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Kevin Sneed

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Jesus and Disruption

April 22, 2019

Matthew 17.14-27

14 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”

17 “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.

19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

22 When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. 23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief.

24 After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”

25 “Yes, he does,” he replied.

When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?”

26 “From others,” Peter answered.

“Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. 27 “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”


Here is a sermon I preached almost a year ago about Jesus’ disruption of the normal scripts that give shape to our lives. It is a disruption toward a surprising hope that animates our involvement in the world around us. Augustine once wrote, “Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.” This is the posture of the Jesus follower, a living in protest to the failings of the hope Jesus has for this world.

Our prayer is for the disruption of our complacency in things less than the resurrection hope of the world. The disruption of our apathetic response to the work of Jesus.

In Sermons, Ministry Tags Matthew
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The Opposite of Hate: Practicing Love in a Hostile World

August 20, 2018

In 1949, shortly after the atrocities of the Holocaust and the Second World War, George Orwell published his increasingly classic novel, 1984. The book is a dystopian novel that imagines Orwell’s native Britain as the fictional Oceania that has been taken over by a tyrannical political regime that governs through emotional manipulation. Individual thinking is a crime against the state, citizens are under constant surveillance and through propaganda, misinformation, and state sponsored hate against a mysterious “other,” Oceania is stabilized.

How do we reverse this? How do followers of Jesus live and embody an alternative way that refuses to be consumed by this hate. The above sermon is my attempt at offering a way forward.

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In Sermons, Ministry, Culture Tags The Opposite of Hate, Sally Kohn, Dallas Willard, Getting Love Right, Thessalonians, Sermon
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"Familiarity breeds unfamiliarity." There may be no better principle I have utilized in studying the bible than this axiom. The more we are familiar with a particular text the more we are likely to miss its depth and nuance. We must force ourselves to remain curious and continually ask questions, recognizing the Bible's ability to continually surprise us.

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Grace. And. Peace. - Philippians: Part 1

March 24, 2017

Grace. And. Peace.

These are the opening words of Paul to the Philippians. In some sense it is Paul's traditional greeting, found in nearly every letter he writes in the New Testament. But in another sense, it is a complex and inspiring opening and of all the ways to open a letter Paul chooses, grace and peace.

First, grace. 

Now, Paul is creative. The typical greeting in the Hellenistic world was the greek word, chairein - which simply means “greetings.”The word Paul uses is similar in sound but more layered in meaning, charis - which translates to “grace.” Traditionally understood, grace is the unmerited favor and acceptance given from God. And while certainly not wrong, if we stop there we are left with a flat understanding. For Paul, grace has layers, depth, and nuance.

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In Faith, Ministry Tags philippians
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Church, Love, and St. Francis - Much Still to Learn

October 5, 2015

Each year on October 4th, the church remembers the life of Saint Francis of Assisi who dedicated his life to the ministry of the Gospel, specifically with the poor and oppressed. At a young age, St. Francis set out to rebuild the church on the basis of the Gospel of love, he embodied the Gospel message and advocated for the marginalized. Currently, St. Francis’ legacy continues to rebuild the church through Pope Francis (who chose his papal name after St. Francis of Assisi). Pope Francis has grown in popularity and influence in American adults within the last year (check our Barna’s most recent statistics on Pope Francis here, worth the read). Pope Francis’ actions and words of love and humble demeanor has rattled the religious landscape for the better.

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In Faith, Ministry Tags Saint Francis, Faith, Prayer, St. Francis, top post
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