Fifth Sunday in Lent John 11: 1-45 This Sunday we have the opportunity to sit with the incredible story of the raising of Lazarus from the dead. This passage includes a beautiful discourse between Mary of Bethany and Martha of Bethany (Lazarus’ sisters) who come to their Teacher, Jesus, with their grief and their questions. Together, we will ponder Mary and Martha’s grief, and the great grief that Jesus experiences in our text. What a Savior - One who holds our griefs and enters into them as wel...
Mar 27, 2023
Fourth Sunday in Lent John 9:1-41 This week is the Fourth Sunday in Lent. In our homily text we are looking at the miracle of healing the man born blind. John’s Gospel is filled with long discourses describing Jesus’s divinity. In here, John 9 gives us a glimpse of the kingdom of God, where creation is redeemed, and opens our eyes to the greater purpose of suffering in life. Jesus corrects His disciples’ misconceptions about sin and suffering, then grants the blind man an ability he has never ha...
Mar 20, 2023
Homily 03/12/2023 We are delighted to had the Rev. Frances Nelson in our pulpit this week. Rev. Frances is a dear friend of Grace Chicago and is part of the City Classis community. We are eager for her to guide us through this remarkable passage of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. Frances graduated from Westminster Theological Seminary with an MA in Counseling. She served at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City as a Director of Fellowship Groups, and at City Church San Francis...
Mar 13, 2023
This week is the Second Sunday in Lent. In our homily text we meet the fascinating Nicodemus. He is captivated by Jesus and his teaching but he doesn’t want to be seen talking to Jesus by others. He comes to see Jesus under the cover of night. He is from the aristocratic class and a religious leader in Israel - he has a lot to lose. In their brief but intense conversation Jesus challenges Nicodemus to see beyond what he thought he knew about God. Nicodemus fades from this narrative without comme...
Mar 06, 2023
First Sunday in Lent Matthew 4:1-11 This Sunday is the First Sunday of Lent. From ancient times the church has set aside the forty days leading up to Easter as a time of reflection, a preparation to meet the risen Lord, During Lent we are encouraged to ask God to enable us to take stock of our lives, to show us the patterns of thinking, feeling and being that oppose God’s work of redemptive love in the nooks and crannies of our lives - to show us those patterns and empower us to turn from them a...
Feb 27, 2023
Transfiguration Sunday Matthew 17:1-9 This Sunday during the worship service we will celebrate the Transfiguration of Jesus. Transfiguration Sunday comes right before Lent begins. Lent is the season of the year when, in a very focused way, we ask God to enable us to take an honest look at the darker side of what we are capable of as human beings. It is a time to name those deep-set patterns of feeling, thinking and acting that cause us to resist God’s grace - to name them and to repent. The Tran...
Feb 20, 2023
This Sunday we continue in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. There will be a lot to ponder. I would imagine that even if you are hearing this passage for the ten thousandth time that Jesus' words will probably set you on your heels a bit - they do that to me every time. The sermon is meant to stimulate our imagination about what it looks like to live in this world as if we are already living in the next: the Kingdom of God in all of its glory when Christ is all and in all. I look forward to Sunday's w...
Feb 13, 2023
Last week we took a look at the Beatitudes through a wide angle lens and with particular questions in mind. We thought about things like the importance of recognizing them as being addressed to a community, a group of people who, through Christ’s empowering presence, enact patterns of behavior that are consistent with God’s coming kingdom. Living like this will almost always be counter-cultural and is often opposed by those who have power, wealth, and prestige (according to worldly standards). T...
Feb 05, 2023
Homily Preview: This week we look forward to reflecting together on the Beatitudes during the worship service (Matthew 5:1-11 is our reading right before the homily). The beatitudes are fairly familiar but they are often very misunderstood. Sometimes they are thought of as blessings that are earned - kind of like entry requirements. Other times they are thought of as so idealistic that they only apply to sweet little Sunday School children, while we adults know that the world is too hard to live...
Jan 29, 2023
Homily Preview: The passage in Matthew where Jesus calls Peter, Andrew, James, and John to follow him, to be his disciples. Their vocation is fishing. Jesus calls them to a new vocation, saying that he will teach them to be “fishers of people”. What a phrase! What does Jesus mean by it? What does he not mean by it?
Jan 23, 2023
Homily preview: This Sunday we hop over to the gospel of John for one week to consider John’s account of Jesus’ baptism and the calling of the first disciples. There is much for us to ponder together as we continue in this season of Epiphany, contemplating the revealing of Jesus as the Son of God, and what it means that God is human in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. As we ponder this text together, we will consider Christ’s call to the first disciples, and to us: to Abide with him. This is the...
Jan 15, 2023
Homily Preview: Matthew 25. In the portion we’ll be reading and prayerfully considering during the homily, Jesus tells a story to illustrate how God thinks about the vulnerable and the weak, and what our responsibilities are towards these sisters and brothers. We’re looking forward to the Spirit’s leading as we ponder Jesus’ words and seek to align our lives to the patterns of living that make for our flourishing and for the flourishing of our communities....
Jan 03, 2023
Communion Reflection 12/11/2022
Dec 12, 2022
Homily Preview:
Dec 04, 2022
Homily Preview: Advent always begins with a bang. We get apocalyptic language and the like. It is sometimes asked, why does the church calendar begin a season as cozy as Christmas with the jolt of apocalyptic imagery? The answer is that the church has always recognized that the time in which we live is in between two advents, Jesus’ incarnation and the future advent of Christ the King when he will join the world to come to this world, bringing all things and all people under his rule of peace, j...
Nov 27, 2022
Homily Preview: Momentous day ends the Liturgical Calendar and our time in Luke. Join us as we reflect on our journeys through Luke culminating in Luke 23 and Christ's crucifixion. There is much for us to consider as we reflect on how the humiliation and rejection of Christ on the cross offers us a picture of the reign of Christ and points us to the upside down kingdom of God.
Nov 21, 2022
Gospel of Luke. The passage before us includes Jesus' prophecy that the Jerusalem Temple would be destroyed. This did come to pass in the year 70. But you are probably wondering how Jesus' words about that historical event can speak to us today? Well, our concerns are different in their particularity than were the disciples when they heard this prophecy. However, if you ever feel afraid or uncertain about the future; if you ever worry that God will not show up in the future; if you worry about "...
Nov 13, 2022
Homily Preview: We are looking forward to reflecting on another remarkable story from the Gospel of Luke this Sunday. The reading recounts an incident in which some of the more powerful religious leaders of Israel ask Jesus a question that is designed to trick Jesus into giving an answer that in one way or another could be shown to be flawed, thus embarrassing Jesus in front of his followers. Jesus gives an answer that no one expected and it is those asking the questions that are silenced. There...
Nov 07, 2022
Homily Preview: This Sunday we look forward to being back in the Gospel of Luke where we will read a remarkable story about a man named Zacchaeus. He hears that Jesus is going to be passing by so he climbs up into a sycamore tree to make sure he has a good view. Jesus spots him up there and tell him to hurry down. Then, in front of everyone, Jesus says: hey, Zacchaeus, get your guest room ready - I am spending the night in your home. What an unusual encounter! There are many layers to this story...
Oct 30, 2022
Bob preaching about we will take a look at yet another of Jesus' parables: Luke 18:9-14. In this parable we learn that God is not impressed with those who are impressed with themselves, even in the slightest. But God does show mercy, without hesitation, to those who know they need it. We will also think together about another dimension of the parable: one cannot be right with God while taking pleasure in excluding others. The meaning of this parable is fairly straightforward, but applying it to ...
Oct 24, 2022
Leigh preaching our lectionary journey through the Gospel of Luke, as Jesus gets closer and closer to Jerusalem. Homily Preview: Sunday, we continue our lectionary journey through the Gospel of Luke, as Jesus gets closer and closer to Jerusalem. In Luke 18, Jesus tells a parable about a widow seeking justice who does not take "no" for an answer. Despite her powerlessness, she exacts justice - and so invites us to an unexpected picture of Christ's victory on our behalf. This is a wonderful parabl...
Oct 17, 2022
Bob preaching about the text before us recounts the occasion when Jesus healed 10 lepers and only one of them said, "thank you". Homily Preview: This Sunday we look forward to digging back into the Gospel of Luke for our homily. The text before us recounts the occasion when Jesus healed 10 lepers and only one of them said, "thank you". The one who offered thanks and praise turns out to be a Samaritan. With echoes of the Parable of the Good Samaritan reverberating in our imagination we will think...
Oct 10, 2022
Bob preaches on Themes of Jesus' teaching. Homily Preview: This Sunday we are back in the Gospel of Luke for our homily. The text before us will invite us to think about some of the themes of Jesus' teaching that Luke has already brought to our attention: namely, faithfulness and generosity. As always, we approach the worship service with complete confidence that God will meet us with a gracious welcome and empower us so that we might flourish and enable the flourishing of our communities....
Oct 10, 2022
This Sunday we are looking forward to reflecting on another of Jesus' parables. Like the one from last week, this parable deals with money and the way that a "love of money" is destructive to people and their communities. As we ponder the story of the rich man and Lazarus we will talk about the relationship between grace and judgment, and human flourishing and justice. Like all of Jesus' parables, this story opens our eyes to see the world as God does.
Sep 26, 2022
Homily preview: Bob preaches on the One theme that pops up again and again in Jesus’ parables One theme that pops up again and again in Jesus’ parables is that people don’t know what time it is. And when I say: “what time it is”, I don’t mean that they don’t know if it is morning, noon, or night. Rather, they don’t understand that with the coming of Jesus and his kingdom, God is doing something new in the world that is meant to bring flourishing and salvation to all people - and in ways that see...
Sep 19, 2022
Bob preaches on The Story of the Prodigal Son Homily Preview: We are looking forward to taking a fresh look at a story that is familiar to many: "The Story of the Prodigal Son," perhaps better titled, "The Story of Two Lost Brothers and a Father Who Never Gives up on Either of Them." It is a story that offers new grace to us each time we contemplate it. May the Spirit of Christ meet us this Sunday and transform our imagination so that we might come to know the depth of God's love for each of us....
Sep 11, 2022
Leigh preaches on the story of the "bent woman" from Luke 13. Homily Preview: This Sunday we will reflect on the story of the "bent woman" from Luke 13. There are many layers to this beautiful healing story, as uniquely told by Luke. I'm so eager to ponder with you - the life of this woman, whom Jesus releases from bondage, the mission and ministry of Jesus and how it uniquely plays out in this story, God's heart and intentions for Sabbath, and much more.
Aug 22, 2022
In Caleb’s Final homily (for the moment), he reflects on how the Grace Chicago community helped him rediscover and deepen his faith in Jesus.
Jul 28, 2022•20 min
Caleb preaches on the Good Samaritan from Luke 10. This homily is particularly addressed to the kids in the service.
Jul 11, 2022•20 min
This homily comes at the first week of lent. The Lenten season begins with the story of Jesus squaring off in the desert with the tempter, Satan. In this story, we see the reversal of Adam and Eve giving in to the lies told by the snake in the garden. For the first time ever in human history a human being is completely faithful to God’s gifts, and refuses to believe the dark fantasy that God is holding something back. Jesus succeeds where Adam, Eve and God’s ancient people Israel, after them, fa...
Mar 01, 2020
