Acts 3:1-10 This summer here at Loop Church, we are studying the book of Acts. Well, studying may be the wrong word; we are watching the story of Acts. Like an audience at the theatre, we have been gathering each week and watching a different act of this story, the story of the Holy Spirit, … Continue reading “Stepping, Walking, and Leaping on Stage” →

Acts 2:36-41 This morning we will continue our sermon series on the book of Acts, “Acts: Stories, Scenes, and Spirit.” We are still in the opening scenes of this story. The stage was set with a church that was waiting, a church that was told to go witness, a church that wanted to speak, but … Continue reading “Caught in the Story, Cut to the Heart” →

Acts 2:1-13 We have arrived at Act 2: Scene 1 of our story, and the curtains are drawn back to reveal a room full of Galilean peasants scattered throughout a house in the big city of Jerusalem. Luke tells us that they, the women and men who followed Jesus, they were all together in one … Continue reading “The Spirit Translates the Script” →

Acts 1:1-12a We are beginning a new sermon series this morning, on the book of Acts. The title of this new series is “Acts: Stories, Scenes, and Spirit.” This series follows right on the heels of our previous series that took us through the Gospel of Luke, which makes some sense because each book is … Continue reading “The Stage is Set” →

I Cor. 1:26-31 Last week, we ended our sermon series on the Gospel of Luke and we jumped into a new book, I Corinthians. This book is a letter that the Apostle Paul writes to the newly formed Christian community in the city of Corinth. Last week we learned how this community found themselves at … Continue reading “To a Church Called by God” →

I Corinthians 4:8-13 A sermon delivered on Sunday, May 21, 2019 by Derek Elmi-Buursma The hip-hop group Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony had its beginnings in 1991, when four aspiring artists in Cleveland formed the group the Band-Aid Boys. Two years later, the group recorded their first album in a family member’s studio and changed their name to Bone … Continue reading “To a Church at tha Crossroads” →

Luke 24:13-33 A sermon delivered on Sunday, May 12, 2019 by Derek Elmi-Buursma “When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will not eat it … Continue reading Christ Concealed, Christ Revealed: Faith in God’s Reign” →

Easter Sunday, April 21, 2019 ____________________________________________________________ Luke 23:54 - 24:12 It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was about to begin. The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and they saw the tomb and how Jesus’ body was laid in it. Then they returned home, and prepared fragrant spices … Continue reading An Empty Tomb: Resurrection in God’s Reign →

Jesus is journeying towards Jerusalem and on the way he passes through the town of Jericho. Quite a crowd is now following Jesus, and as they pass by a blind Beggar asks what all the commotion is about. The crowds tell him that Jesus of Nazareth is coming through. The blind man recognizes this Jesus, … Continue reading A Weeping King: The Coming of God’s Reign →