Sermons

Sermons

Pandemic and Protest - Sin

Tim Kim ·

As we try to navigate a time of real upheaval, it is worth wondering what the spiritual dimensions of all this might be. We ask such a question not just because we are a church community, but because the diagnosis and cure for all that a pandemic and racism bring to the surface must also speak to the deeper truths of our humanity.

For our first sermon, Virginia explores racism through the framework of sin.

Listen On:
Apple Podcasts
Podbean

Sermons

Seeing With Empathy

Tim Kim ·

We’ve come to end of our series on relationships (that can make or break you!) having talked about friends, family, and our enemies. So in conclusion, let us focus on this thing which is at the center of all this relationship stuff: empathy. Empathy is sexy (some say) and it’s difficult to get away from the word these days. Many see it as the way out of this dystopian political state we are in, or its lack as the reason we are here in the first place. But what if we are all a bit confused about what it means and what it actually looks like in our day to day interactions? When the Good Samaritan does his thing, is he driven by empathy, compassion, sympathy, duty, all of the above? Is the idea of incarnation, God becomes human, an act of empathy?

Podbean
iTunes

Sermons

On Family

Tim Kim ·

“Blood is thicker than water,” that old devilish saying goes. The meaning of this phrase is pretty straightforward: family (blood) relations are inherently stronger than any other kind of non-familial (water) relationship or bond. Right? Nah. This rendition of the phrase actually carries the complete opposite meaning from the original phrase: “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.” Funny how words get twisted.

Familial relationships can be great, aaaaand they can be the worst. Join us this week as we continue our examination of the relationships that make and break us. We will examine one of Jesus’s most famous parables - the prodigal son - and see what sense we can make of family, loosely defined.

Podbean
iTunes

Sermons

A Brief History of Friendship

Tim Kim ·

This week we focus our attention on friendship. On one hand, maybe it's weird for a community of adults to talk about this thing which seems to hold diminishing importance for us as we move through the world. It is also not exactly the most famous of topics when it comes to Christianity and religion and spirituality in general. At the same time, adult friendships are important! Particularly so for a generation that is super transient, getting married later (if at all), having less kids, and has the internet (insert anti-tech screed here). Furthermore, there is actually a rich and robust history of thought around friendship as a theological and philosophical topic. One could even argue that when Jesus talked about love and relationships, he was informed more by his friendships than familial or romantic bonds. In any case, join us as we start to unpack the relationshipthat St. Augustine said was “sweeter than all the sweetness of [his] life."

Podbean
iTunes

Sermons

Doing and (not?)Believing - Tim Kim

Tim Kim ·

Listen On Podbean or iTunes

We're spending sometime with this Jesus as bread, eat and drink, weird cannibalistic language thing: "Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.”

Before we jump too quickly into the realm of metaphor, the word used here for “eat” is a Greek word that means something like to gnaw, crunch, and chew. This isn’t some sort of “Jesus please feed my soul” kind of thing. It depicts something quite literal. Eating together is a ritual of the Root and Branch community. We’ve always done it. We’ve done it many many many times. We’ll keep doing. Which begs the question: Why? What do such ritual things have to do with our idea of what is true, our beliefs, our sense of God? When we eat bread does it mean we believe? Or do we believe because we eat bread?