Mark 13 and The End of the World (or Not)

I’ve written quite a bit on “end times” stuff in the past. Last week I preached a sermon on Mark chapter 13 and argued that it is NOT about the “end times.” Here is that sermon:

Who is my neighbor?

This weekend I am preaching a sermon on Luke 10:25-37 – the story of the Good Samaritan. In it, a lawyer asks Jesus “who is my neighbor?” in an attempt to find out who he could NOT love (the common judgment of the day was that one’s neighbor was a fellow Jew, so they were [...]

Sermon on Philemon

I preached this sermon at Valley View Bible Church in Paradise Valley, AZ on 6/13/2010. The video was taken by my nine year old daughter, so please forgive the camera jitters and noise. It is her cute giggle you will hear from time to time. more about “Sermon on Philemon by Matt Rundio“, posted with [...]

Philemon

The book of Philemon (or, better, the letter to Philemon) has long been my least favorite of Paul’s letters.  Not any more. I was asked to preach a sermon in a series and the task for my week was to preach on Phiemon.  So I set to stuyding it, reading it, thinking about it.  And [...]

Justice – Human Trafficking – Judges 19

This sermon was given as part three of a series at Scottsdale Family Church called “Justice.” It is a dark (but important) sermon.  Human Trafficking is a real and tragic form of opression in our world.  This sermon takes on this horriffic topic head on – with the eventual goal of bringing hope.  Based upon [...]

Firstfruits of 2010 & The Resurrection

[Reposted from last year with new pictures from 2010 - but the same words apply] I desperately love fresh peaches right off the tree.  Sweet and juicy and wonderful they are. We have three peach trees in the back yard at our house and each one ripens at slightly different times.  That way, you see, [...]

Immigration and Theology

I am not a lawyer. I am not a politician. I’m not even a bona fide theologian. I am just a freelance [read 'unemployed'] pastor who is disturbed by the current conversations surrounding the recently signed Arizona Senate Bill 1070 regarding immigration. The point of this post is to briefly reflect upon the issue theologically. [...]

More reasons I don’t like Crazy Love (the book)

Disclaimer and intro [First of all, I apologize for the length of this post.  Turns out I had a lot to get off my chest!] For more complete thoughts about the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan, see my full review from an earlier post. This is about another issue – one that contributes to the problems [...]

Genesis 1 videos worth watching

Some good videos on Genesis 1 (if you only have time for one of them, the third is, in my view, the best): NT Wright is one of my favorite authors (and speakers, for that matter).  In this video he helps us think about how a Jew of Jesus’ day would have understood Genesis one [...]

A Verse for Marriage: The Second Commandment

I recently had the honor of performing a marriage ceremony for my brother and his new wife, Heather. (I cannot emphasize enough what a great honor it was!) Since then I have had a chance to ponder some marriage themes and remembered an important teaching that was not part of my typical wedding teaching. So [...]