Roseville Covenant Sermons

Roseville Covenant Church
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Weekly sermons from Roseville Covenant Church in Roseville, MN

  1. 4d ago

    With God on Our Side // Rev. Matt Kennedy // Oct 25 2026

    In the ancient world, most religions centered on which deities could be of best help to your project. Would a rain god provide enough precipitation for your crops? Could a fertility goddess help you conceive a healthy child? Would a warrior deity grant you strength on the battlefield? It's tempting to read the Old Testament in a similar way, but careful reading of the Hebrew Scriptures actually subverts these expectations. One of the most iconic stories in the Book of Joshua is the Battle of Jericho: a miraculous victory over a fortified city (Joshua 6:1-25). But something crucial happens right before the walls come tumbling down. Joshua meets a Divine warrior and asks, "Whose side are you on: ours or the enemy?" The captain of heaven's armies answers simply, "neither" (Joshua 5:13-14). It's a sharp reminder that the Almighty isn't a mascot for our projects or a divine power to enlist in our battles. The question isn't whether God is on our side, but how we get on His? In a world of increasing polarization it is tempting to sort people into allies and enemies, but the scriptures have a subtle and provocative alternative: instead of assuming God's endorsement for our tribe or party, we are called to humbly submit to his strange and divine will. In this we may find a richer faith where God is not so much a tool in our hand, but that we become tools in his hands.

  2. 4d ago

    Heart for Harvest // Rev. Scott Nelson // Oct 18 2026

    Isaac Newton's laws of physics don't just describe objects in space, but they can be used to describe the life of institutions like the church. Bodies in motion tend to stay in motion and bodies at rest tend to stay at rest. Congregations are similar. In the heart of the gospels Jesus often told his followers, "Go!" Look for new places to proclaim the good news and help the hurting (Matthew 9:35-38; Luke 10:1-3). When we forget that church is a movement and a mission, it can become difficult to rebuild momentum for trying new work for the kingdom and reaching new people with the gospel. This week we welcome the Rev. Scott Nelson as our guest preacher. Scott is Associate Superintendent of the Northwest Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church (our local denominational branch), and a large part of his work is helping mobilize congregations for developing leaders, missional movement, and church planting ("sending workers for the harvest"). He will bring us a word this week to encourage our reaching out.

  3. Oct 12

    A River Runs Through It // Rev. Michele Arndt // Oct 11 2026

    If you ask most of my freshman students at Bethel, names and places don’t always capture the attention they deserve when we read our Bibles. Whether the name of a mountain or a river, it can seem like inconsequential information. When it comes to the Jordan River, it seems to be running through the entire story of our Bibles. It features prominently in the wilderness years of the Israelites as they are preparing to cross into the Promised Land, but the story doesn’t stop there. The river winds a long way (135 miles to be exact!) to connect this milestone moment in Israel’s history with the stories of other significant moments in scripture where the Jordan River is “the place”! In 2 Kings, we read of an army commander named Naaman who is given unusual instructions involving the Jordan River to cure his leprosy. And just pages into the New Testament, we find that Jesus himself is dunked in this river to be baptized. Perhaps like a scarlet rope dangling out a window, the Jordan River is stringing us along to see much more than just a single frame in the story of God’s people.

  4. Oct 4

    A Knot in the Scarlett Cord // Rev. Matt Kennedy // Oct 4 2026

    In recent years there's been a shift in the objections people have against Christian faith. In an earlier time, skeptics would ask, "Is the Bible true?" More often these days people ask, "Is the Bible good?" The problem of religious violence has become a bigger objection than the plausibility of miracles. For believers and skeptics alike, one of the most challenging books of the Bible is Joshua. Its description of the conquest of Canaan has sometimes been described as genocidal, barbaric, confusing, and occasionally boring (about a 1/3rd of the book is devoted to ancient land surveys), but if a reader can patiently wrestle with theses stories, you may find the Holy Spirit illuminating God's love and justice, the limits of human strength, and the ruinous nature of sin. When one looks close enough, you may even find Jesus (after all, his Hebrew name was Yeshua). This Sunday we start a new series in the book of Joshua with a story that immediately upends our assumptions. Rather than a narrative of ethnic annihilation, we read a story that valorizes a Canaanite woman, positions the book's historical background, and most importantly contains signs and signals of the boundless grace from Christ's death on the cross (Joshua 1:9-10, 2:1-14).

  5. Sep 28

    Body Building & Physical Therapy // Rev. Matt Kennedy // Sep 27 2026

    When we’re young, we imagine adulthood as a place where confusion evaporates and answers become clear. As adults, we discover the truth: everyone is still learning as they go. The growing pains don't stop when you reach a certain age. When the Bible commends "spiritual maturity", it paints a similar picture. Christian maturity doesn't necessarily mean we're finished products, but that we've committed to the work of growing Christlike in ways that come with aches and pains and sprains. In the final week of our September sermon series on "The Body of Christ", we’re looking at how membership in the local church helps us mature. Because some lessons and growth spurts can only happen when we allow ourselves to be knit into relationships with others. Through our shared life, shared stories, and living honestly before one another we, "build each other up" as we lovingly pursue Jesus not just as individuals, but as cooperating parts of a single body (Ephesians 4:11-16).

  6. Sep 21

    Don't Lose Your Head // Rev. Matt Kennedy // Sep 20 2026

    There are all kinds of institutions and organizations that have local chapters of a common mission (think of things like the Kiwanis Club, Alcoholics Anonymous, or the YMCA). They often have a charismatic founder and a set of guiding values and documents that create an enduring mission and culture in diverse settings. You might be tempted to think of the Christian church in a similar way, but let me suggest the local church is actually something quite different. The local church is not a historical society, an affinity group, a book club, or a philanthropic organization. We call it "The Body of Christ", and that term separates it from other institutions because scripture teaches us that church is a living body (not a corpse). More than a few times the New Testament says, "Christ is the head of the church" (Ephesians 1:22, Colossians 1:18, 2:10). But in the ancient world, the head wasn't just a place to store information or make decisions. Rather the head was the source of life! The historic Christian faith has always taught that church is more than a group of people gathering around memories of Jesus, but we have a living relationship with a living God and Christ's living presence fills our life together (Ephesians 1:23). In our second week of reflecting on church as "The Body of Christ" we'll ponder this image to resist the danger of "losing our head"!

  7. Sep 14

    No Small Parts // Rev. Matt Kennedy // Sep 13 2026

    In 1949 about 76% of Americans held "membership" in a church congregation. In 2025 just 45% of Americans belong to a congregation. Yet despite this precipitous decline in church membership, 65% of Americans still identify as "Christian." Belonging to a church and being a Christian no longer seem synonymous. A lot of people who are interested in Jesus are nonetheless asking, "What's the point of church?" The Bible's favorite metaphor to describe the church was to say it was like a human body: an interdependent network of parts like shoulders, knees, toes, eyes, ears, mouths, and nose combined to make a singular human being (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). The New Testament uses this image in a variety of ways to say there is something to know of God's grace you'll only find by participating in a Christian community (and you're unlikely to find on your own). For the next three weeks we'll try to answer that question, "why church?" by looking at the body-language of the New Testament. In these we'll find surprising and inviting ways to see ourselves not only more connected to an organization, but more essential to the "body of Christ."

  8. Sep 14

    The Problem with Good // Elise Strickland // Sept 6 2026

    As summer comes to a close I am always grateful for the ways this season allows me to enjoy the outdoors and marvel at God's creation. Whether it's taking in the stars under the milky way, watching thunderclouds roll across the prairie, or feeling the wind as it blows through the trees; time in nature is a prime opportunity to consider the majesty of God and the humility I should have before him. An ancient Hebrew poet put it well, "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers... what is humanity that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?" (Psalm 8:3-4). This week we welcome Elise Strickland as our guest preacher. Elise is a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary and has served a number of churches and ministries across the globe for over 20 years in areas of worship, outreach, and theological education. Most recently she and her team are preparing to plant a new Covenant church in the North Metro. Elise will help us spend some time Sunday considering not only God's intimate love for human beings, but remember this tender-kindness comes from God's infinite majesty and awesome power.

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About

Weekly sermons from Roseville Covenant Church in Roseville, MN

Information

  • Creator
    Roseville Covenant Church
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    103
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright Roseville Covenant Church
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    Roseville Covenant Sermons