power

What is Truth

Pontius Pilate was the Roman Procurator of Palestine during the reign of Tiberius. Though he commanded a Roman legion of 4500 soldiers, his was not a plush assignment. Saddled with governing one of the frontier provinces of the Roman Empire he spent most of his time in Caesarea Maritime where the weather was reasonably decent and where he was able to have minimal contact with the stubbornly unruly inhabitants of the region under his control. Only on high holy days did Pilate trouble himself to go into Jerusalem so as to be present should any sort of problem arise. Still, he was the face of the Roman Empire in that part of the world, and as such, he literally had the power of life or death over the people under his control. Yet, for all the trappings that went with his position, it is quite possible that Pontius Pilate would have lived and died utterly forgotten by history had it not been for one fateful day when he crossed paths with a Galilean Jew named Jesus of Nazareth.

Listen to or read Sharon’s entire sermon by clicking “Read More.”

The Wisdom of God

“The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.” Willing to yield. I’m NOT very willing to yield. In fact, I don’t care for it. Whether I’m driving somewhere or in another situation. I’m more naturally inclined to go, to take, to believe that I have the right away, the right answer, or the important thing to do or say, or place to be. I don’t want to yield. I want to be right. I am right! Right? Well, as my wife Stacey recently pointed out to me, sometimes I can be a bit SELF-righteous. What? It would seem that those who know us well, well, they really do know us well.

Click “Read More” to read or listen to Ryan’s entire sermon for the 17th Sunday after Pentecost.