The Fearless Gospel
Jesus teaches that our greatest safety is in fearless participation in God’s reign. This isn’t just theory; we know this from experience.
A Eulogy for Dorlan Bales
I spoke this word of encouragement at the memorial service for my father, Dorlan Bales, on 06/06/2026, at Bethel College Mennonite Church. The scripture reading was: Matthew 5:1-16. Listen to the Audio Sometimes there’s a man. I don’t want to say hero, because what is a hero? But sometimes there’s a man. A man for his…
You Don’t Have to Earn It
This is a sermon that I preached on Sunday, 05/25/26, at Berkeley Friends Church. The scripture reading for this sermon was: Acts 2:1-22. Listen to Sermon Now I love the story of Pentecost. The coming of the Holy Spirit. The creation of the church in Jerusalem. That moment when the Holy Spirit gathered the many disciples…
Becoming Servants of the Unknown God
This is a sermon that I preached on Sunday, 05/10/26, at Berkeley Friends Church. The scripture reading for this sermon was: Acts 17:22-31. Listen to Sermon Now At Berkeley Friends Church, we’re exploring how we can go deeper in our discipleship to Jesus. Through the Day One Taskforce, through our membership class curriculum, through our small…
Jesus Lives In You
This is a sermon that I preached on Sunday, 04/05/26, at Berkeley Friends Church. The scripture reading for this sermon was: Mark 16:1-8; John 20. Listen to Sermon Now Two weeks ago I preached on Jesus’ resurrection of Lazarus. In that sermon I explored the idea of theodicy, the problem of why evil exists in the…
If God Is Good, Why Is There Suffering?
This is a sermon that I preached on Sunday, 03/22/26, at Berkeley Friends Church. The scripture reading for this sermon was: John 11:1-44. Listen to Sermon Now There are a lot of reasons that a person might doubt the existence of God or the truth claims of Christianity. One of the most common reasons for this…
I Am The Traffic
This is a sermon that I preached on Sunday, 03/08/26, at Berkeley Friends Church. The scripture reading for this sermon was: Romans 5:1-11. Listen to Sermon Now I’ve got a good friend who is a very mild mannered, polite, and respectful guy. But when he gets into traffic he gets very frustrated, to the degree that…