COOS Love Podcast

What does it look like to say yes to the unknown when God calls you forward? Abram was changed by the going and Nicodemus by the confronting. How can we enter contested public spaces not just with strategy, but with humility, curiosity, and a willingness to be transformed themselves? We do it by staying rooted in the audacious, all-encompassing love of God, it is ultimately an invitation to adventure: to open the door, step into the wind, and trust the Spirit that blows where it will. Watch the video HERE (sermon starts at 36:17) Read the sermon HERE Connect with Church of Our Saviour HERE  

In our Ash Wednesday confession, we repent of false judgments, uncharitable thoughts towards our neighbors, and our contempt towards those who differ from us. It’s a necessary confession because we all too easily judge and condemn others in our hearts. Doing so is toxic for us spiritually, however, and Jesus teaches us the path to health. We need to let go of such feelings and transform them into positive energy – for our own sake and for the sake of the world. Watch the video HERE. Connect with Church of Our Saviour HERE  

Temptation is less about bread or power and more about forgetting who we are. In the wilderness, Jesus confronts the temptation to prove himself and instead learns to live from the truth spoken at his baptism. We are invited to examine the voices that stir doubt in our own lives and to rediscover the healing, here-and-now salvation that comes from knowing we are God’s beloved. Watch the video HERE (sermon starts at 34:34) Read the sermon HERE Connect with Church of Our Saviour HERE  

Following Jesus means growing up spiritually into the loving, Christ-like people God created us to be. Lent is a time to focus on that process of growth, which involves letting go of immature ways of being and moving beyond an egocentric way of living. Spiritual practices like prayer, fasting, and doing acts of charity can be helpful in this process, but only if we keep the goal in mind: moving beyond ourselves and growing into the full stature of Christ. Watch the video HERE. Connect with Church of Our Saviour HERE  

The most basic revelation of God that we all experience is the desire for God. Every human being deep down wants to be close to the divine nature which created us and loves us.One of the reasons we worship and pray is to stay in touch with that basic desire, which can be drowned out by the busyness and demands of daily life. The more we hear and respond to our yearning for God, the more God can move in our lives, blessing us and the people around us.Watch the video HERE. Connect with Church of Our Saviour HERE  

Jesus tells us that we are the light of the world, which means shining the light of God’s love in our current culture, which is cruel to immigrants. While we need to see the terrible way some are treated and stand against such behavior, we must do so with love and not anger. Rage will only obscure the light, so we must let go of anger with the help of the Holy Spirit.Watch the video HERE (sermon starts at 34:19)Read the sermon HERE Connect with Church of Our Saviour HERE  

Psalm 130 talks about waiting for the Lord, and Jesus also teaches us to watch for God so that we can be prepared to receive God whenever and however God comes to us. One of our primary tasks as a people of faith is to stay spiritually alert and so be open to the various ways God comes into our lives. Prayer and worship are crucial in this: they help us stay awake and they remind us that the God of love is always moving and inviting us to respond.Watch the video HERE. Connect with Church of Our Saviour HERE  

God is the Creator of all, and being out in nature is a great way to connect with God. Many prominent Christian thinkers down through the centuries have claimed that there are two books of revelation: the book of creation and the book of scripture. There are many ways nature can reveal God to us, but one important way is by reminding us of the big picture, that we are part of a vast reality that is all held together on God’s love and God’s providential care.Watch the video HERE. Connect with Church of Our Saviour HERE  

Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the whole world. Not only does God forgive us, but God holds us blameless. Accepting that Christ takes away sin and blame sets us free to live better and love more fully.That is good for us, and good for the people we impact. We can’t share what we do not have, so accepting the mercy and compassion of God helps us to be merciful and compassionate towards others.Watch the video HERE (sermon starts at 34:36)Read the sermon HERE Connect with Church of Our Saviour HERE  

Psalm 103 tells us that God remembers that we are but dust, but God does more than have pity on our frailty: God uses our weakness to draw close to us.When we realize our limitations and needs, we are humble enough to let God work through us. Paul says we have this treasure in clay jars because God wants to shine through us, and our weakness gives God an opportunity to do just that.Watch the video HERE. Connect with Church of Our Saviour HERE  

When Jesus comes to John for baptism, John resists, certain this is not how the story is supposed to go. Jesus responds with an invitation: “Let it be so now”—a call to consent, to show up, stay present, and trust that God is at work even in the interruptions. Perhaps Jesus is offering us the same invitation.Watch the video HERE (sermon starts at 36:40)Read the sermon HERE Connect with Church of Our Saviour HERE  

Psalm 103 assures us that God understands the frailty of our human nature, but in Jesus God not only understands that frailty – he lives it. Christ embraces human nature in all its weakness and shows only compassion and love. When we pray to God for help of any kind, we are not praying to a deity who doesn’t understand our condition and who just wants to punish and condemn us: we are praying to a God who has tender love for us as we are and wants to show us mercy.Watch the video HERE. Connect with Church of Our Saviour HERE  

The Epiphany is a beautiful story about the love of Christ being revealed to all people. While powerful forces in the world resist that, people who are humble enough can both see the light of Christ revealed in mercy and compassion, and share that light with others. As Christians, we don’t own Jesus: we bear witness to his life, death, and resurrection as the full manifestation of God’s love for all people.Watch the video HERE (sermon starts at 36:10)Read the sermon HERE Connect with Church of Our Saviour HERE  

Every Christmas, we return to a story we already know—angels and shepherds, a manger and a child, the message of God with us. We come back not because the story has changed, but because we have. Faith is not only about knowing the story, but allowing it to shape us, moving the good news from head to heart. In the midst of our changing lives, Christmas invites us to encounter the God who comes close in vulnerability and love, reminding us that whatever story we bring with us is held within the greater story of God’s love.Watch the video HERE (sermon starts at 1:04:41)Read the sermon HERE Connect with Church of Our Saviour HERE  

Saying yes to God bearing Christ in us creates permanent, biological, ontological change - and that's exactly what Advent is inviting us into. Mary and Joseph’s YES might not have made sense from the outside but was a deep and holy call. What could a YES in our own lives mean as we invite Emmanuel to be born into our own hearts.Watch the video HERE (sermon starts at 38:19)Read the sermon HERE Connect with Church of Our Saviour HERE  

Psalm 130 highlights one of the great themes of Advent: waiting for God. We remember how our ancestors waited for Christ, even as we continue to wait for the final coming of Christ. We also wait for Christ to come in our daily lives, which is paradoxical because we already have the Spirit of Christ within us. It is important to practice watchful waiting, however, so that we do not miss God when God is working in our lives. Many saints and mystics have also taught that God sometimes makes us wait in order to purify our intention so that it is God we are waiting for, and not something less than God.Watch video HERE. Connect with Church of Our Saviour HERE  

When John the Baptist finds himself imprisoned and uncertain, his question to Jesus echoes a familiar human experience: the painful space, the gap between what we hoped for and what we are living. Such unmet expectations can shake our faith – and Jesus responds not with simple answers, but with signs of God’s quiet, merciful work in the world. In this season of Advent, we are invited to see where the kingdom of God is already breaking in, even when it doesn’t necessarily look the way we might expect.Watch the video HERE (sermon starts at 26:09)Read the sermon HERE Connect with Church of Our Saviour HERE  

While there is no one right way to pray for others, if we desire to be channels of God’s love and power we will want to find ways to spend time in prayer. One way to do that is to use our imagination and envision God’s light touching someone in need. Another way would be to use a form of the Jesus prayer to soak a person in prayer. The goal of any such method is to devote time and energy to praying so that we give the Holy Spirit more room to move through us, which God clearly wants to do.Watch the video HEREConnect with Church of Our Saviour HERE Connect with Church of Our Saviour HERE  

The only people who will welcome a savior are the people who know they need a savior. John the Baptist criticized the religious leaders of his day because they did not truly want the salvation which Christ would bring. They were self-sufficient.Jesus offers us wholeness and unity with God, and the best we can prepare to receive that is to not be self-sufficient but rather to acknowledge all the ways we are not whole and all the ways we do not feel one with God. Those are the very places which Christ can touch with the love and mercy of God to save us.Watch the video HERE (sermon starts at 15:48). Read the sermon HERE. Connect with Church of Our Saviour HERE  

The Psalms assure us many times that God answers prayer, but what does that mean? We’ve all had the experience, for example, of praying for healing and not receiving it. Clearly prayer is not magic, nor is it a way of invoking an indifferent God to intervene in our affairs from a distance. Prayer is a way of channeling God’s love, and cooperating with that love as we focus it on people who need that love to bless and heal them in particular ways. While one cannot quantify the power of love, knowing God’s love more is the greatest answer to any prayer.Watch the video HERE Connect with Church of Our Saviour HERE