Redemption Church KC Sermon Podcast

Redemption Church
  • 5.0 (13)
  • Christianity
  • Updated Biweekly

Teachings from Redemption Church

  1. 5d ago

    Ordinary Time 02: Promotion Sunday 2026

    Tim Suttle

  2. May 26

    Pentecost Sunday 2026

    1. In his sermon, Tim expressed that, in Jesus’ time, Jewish religion had become what all religions — all moral systems & political movements — tend to become over time: more an ideology than a sacred religion.  What’s it  like for you to think about YOUR religion like this? How much do you think your experience of your faith is ideological? or influenced by ideology? How has that aspect of your faith experience evolved over time? How does it feel to consider that question? 2. Tim said, of the earliest Christians, that they didn’t abandon their religion, they just adapted it. What’s your response to the idea of adapting your religion?  What do you think drives the adaptation & evolution of religion? What do you know about what’s driven the adaptation and evolution of Christianity? What do you think should drive it? Where might you see similar forces at work in today’s church? How and where is it adapting? How do you feel about it? How do you see your role in the evolution of the church today?How do you see your role in that adaptation?  3. How do you respond to the idea that the church is like a walking wall? How do you understand the metaphor in regard, not only our deconstruction of the church’s past, but also to the reconstruction of the present?  In all likelihood, there will come a time when future Christians will work to deconstruct the things that, at present, we are building with the stones of our religion and church. How do you respond to the idea that the things we’re building together, in the largest sense, will be due for deconstruction by a future version of the church? What feelings arise for you? What thoughts? If there is resistance to that idea, share about it.

  3. May 18

    Easter 07: Ascension Sunday

    1. How have you thought about the ascension up to this point in your life of faith? Have you thought much about it? Where does (or has) it fit in to your overall sense of the gospels’ story? What kinds of question and curiosity does it bring up for you?  2. In her sermon, Mandy said, “we live, like the disciples, in the space between blessing & fulfillment.” How does this statement resonate for you right now? How real does it feel? How does it fit in with your own experiences of the ebbs and flows of hope? 3. Mandy also talked about the church as a place that “becomes a place where heaven & earth still meet.” How does this idea sit with you? Does this feel like a far away, theoretical idea? like a real and consistently present reality? Something in between? Depends on the day? If you have had an experience during which the church felt like a place where heaven and earth still met, what was it like? What made it such an experience? When was the last time? What factors do you think set the conditions for that kind of experience?

  4. May 11

    Easter 06: Graduation Sunday

    Redemption Church

  5. May 6

    Easter 05: My Father's House

    1. Tim defined ideology & described both the way it functions in our lives and the ways in which Jesus worked to break down its hold over people. He taught that the purpose of ideology is to mask the alienation we feel from God, self, others, and creation.   He then began the following sentence, which was ended by the slide below. He said, “The Jesus way to be emancipated from full ideological capture is to…” (see slide). To what extent do you see yourself as someone who has been or is captured by ideologies? How do you feel about the idea of your own alienation from God, yourself, others, and creation? In what ways can you see interplay between your experiences of ideologies and how you relate (or have related) to your own feelings of alienation? 2. Tim taught that, through Jesus, God was establishing a new way of being human. He’s promising that love, as a way of life, will connect us to God.  What does it look like to live in the way of love? Where does that approach to life show up most conspicuously? Where does it have the biggest impact? And on whom? Does living in the way of love (as you’ve just described and defined it) feel like whatever you expect connecting to God to feel like? If so, how so? If not, why not? 3. As he closed his sermon, Tim said, “My whole hope is in this. I want this for me; I want this for you.”  What do you think the idea of someone’s “whole hope [being] in this” conveys? To what extent is that statement true for you personally? How does that show up in your life? When you feel more divided, what things tend to crowd into that list of things in which you place your hope?

  6. Apr 29

    Easter 04: the Good Shepherd

    1. In his sermon, Tim talked about the radical nature of Jesus’ statement that he has other sheep who do not belong to [ancient Israel’s] fold. He went on to discuss the congruence between this statement and the countless examples in Jesus’ life that worked against the paradigm of an in-crowd and an out-crowd (regardless of how you define the boundaries). Tim then said that, “Jesus had a deep trust in relationship — as a great teacher … He knew that Love & fidelity are among the only things powerful enough to make us change & grow.” What relationships in your life have asked you to forgo a little bit of your own truth for the sake of the relationship? How has that come to be? What decisions have you made in response to the ask? How do you feel about the outcomes of those choices? Tim also said, “Jesus had a habit of leading his followers — into situations where they had to choose between their privilege as insiders — & some person who was being excluded.”  What relationships have you nurtured and committed to at the expense of your own status and privilege? What has that looked like? What’s happened as a result? How do you feel about that?  2. Tim said that we have a sacred obligation to learn, to study the voice of Jesus.  What does it mean to recognize Jesus’ voice as the good shepherd? What might that look like?  Is that something with which you’ve had experience? If so, how have you known/do you know when you’re hearing Jesus’ voice? What are you listening for to help you to know? 3. Tim taught that, for Jesus, it was very simple to figure out who you’re following & what path you’re on: If you feed the hungry — offer a cup of cold water to the thirsty.  If you care for the homeless — & work to make sure they’ve got a place to live — in your community, and that they’ve got clothes on their backs. If you’re helping to ensure that the sick & those in chains are being cared for, and if you’re involved in their lives — that’s how you tell who’s following his voice. Tim was careful to say that these ideas aren’t concerned with a personal checklist, but rather with the slow patient trajectory of our community.  Getting distracted by “should” and guilt isn’t necessary or helpful. So please try to mindfully avoid self reproach or shame as you consider the following:  In which ways does your life feel in alignment with these priorities? Are they priorities? What does that mean for mean for you? What does it look like? What does it mean to you to be a part of a community (if you feel that you are) that is committed to the priorities for justice and care that Jesus spoke about?

  7. Apr 22

    Easter 03: The Road to Emmaus

    1. One idea that Cole worked with during his sermon today was the way in which the travelers on the road to Emmaus were kept from recognizing Jesus. Framed within the larger message and emphases of the book of Luke, Cole asserted that it was not, as many think, God who kept the men from recognizing Jesus.  How have you previously understood that part of this story? If it had been God blocking them from seeing, why might God have done so?  How has Cole’s positioning and contextualizing impacted your ideas about this same question. If it wasn’t God, how would you articulate the reason for the not-seeing? How do you imagine the dynamics playing out for the travelers, and for Jesus, in light of Cole’s teaching? What, then, are your thoughts about the story itself and how you might allow your present understanding to shape and influence you? 2. One of Cole’s slides read as follows: “The Resurrection is not just a miracle; it is a political act of defiance. It proves that the community formed by Christ is not disbanded by the Empire’s violence, but is actually solidified by it.” Take a moment to reflect on this. What responses arise in you? How does this idea speak to you? What do you hear it saying? What does it mean?  3. In Cole’s closing prayer, he prayed about the ways in which the story did not go the way we thought it was going to go. He attributed this, in part, to the fact that our imaginations and expectations are shaped by something else, something(s) outside of this story.  Reflect on places and ways within yourself in which you have found this idea to hold true. Where, in your life, have you realized that your expectations and conceptions blinded you, and that those expectations were shaped by something you might not want to be influenced by any longer? Share about the difficult parts and the beautiful parts of this process. How did you come to that awareness? Where did they lead you? What has it helped to unfold within you and within your life?

  8. Apr 13

    Easter 02: Doubting Thomas

    1. What was the baseline or core of the story you were told about Easter as you were growing up, or growing up in your faith spend some time exploring in discussion the ways your understanding of the story shape your view of the Christian short story, of God, of yourself, of the church, and of the world. 2. Tim shared the quote, if you don’t doubt the claims of Easter on at least some level, then you’re probably not taking them seriously enough.”Share about how you approach and hold the story of the resurrection. What does doubt look like and where does it show up as you conceive of and contemplate the story of the resurrection?How do you feel about acknowledgment of doubt when it comes to the Easter story? How comfortable is it to explore the story, its veracity, and the various doubts that might be a part of that story for you and/or for others? Now consider how you first learned, understood, and digested the story of “doubting Thomas.” How were you taught to understand his doubting statements? How was he portrayed? In what ways did or does your understanding of Thomas and his voiced skepticism influence your own relationship to doubt in your faith? Or in the faith of others??3. Tim shared several powerful quotes about forgiveness:“Forgiveness is giving up all hope of having had a better past.” Anne Lamott“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” Mark TwainWhat is the hardest forgiveness you’ve ever been able to give? In which way was it hard? How do you feel now about the forgiveness you granted?Tim also said: “Forgiveness is harder than almost anything, except the absolute torture of unforgiveness.” & “The only boundaries that exist around the kingdom of God are the ones we’ve placed there by our own unforgiveness.”Share about a difficult forgiveness you have not yet been able to grant. What are the barriers? Is it a forgiveness that you want to give, even if you’re not yet able?

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