Sermons by Bob Rhodes (Page 2)
The Host Who Becomes the Meal
In the final week of our Lenten series The Last Supper: Conversations That Led to the Cross, we arrive at the table it’s all been heading toward. On Palm Sunday, Jesus takes his place in an upper room, breaks bread, and gives it to his disciples. He calls the cup a new covenant. This week we explore what it means that the host becomes the meal, and that what looked like the last supper turned out to be the first…
Crumbs from the Table
As we continue our Lenten series The Last Supper: Conversations That Led to the Cross, Jesus tells the story of a rich man who feasts lavishly every day while a poor man named Lazarus sits outside his gate, covered in sores and hoping for scraps. This week explores the unsettling question of what happens when comfort narrows our vision, and when proximity to suffering generates no response at all. Discover what this parable reveals about who God sees, what we…
Feasting with the Found
As we continue our Lenten series The Last Supper: Conversations That Led to the Cross, we turn to one of the most familiar parables in the Gospels—and possibly the most misread. This week explores Luke 15 and the story of a father who sees his son coming from a long way off and runs to meet him before he can finish his apology. Along the way, we encounter an older brother with a legitimate grievance, a feast that feels unfair,…
Open Invitation
This week we continue our Lenten series The Last Supper: Conversations That Led to the Cross, following Jesus as he tells stories about who belongs at God’s table. A host has prepared a feast and invited many people — and when the guests send their regrets, one by one, he doesn’t cancel the party. He sends his servant back out with one instruction: fill the house. This week explores what it means when the invitation keeps expanding past every expectation…
Sowing, Seeking, Finding
As we begin our Lenten series The Last Supper: Conversations That Led to the Cross, we follow Jesus on his final journey toward Jerusalem, listening to the parables he tells along the way. This week opens in a field, where a farmer scatters seed recklessly—on roads, rocks, and thorns, not just on good soil. It’s not an efficient strategy, and that’s the point. Join us as we explore what this parable reveals about God’s character, and what it means to…
Glory Revealed
Transfiguration Sunday marks a pivotal moment when Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up the mountain and they see him transfigured in glory. This Sunday also marks a transition from the season after Epiphany toward our Lenten journey to Jerusalem. Discover what it means to stand on the mountaintop with Jesus, knowing the road ahead leads to the cross. Scripture: Exodus 24:12-18 (NRSVue); Matthew 17:1-9 (NRSVue)
Why do the Innocent Suffer?
This week we wrestle with the question that shakes faith more than any other: why do innocent people suffer? We explore what Genesis teaches about human freedom and responsibility, how our choices shape the world around us, and where God is when tragedy strikes those who have done nothing wrong. We examine the systems that produce suffering and our call to be God’s presence for others in the midst of pain. This is a hard conversation, and we trust that…
Is Heaven Real?
As we continue our worship series Wrestling with Doubt, Finding Faith, we turn to a question many of us struggle with: What happens when we die? Popular images of heaven—clouds, harps, angels in white—sometimes feel more like cartoons than images of hope. And when loss and grief hit close, when someone we love is gone, the questions become more urgent. This week we explore where our sacred text offers hope about life after death, and how Jesus offers hope. Scripture:…
The Gospel Truth
As we continue our worship series “Wrestling with Doubt, Finding Faith,” we turn to a question that underscores a lot of other questions: how do we approach the Bible when it can feel confusing, and even overly-complicated? This week we explore what it can look like to read sacred text with honesty and humility. We’ll name the tension between wanting certainty and living with real questions, and we’ll see the value of listening for the kind of guidance that comes…
Doubt and the Existence of God
As we begin our new series “Wrestling with Doubt, Finding Faith,” we start with the question that grounds all the others: Does God exist? This week explores the beauty and order of creation through Psalm 19 and Psalm 139, and the honest prayer of a father in Mark 9 who cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief.” We’ll consider how wonder itself can be a form of knowing, and how trust in God can grow even when certainty is out…
Power of Presence
Join us this Sunday as we celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord with La Jolla UMC! We’ll gather around the table for Communion and explore what it means to turn toward God and toward each other. Come on in, the water’s fine. Scripture: Isaiah 42:1-9; Matthew 3:13-17 (NRSVue)
Are We There Yet?
In this final sermon of our Advent series based on Adam Hamilton’s The Journey, we follow the Magi as they travel over 1,350 miles to find a king—only to arrive at the wrong destination. The scribes redirect them to Bethlehem. More road ahead. Their experience captures a spiritual reality many of us know well: the deflation of thinking you’ve arrived when you haven’t. The journey continues beyond the manger, and because we are changed, we go home by another road.…