Redeemer Downtown Sermons

The storms of life have a way of revealing what we really trust.

In this sermon from the series, “Encountering the Kingdom,” Pete Nicholas explores Jesus’ calming of the storm in Luke 8:22-25 and the question He asks His disciples: “Where is your faith?”

Following Jesus does not mean being protected from difficulty. Sometimes we find ourselves in the middle of a storm while faithfully following God. It's in the midst of those storms that Jesus offers a deep hope: the assurance that He is with us. Through the cross, we see just how far Christ has gone to be with us and why we can trust Him when everything around us feels uncertain.

In this sermon from the series, “Encountering the Kingdom,” Pete Nicholas explores Jesus’ parable of the sower in Luke 8:1-21 and what it reveals about the forces shaping our response to God. We often assume our choices are determined by what we know or by the circumstances we face. But Jesus points to something deeper: the condition and desires of the heart.

The question, then, is not simply whether we hear God’s Word, but whether we are truly receiving it. Jesus invites us to consider what is happening beneath the surface of our lives and how the gospel can soften a hardened heart, sustain us through suffering, and transform the kind of people we become.

The world tells us to build a life around ourselves. Yet Jesus invites us into something bigger.

In this sermon from the series, "The Last Words of Jesus," Jeff White explores Acts 1:1-11, where Jesus promises His disciples the power of the Holy Spirit and calls them to be His witnesses “to the ends of the earth.” While the disciples try to understand when God’s kingdom will come, Jesus redirects their attention from knowing the timeline to participating in the story.

For Christians, this means recognizing that Jesus is already at work and that our lives are meant to bear witness to His reign. Through ordinary acts of love, generosity, forgiveness, and care for others, we offer a glimpse of the kingdom that is already here and yet still to come.

Sometimes our confidence in ourselves is much greater than our strength.

In this sermon from the series, "The Last Words of Jesus," Graham Girard walks through Mark 14:32-42, where Jesus faces the agony of the cross, submits himself to the Father’s will, and calls his disciples to “watch and pray.” As the disciples repeatedly fall asleep, we see the limits of our own strength, and the extraordinary depth of Jesus’ love. Gethsemane reveals a Savior who willingly takes our place, bears our sin, and remains faithful when we cannot.

Regrets can have the power of shaping who we become.

In this sermon from the series, "The Last Words of Jesus," Jeff White explores John 21:15-25, where the risen Jesus meets Peter face-to-face with his failure. Peter’s denial had left him carrying guilt, shame, and the weight of not becoming the person he thought he would be. But Jesus doesn’t leave Peter trapped in regret. He meets him with grace, restores him through love, and gives him purpose.

Jesus meets Peter not at the height of his confidence, but in the aftermath of his failure. That same Jesus meets us in the places where we feel most uncertain, disappointed, or aware of our limitations. We don’t have to have everything figured out before we come to Him. His grace is patient enough to meet us where we are and strong enough to lead us forward.