Sermon Archive
Sermons at Pearl seek to engage the ancient stories, poems, and letters in the Bible through imaginative oration that rouses our wholeness as human beings. The act of the sermon at Pearl is space to ponder the sacred, opportunity to consider the mystery and love of God, and provocation to slow down, to think deeply, and to be stirred and inspired to bountifully live.
Renewal, pt. 1
This week we arrive at renewal and ask why growth so often begins with an ending. Jesus’ two great images, the way of the cross and the way of the child, turn out to describe one path, a “yes” to whatever arises that opens us to wonder, play, and new life.
Punishment, pt. 2
This week, Mike Roth asks how we might learn to have faith in death as part of life, drawing on his mother’s death and the long estrangement that came before it to explore how we can discern the endings that meet us, grieve them honestly, and, in time, open our arms to them.
Punishment, pt. 1
This week, Jesus meets a question many of us carry in our bones—“Am I being punished?”—and offers a very different way to make meaning of loss and suffering. Along the way we trace how what happens to us can move from punishment, to consequence, to gift.
Accusation, pt. 2
This week Mike turns from the personal to the collective, hearing Isaiah’s ancient charges against unjust systems alongside our own moment and asking what actually helps a heart and mind pause, listen, and change. The way of Jesus points toward an honest question, a vulnerable story, and a table where people become more than the labels we give one another.
Accusation, pt. 1
This week, we begin with Accusation and ask why it so often leaves us ashamed and defensive instead of changed. Isaiah reads disaster as God's courtroom charge, but Jesus offers another picture—truth that arrives as light, gently showing us where we are and inviting us toward wholeness.