Progressive Christian Sermons with Rev. David Wheeler

Matthew 19:13–15 | Deuteronomy 24:17–22
This week, guest preacher Rev. Nancy Hodgkinson reflects on one of the clearest threads in Jesus’ ministry: a deep, unwavering commitment to protecting and caring for the most vulnerable among us.
In a world that often prioritizes power, status, and self-preservation, Jesus turns our assumptions upside down—welcoming children, centering those on the margins, and reminding us that we have all known vulnerability at some point in our lives. 
Through scripture, story, and reflection, Nancy invites us to consider what it truly means to embody the good news—not just by avoiding harm, but by actively creating communities where all people are protected, valued, and able to flourish.
What might change if we took seriously the call to care for the “least of these”?
And how might that calling shape the life of the church today?

Who gets access? Who is welcomed, protected, and allowed to belong?
In this sermon from Matthew 19:13–15 and Deuteronomy 24:17–22, Rev. David Wheeler explores how Jesus challenges the quiet systems that decide who matters and who doesn’t. When the disciples tried to push children aside, Jesus interrupted them—placing the most vulnerable at the very center of God’s kin-dom.
From ancient laws that protected strangers, orphans, and widows to the pressing questions of our own time, this message invites us to imagine a different kind of community—one that refuses to guard the gates and instead opens them wider.
Because in God’s kin-dom, those standing at the edge of the crowd are not turned away.

Guest preacher Drew Southworth brings the message for the Third Sunday in Lent in our series “The Good News Is…”. In a world that often pushes people away from the table, the gospel invites us to pull up chairs instead. Through simple acts of welcome, shared humanity, and courageous love of neighbor, we discover that when communities choose belonging over division, the impossible begins to become possible.
 
This sermon invites us to imagine what could happen if ordinary people committed themselves to widening the circle—making room for one more story, one more life, one more seat at the table.

Luke 7:36–50 | Matthew 25:35–40
On this Second Sunday of Lent, Rev. David Wheeler explores the story often titled “The Sinful Woman” and Jesus’ teaching that whatever we do to “the least of these,” we do to him.
What if the real failure in Luke 7 isn’t scandalous behavior — but withheld welcome? What if the most dangerous sin is not what we do, but the love we refuse to give?
Preaching in the midst of U.S. military action toward Iran and rising global violence, this sermon names the tension between empire and the kin-dom of God. It reflects on power, national identity, soldiers who carry out orders they did not choose, and the human cost of turning people into categories.
The question at the heart of the gospel is not “Were you respectable?” or “Did you win?”It is far simpler — and far more disruptive:
Did you love?
This message is both lament and hope — an invitation to see differently, to love courageously, and to refuse to let any human being become invisible.

John 2:1–11 | Matthew 13:31–32 | First Sunday in Lent
At a wedding in Cana, the wine runs out. Instead of shame or scarcity, Jesus brings abundance. Instead of tightening boundaries, he widens the table.
In this Lenten sermon, we explore what the miracle at Cana and the mustard seed parable reveal about joy, justice, and the kin-dom of God. What does it mean to practice joy as resistance in a culture shaped by fear? How do we embody courageous love for immigrants, students, and neighbors in uncertain times?
The good news isn’t fragile. It’s disruptive. It’s abundant. And it still catches us by surprise.

James 2:1–9; Matthew 23:23–24
Not every Bible verse carries equal weight.
In this sermon from The Bible They Never Told You About series, Rev. David Wheeler explores what Jesus called the “weightier matters” of the law: justice, mercy, and faith.
How we read Scripture shapes who gets a seat at the table — and who gets pushed to the margins. The Bible has been used to defend power and to proclaim liberation. Same text. Different lens.
In a time of political anger, polarization, and spiritual exhaustion, this message wrestles with forgiveness without surrendering justice — and asks what happens when we choose love, not fear, as our interpretive lens.
If your faith feels strained by culture wars, this sermon offers a deeper way forward.
Love as the lens.Justice as the weight.Mercy as the measure.

What do we do when the Bible seems to contradict itself?And what happens when Scripture is used not to heal—but to harm?
In this sermon, Rev. David Wheeler explores two foundational questions many people are quietly asking today: how to read biblical contradictions with honesty, and how to confront verses that have been weaponized against LGBTQ+ people, people of color, and women.
Drawing from Genesis 1–2 and Acts 15, this message shows how the Bible itself models faithful disagreement—and how the early church chose love over control when Scripture was contested. We examine how certain passages have been misused to justify slavery, racism, exclusion, and patriarchy, and why those interpretations were always more about power than faithfulness.
This sermon is especially for:• People who love the Bible but struggle with it• Those who have been hurt by how Scripture was used against them• Anyone seeking a faith they won’t need to deconstruct from later
Rather than defending or dismissing the Bible, this message invites listeners into a more honest, humane, and life-giving way of engaging Scripture—one rooted in justice, humility, and love.
Because love is the point.

What happens when faith steps out of the sanctuary and onto streets marked by fear?
After traveling to Minneapolis to witness the impact of immigration enforcement firsthand, Pastor David reflects on what he saw — and how two ancient scriptures suddenly felt urgently alive. Drawing from Micah’s call to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly” and Jesus’ surprising list of who is truly blessed, this message explores what discipleship looks like when real lives are at stake.
It's not about politics. It's about following Jesus when mercy and courage matter most.