Denver Community Church

January 21, 2024: Wake Up! - Hannah Thom

In Luke 13.1-9, Pontius Pilate had just done the unthinkable. Apparently, his soldiers attacked worshippers in the temple while they performed their sacred rituals. One might expect heartfelt compassion from Jesus, but he doesn’t respond that way at all; rather he gives a warning of sorts. One that might lead the listener to think that maybe God was punishing people for their sins- you know, the sort of thing modern preachers do when a natural disaster causes the death of “sinful people.” Before the listeners can get their head around what Jesus is saying, he launches into a parable.

The parable is about a fig tree that doesn’t bear fruit. And at the end, it sounds like the tired caricature of an angry axe-wielding God who wants to cut the whole thing down. But what if Jesus’ parable was intended to wake the listener up? And what about the gardener in the story who defends the tree? The one who wants to give it a whole year to tend to it, to see that it will bear fruit? Maybe this parable shows that bad things don’t happen because God is angry. For whatever reason they do happen, and they have a chance to wake us up. And when we do awake, maybe there is a gardener who wants to tend to us – so that we can bear the fruit we were made to bear.

January 14, 2024: The Pain of Reconciliation - Michael Hidalgo

Reconciliation is so difficult; at some point you have to admit you are wrong and work toward forgiving the person who did you wrong.  For as difficult as this is, Jesus sees this as an essential part of living.  The downside of this is that it can fly in the face of what we might want or even demand.  It challenges all of us, whether we are those who want to be right, or those who do not want to be wrong.  But Jesus is tapping into something deeper here: he points toward people who are willing to reconcile at any cost.  How do we live as a people willing to reconcile always? We must begin by remembering this is what has the power to bring peace and healing.

January 7, 2024: It’s Not Going to be Like That - Paula Williams

According to Luke 12:49-56, when one chooses to take a stand- to go in a direction, make a decision- division will often follow. This is true even of Jesus and the direction he takes.

December 24, 2023 (Christmas Eve): Right Where You Cannot See It - Michael Hidalgo.

Shortly after mentioning God’s presence, both Genesis 1 and John 1 speak of darkness. It is in the darkness where we find the Spirit, wind, breath of God fluttering over it like a mother bird watching intently to ensure her chicks don’t fall out of the nest or hit the ground in their first attempted take off. It is in the darkness where we find the light of Christ shining. Notice, the Divine Presence not only proceeds the darkness but is also found within it, and out of this he brings light and life. 

December 17, 2023: The Lack of Denial - Michael Hidalgo

So many circumstances surrounding the first Christmas recorded in Matthew and Luke were fraught with harsh circumstances. Rather than paint an idillic picture like Norman Rockwell may have, the gospel writers point to the reality of a dark world filled with dark powers at work.  Against this backdrop we learn of the birth of Jesus, and even after his birth we quickly learn things were still not okay. There is no sanitizing this Christmas story which tells us about a candle lit in a dark room. While we still attempt to light up the dark nights in December, in some ways that may be a small way of denying the darkness that remains in our world. It may even drown out the real light that came to us on that sacred evening thousands of years ago. In this story, we find that the Bible does not shy away from the reality of pain, sorrow and darkness, but plunges headlong into it. This is what the Christmas story teaches us: God does not stand off, but is there in the midst of it all – vulnerable and with us.

December 10, 2023: And Then I See a Darkness - Hannah Thom

With every bit of revelation we receive from God, with everything that is made known there are also some things that remain hidden in the dark. We see this when God comes to his people Israel when they are at the base of Mt. Siani. At no other time in their life had God revealed himself so completely, and yet there was darkness.  The writer of Exodus tells us plainly after God had spoken the Ten Words, “The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was” (Exodus 20.21). This specific Hebrew word araphel speaks of a darkness reserved for God. One that reveals and conceals. Which, if this teaches us anything it is this; even the darkness can reveal God to us.

December 3, 2023: The Name of the Moment - Michael Hidalgo

Advent is something many are familiar with. Each year we ready ourselves for the coming of our king, Jesus. It is a season. A moment. A way of organizing our time. And we dare not lose the organizing of our time; when we do, we are just left with something else...something out of rhythm, something that has no beat – static, mush, white noise. But with Advent, we find ourselves pausing, expecting, looking ahead, anticipating, because something invaded our calendars and offered cadence. It's always been this way- time was built into the fabric of the cosmos from the very beginning. The creation poem in Genesis 1 has its own cadence: evening and morning. Day and night. Dark and light. This wisdom teaches us that darkness has its place in keeping a rhythm for our very lives. This is something modern science is teaching us too; our bodies need darkness to establish a rhythm for health. Without the darkness, there is only static.

November 19, 2023: Ravens and a Suggestion of Wild Flower - Maggie Knight

This teaching begins with the assumption that we will serve God first, not money. It is within this frame of mind that Jesus says do not worry. Let’s be honest none of us want to have worry or have anxiety in our lives. Yet here Jesus points to both and simply says, “Don’t do this.” The question begs, “Is it possible for me to live a worry free life?” Jesus is not rejecting the importance of these things - he is simply pointing out that we live for something more than food and clothing.  In this teaching, we examine how we can compassionately consider Jesus’ invitation in a time riddled with worry and anxiety.

November 12, 2023: Saving, Storing and Dying - Michael Hidalgo

How much anxiety, worry and fear stem from what we do or do not possess? It’s interesting to note that consternation over possessions is actually what leads Jesus to tell this story. A man wants Jesus to help him get his share of his inheritance. It makes sense, if he’s been cheated out of his share that he would want what’s coming to him. Jesus, however tells a story that insists true life is not the result of amassing possessions. In this story Jesus masterfully uses the first-person pronoun when speaking of the rich fool. His words are filled with “I”, “my”, “myself” and “me.” His pathetic situation of being wealthy and yet isolated is glaringly obvious to the hearer (see Isaiah 5.8), yet he is blind to his situation. It’s a hard story to hear because in so many ways it reflects back the desires so many have to attain wealth, amass possessions and get more and more. The message Jesus delivers is straight forward: The wealth you make in this life will give you all the life you will ever have. What God wants for us is to be wealthy in our hearts toward him, for then we will enjoy life now and the life to come.

November 5, 2023: The Inside on the Outside - Hannah Thom

Luke 12:1-12 is a troubling passage at so many levels and for so many reasons. Perhaps the most troubling is Jesus’ warning that what is secret will be made known. And it’s troubling because we all have secrets, some even unknown to ourselves. So how exactly will those secrets be made known? Well, when taken in context the larger teaching of Jesus points toward times of trouble and having to speak and testify – seemingly at the threat of one’s own life. Perhaps what Jesus is getting at is this: when the waters of our lives are stirred and the path we walk becomes rocky, what is really inside each of us is what comes out.