Drew Downs

Make a New Normal

Sermons

Sermons preached in a context, but written for people of all sorts and conditions.

  • A Baptism in the Wilderness

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    10 min read

    In Philip’s baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch, we see our own invitation to embody God’s love, share in the redeeming of the world, and the offering of hope in the middle of nowhere. If we recognize the invitation for what it is: our everything. an invitation to embody God’s love Easter 5B  | Acts 8:26-40,…

  • Parents and Children

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    10 min read

    Jesus speaks about something much deeper than shepherds and sheep — he embodies the very sacrificial love of God to show us how it’s done. the good parent stands up for all children Easter 4B  |  Acts 4:5-12, John 10:11-18 Parents and children. That’s what we’re going to talk about this morning. But as we…

  • Being Present

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    7 min read

    While Easter stories rely on the absence of Jesus in the empty tomb, they also establish the presence of Jesus with the apostles to be the presence of Christ for each other. Easter and the returning presence of Jesus Easter 3B  | Luke 24:36b-48 When someone tells me they like the prequels to Star Wars,…

  • The Tale of Two Easters

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    7 min read

    In our readings from Acts and John, we get two very different stories of the apostles responding to the risen Christ. But they both actually point to the same teaching. Luke and John reveal a false choiceEaster 2B  | Acts 4:32-35, John 20:19-31 In Holy Week, we traced the last week of Jesus with the…

  • Before Christ is Risen

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    6 min read

    For Christians, the empty tomb is a strange image for Easter — we struggle with what God is actually giving us: the need to wrestle with Jesus’s absence before we can find him present. Mary confronts death before seeing new life Easter  | John 20:1-18 There is more to say than “Christ is Risen!” Not…

  • How to Love Change

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    7 min read

    The empty tomb is the great symbol of change. To proclaim the good news, we have to confront the truth. That we don’t hate change, we’re afraid of something else. Why we need the empty tomb The Great Vigil of Easter  |  Mark 16:1-8 “I hate change!” That’s what people tell me. Every day I…