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Sermons at St. Moses Church in Baltimore, Maryland.
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14 SEP 2026 · This lecture reflects on hope as a core Christian theme, beginning with the reading of 1 Peter 1:3–9. The speaker emphasizes that God has given believers new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that this hope is tied to an inheritance kept in heaven.
The message then places that passage in the context of uncertainty and suffering. It describes the early Christian movement as small, fragile, and facing persecution, and explains that Peter writes to encourage believers living under real threat. The speaker connects this to the present, arguing that the world still feels marked by anxiety and helplessness.
A central point of the lecture is that Christian hope is not generic optimism. The speaker contrasts biblical hope with historical criticisms of hope from figures such as Hesiod, Plato, Nietzsche, Marx, and others, who treated hope as misleading, passive, or manipulative. Instead, the lecture says Christian hope has a specific object: Jesus Christ, who was crucified and raised from the dead.
The sermon also explains that Christian hope has a future goal. It points to the salvation of souls, understood as the full renewal of the person, including bodily resurrection. The speaker says this hope addresses not only personal guilt but also wider human threats such as violence, greed, and spiritual evil.
Finally, the lecture describes what living hope should produce in practice. It should lead Christians to endure suffering, help others, and work for long-term good even when results are not immediate. Examples include care during historical epidemics and ongoing service in the city. The sermon closes by saying that St. Moses Church must remain centered on Jesus, since he is presented as the church’s only hope.
8 SEP 2026 · In this lecture, the speaker reflects on 1 Samuel 17 and the confrontation between Israel and the Philistines at the valley of Elah. He begins by describing the military standoff and Goliath’s challenge, emphasizing the scale of the Philistine champion and the fear his presence causes in Saul and the Israelite army.
The message then focuses on how people often trust visible traits such as height, strength, and appearance as signs of leadership or security. The speaker connects this to Saul’s selection as king and to God’s words in 1 Samuel 16 that people look at outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.
A central theme is fear and how it shapes interpretation over time. The speaker describes the Israelites’ 40 days of fear as something that begins to control how they understand God and their situation. He says the real question in the valley is not only how large the giant is, but whether God is still present and trustworthy there.
The lecture also presents David’s response as a series of three battles: in the camp, in the tent, and in the valley. In the camp, David faces criticism from his brother Eliab and refuses to let that accusation define him. In the tent, Saul judges David by his age and experience, but David answers by recalling God’s help against the lion and the bear.
The speaker then discusses Saul’s armor, which David refuses because it has not been tested in his own life with God. He argues that people cannot fight their battles with borrowed methods, borrowed identities, or another person’s spiritual experience.
In the final movement, David confronts Goliath by changing the terms of the conflict. The battle is framed not as a contest of weapons or size, but as a witness to God’s power. The lecture ends by connecting this story to the larger biblical pattern of God’s deliverance, including Jesus’ death and resurrection as the ultimate victory over death.
31 AUG 2026 · This lecture reflects on Mark chapter 2, where Jesus returns to Capernaum and is surrounded by such a large crowd that people pack the house and fill the area outside the door. Four men bring a paralyzed man on a mat, but when they cannot reach Jesus through the crowd, they dig through the roof and lower him down before him.
Jesus responds first by telling the man that his sins are forgiven. The religious teachers present question this, saying that only God can forgive sins. Jesus then asks whether it is easier to forgive sins or to tell the man to stand up and walk, and he declares that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.
He then tells the man to stand up, pick up his mat, and go home. The man immediately gets up and walks out, and the crowd is amazed and praises God, saying they have never seen anything like it.
The lecture then highlights the faith and persistence of the four friends, describing them as people who go out of their way to help someone meet Jesus. Their effort is presented as a model of friendship and determination, even in the face of crowding, resistance, and inconvenience.
A second focus is the order in which Jesus addresses the man’s needs. The speaker emphasizes that Jesus begins with forgiveness before physical healing, using this to point to priorities in life. The teaching compares life to a jar that can be filled with many concerns, and argues that when Jesus and forgiveness come first, the other parts of life fit more properly.
The lecture closes by encouraging listeners to reorder their lives with God first and to trust Jesus with both the major and minor concerns of daily life.
24 AUG 2026 · This lecture focuses on 2 Samuel 9 and the story of David’s kindness to Mephibosheth. David asks whether anyone from Saul’s family is still alive so that he can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake. Ziba, Saul’s servant, tells him about Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth, who is crippled in both feet and living in Lodabar.
Mephibosheth is brought before David and expects danger, but David tells him not to be afraid. He restores Saul’s land to him and invites him to eat regularly at the king’s table. The chapter emphasizes that Mephibosheth receives this honor not because he earned it, but because of David’s promise to Jonathan.
The lecture compares this story to the plot of Les Miserables, especially the bishop’s grace toward Jean Valjean. It presents David’s action as a picture of shocking mercy and as a larger pattern of God’s kindness toward people who are not in a position to claim it.
The sermon then connects the story to broader biblical teaching about grace. It says that people may try to earn grace through religious effort, or treat it as entitlement and grow attached to the gifts more than to God himself. Mephibosheth’s later appearances in 2 Samuel are used to show different responses to grace, including gratitude, contentment, and dependence.
The lecture ends by stressing that God seeks people out, desires intimate relationship, and invites them to his table. David’s example is presented as reflecting God’s own character: showing undeserved kindness, restoring, and calling people to live in grateful response.
17 AUG 2026 · This lecture reflects on the idea of “redeeming shadows” through a family story about a child’s portrait and the way light and shadow can give an image depth. That image becomes the starting point for a discussion of how the presence of Jesus can be seen in the lives of his followers.
The teaching then turns to Acts 5, describing the early Christian community after the Holy Spirit has been poured out. Peter now speaks boldly, and the apostles teach in Solomon’s Portico while new people continue joining the movement. The community is marked by shared meals, generosity, and signs and wonders.
The sermon emphasizes the contrast between the apostles’ former weakness and their new courage and influence. The speaker notes that the early church drew people not only through miracles, but also through the visible change in character and behavior among believers. This change is presented as evidence of Jesus’ life at work in them.
A personal illustration from college follows, describing a student named Johnny whose habits of prayer, letter writing, and care for others influenced the speaker. That experience is used to show how a Christian’s “shadow” can affect those nearby and encourage them toward faith and spiritual practices.
The message then broadens into a reflection on biblical shadow imagery, including death, darkness, and God’s light breaking through. Examples from the Gospels, the angel Gabriel’s words to Mary, and the transfiguration are used to show that shadows can also be places where God’s presence reveals and transforms.
The lecture closes by suggesting that even Peter’s failures may be part of the story of grace, and by urging listeners to ask what others experience in their own “shadow.” It ends with a reminder that transformation is ultimately God’s work by the Spirit.
27 JUL 2026 · In this lecture, Ian reflects on a visit to Yellowstone and the geyser Old Faithful as an image of how people can become strangely unimpressed by what is remarkable. He uses the response of a child who called it “medium” to introduce the theme of spiritual apathy.
He explains that the message is based on Revelation 3:14–22 and is addressed to the church in Laodicea. The church appears comfortable, wealthy, and secure, but Jesus says they are actually poor, blind, naked, and lukewarm. Ian contrasts their self-assessment with Jesus’ evaluation, which focuses on the condition of their affection for him.
The lecture develops three main causes of apathy. First is the myopia of success, where comfort, abundance, and busyness cause people to lose sight of their dependence on God. Second is derailment by disruption, where interruptions to spiritual habits such as prayer and Bible reading make it harder to return to them. Third is undervaluing what is most important, which leads people to take God for granted and give him leftovers rather than their best.
Ian says Jesus’ words are both corrective and loving. The call is to be zealous and repent, not to remain indifferent. He emphasizes that Jesus still stands at the door and knocks, inviting renewed fellowship and a shared meal. The lecture ends with an appeal to respond to that invitation and seek prayer.
20 JUL 2026 · In this lecture, Lawrence Lockett, Jr. speaks about intimacy with Jesus as something that requires pursuit, attention, and protection from distraction. He says that many believers want to know Jesus deeply, but daily life, devices, and competing priorities pull the heart in different directions.
He presents the message as a warning about “the allure of other loves,” using Exodus 20, Matthew 6, and 1 John 5 to show that Scripture consistently asks who or what has the heart. He explains that idolatry is not only about statues or ancient practices, but also about misplaced worship and divided allegiance.
The lecture focuses first on the first and second commandments. He says God’s command is exclusive: no other gods and no created image of God. He describes idols as both false gods and false versions of the true God, and says that people still remake God according to their own preferences, ideologies, or desires.
He also distinguishes between “idols by nature” and “idols by placement.” Some idols are openly sinful, while others begin as good gifts such as careers, relationships, children, money, or ministry. The danger, he says, is when a gift becomes ultimate and replaces the Giver.
A second section turns to Colossians 3 and the idea that idols are redirected rather than simply removed. He says worship begins in the mind, and repeated influences shape the channels of thought that eventually shape the heart. Christian change, he argues, is not mainly behavior modification but renewed thinking that leads worship back to God.
In the final section, he returns to Exodus and Revelation to stress that God begins with grace before giving commands. He says Jesus calls wandering believers to remember, repent, and return to their first love. The message ends by pointing to Jesus as the image of the invisible God, who restores intimacy with God and makes lesser loves lose their appeal.
15 JUL 2026 · In this lecture, Ian introduces Jonah chapter 4 and continues a series on “first love,” focusing on the danger of cynicism toward God. He explains that Jonah is not mainly a story about a big fish, but about a prophet who believes in God and yet becomes cynical about God’s character and actions.
He briefly reviews Jonah’s story: God sends Jonah to Nineveh, Jonah runs away, a storm leads to Jonah being thrown overboard, he is swallowed by a fish, and then he obeys God and preaches to Nineveh. The city repents, God relents from destruction, and Jonah becomes angry because he feared God would show mercy.
Ian then describes Jonah’s withdrawal, anger, and desire to be left alone as signs of cynicism. He argues that cynicism often begins with hurt, then becomes self-protection through distance and observation instead of trust and participation. He compares this with the story of a woman in the film *Safe*, whose isolation grows as she seeks safety.
The lecture also outlines the costs of cynicism. Ian says it costs people their hearts, their witness, and their progress in faith. He gives examples of people who retain knowledge about Christianity but lose warmth and passion, and he uses other illustrations to show how cynicism can produce distance, suspicion, and paralysis.
He then turns practical, offering guidance for helping a friend who may be cynical: acknowledge real pain, avoid dismissing it, and gently resist treating past hurt as the full story of the future. He also says that for oneself, the key is to admit that the issue is not God needing to apologize, but our need to return to trust and love.
Ian ends by emphasizing God’s character as merciful, compassionate, slow to anger, and full of unfailing love. He connects this to the unexpected ways God works in Scripture, especially through Jesus’ death and resurrection, and closes by praying for a community marked by restored first love and resistance to cynicism.
6 JUL 2026 · This lecture focuses on Revelation 2:1–7, the message to the church in Ephesus. Jesus commends the church for hard work, endurance, doctrinal discernment, and for rejecting false apostles and the evil practices of the Nicolaitans.
The central concern is that the Ephesians have abandoned their first love. The speaker explains that the passage warns against a faith where service and orthodoxy remain, but love for Christ and others has cooled.
The sermon then emphasizes Jesus’ call to remember, repent, and return. Believers are urged to remember their former closeness to Christ, repent of divided affections and spiritual drift, and return to the works they did at first, now rooted in love rather than duty.
The speaker also connects this passage to the question Jesus asks Peter: “Do you love me?” He argues that Christianity is not mainly about performance, but about delighting in the Lord, with good works flowing from love.
The lecture closes with practical suggestions: set aside time to remember one’s story, identify competing affections, confess spiritual drift, and return to practices that cultivate communion with Jesus.
29 JUN 2026 · This lecture concludes the book of Ruth by describing Boaz’s meeting with the nearer relative at the city gate. Boaz raises the issue of Naomi’s land, and the relative initially agrees to redeem it. When Boaz explains that this also requires marrying Ruth so that the family line can continue, the relative declines, saying it would endanger his own estate.
Boaz then publicly accepts the role of family guardian before the witnesses at the gate. The elders bless Ruth, comparing her to Rachel, Leah, and Tamar, and welcoming her fully into the community. The sermon emphasizes that Ruth is no longer identified as an outsider but is incorporated into Israel.
The final scene focuses on Naomi and the birth of Ruth’s son, Obed. The townspeople celebrate with Naomi, and the sermon describes her caring for the child as a guardian or foster mother. Naomi’s earlier bitterness is contrasted with this restoration, and the child’s name is noted as significant.
The lecture then develops two themes: God as restorer and God as the one who incorporates people into his larger story. Restoration is described as something that exceeds the original, and the sermon connects this idea to Scripture, human longing, and the book’s ending in the genealogy of David.
The final section argues that meaning is found not through self-made legacy but through sacrificial service. Ruth and Boaz are presented as examples of being brought into God’s people through other-centered love, which is ultimately connected to Jesus, whose own self-giving death makes incorporation into God’s family possible.
Sermons at St. Moses Church in Baltimore, Maryland.
Information
| Author | St. Moses Church |
| Organization | St. Moses Church |
| Categories | Religion & Spirituality |
| Website | saintmos.org |
| info@saintmos.org |
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