Twisted

These sermons came to life in the spring of 2013, following a Christmas season that was overshadowed by the tragic shooting spree that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012.  As often happens in the wake of national tragedies like this, debate immediately sprung up about why this happened and what can be done to prevent these kinds of tragedies in the future.  As I watched those debates unfold, I became convinced that they almost all missed the real issue.
The ultimate problem is that we are all broken on the inside, bent from how we are supposed to be.  The Bible calls this brokenness sin.  Theologians, at least in my theological tradition, call it “total depravity.”  The first sermon will unpack some of these terms a bit more.  This sermon series explores the reality of our sinfulness and how our brokenness affects not just the decisions we make, but every area and facet of our being and lives as well.  
Through this series, we will look at how our brokenness has twisted our understanding of love, relationships and community, truth and even hope.  And in each area that we have twisted, Jesus Christ has come to show us the better and right way - a way that can only be found in him.  This series concluded on Palm Sunday with the celebration of Jesus Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem where the crowds proclaimed him King.  Of course, he wasn’t the king they thought he was.  How appropriate that, to save a twisted world, God would send a King with a twist.
I am thankful to have shared this series with Victor Manuel Labrada, a seminary student at Covenant Theological Seminary and the worship leader at the church I served when these sermons were preached.  He is a gifted and wise young man, who has been a source of great encouragement and friendship to me during his time at the church.  You’ll find his contribution in Chapter 3.
May God bless you as you read through these sermons, and may they provide clarity and hope for you, in the midst of your own twistedness, as well.
Rev. David Garrison
August, 2013