaking into this world; a new kind of creation that we are invited to partner with.

Kevin Makins - Setting the Table: Garden/Field/Tower

Genesis 3-11

The third sermon of our 23 week series “Setting the Table” - exploring the narrative of Scripture.

The garden was a place where all was good and in it’s right place; but it is quickly corrupted.

Sin is on the move: twisting God’s good world into something less than good.

This force moves from a garden, to a field, to a tower. It cheapens, perverts, and destroys everything along the way. 

What does this mean for us? Can we fight back? Can things be set right again?

Kevin Makins - Setting the Table: Creation

Genesis 1 and 2

The second sermon of our 23 week series Setting the Table - exploring the narrative of Scripture.

This week we move backwards, from Exodus to the creation account.

Which begs the question; “What IS Genesis 1 and 2 all about?”

At the heart of the creation account we find an invitation to a world that is strange and beautiful and filled with life! We are introduced to a God whose goodness brings order to the chaos, and who invites us into the ongoing cultivation and organization of all he has made.

And we find that no matter how marred and damaged it may seem at times, all that God has made is, indeed, very good.