Gospel for life with Nathaniel Timmermann

Who needs Christmas anyway?

Christmas is great, right up until it isn't. Over the years, the work, the anxiety, and the loss start to add up leaving us with a nagging question - do we really need Christmas? Maybe we would be better off without it. We do that with other dates. We stop celebrating birthdays. We skip over anniversaries and first dates.

Truly good gifts

While many gifts have downsides, some gifts are truly, and other gifts don't last, there are a few gifts that make a lasting difference. They are truly good gifts. A Thanksgiving sermon on November 26th 2025.

Favor and faith (Genesis 4)

"the deepest principle of Human Nature is the craving to be appreciated, and I left it out altogether from the book, because I had never had it gratified till now." William James Favor is fabulous, but we need to receive it the right way. God teaches us this in Genesis 4, Jacob and Esau. A sermon on November 23, 2025

There still is some truth

Can you and I even know the truth anymore? It seems so twisted and unclear. But beyond it all, Jesus triumphed over the twists and the tricks so that some truth remains. People will be cut as we come to the truth, just like he was - cut to untwist the truth. A sermon on Genesis 3:1-13, November 9th 2025

Free from weight, free for faith

We have mastered freedom from certain restrictions, rules and laws, but I would argue that all this freedom has left us just as burdened. With Jesus we can regain a freedom that allows us to live out of faith - a freedom for faith. We have to continually go back to his rescue from evil. Sermon on November 2nd, 2025 on Galatians 5:1-6.

Wonderful Work (Genesis 2:15-25)

What an awesome marvel it is that God gave humanity a role to play in his work. We are not supposed to lay back and coast and just consume all this stuff, nor are we supposed to condemn the world and the good God put in it. We are supposed to craft it. To work. And God gave the woman to the man to help him in that task. Genesis 2:18-25 , October 26th 2025

The tale of two trees (Genesis 2:8-17)

Many myths present us with a "tree of life". But Genesis 2 goes beyond to present us with a sacramental life with God (the tree of life) - living with him and his promises and his grace; or living on our own with the many good things that can either ruin us or wow us. If we make the gifts our god, what will that do for us? A sermon on October 19, 2025 on Genesis 2:8-17

Joy only follows sorrow

The Christian funeral of Mary Wright embodies for us the great truth that God brings joy after sorrow because of his immense delight in rescuing us. Sermon on Psalm 126:5

My identity is with the Triune God who made me like him. (Genesis 1:26-2:7)

Who am I? There is no way to entirely answer that question in a few minutes with theology. But the basics will give me so much for my life. A sermon on Genesis 1:26-2:7 on October 12, 2025

God created a humanly home (Genesis 1:3-25)

It's not enough to describe the world we live in, the world that was created as "perfect". Genesis 1 shows us at least three good things about this world - its real, it's ordered, and it's good. It's a home, and that is what is should feel like. That uncanny feeling that you don't belong can only get fixed with the stranger who made this place his home. A sermon on Genesis 1:3-25 on October 5th 2025