Mark Niethammer preaches on Easter Sunday. Nostalgia pulls us toward simpler times — toward safety, toward music and stories we know by heart — because that's where we feel most alive, but life was never buried there. Like the women at the tomb, what we're searching for isn't behind us. Jesus' love propels us forward into forgiveness, new people, new mercy — and a life blooming all around us, if we'll look up from the memory long enough to see it.

Preaching text: Matthew 28:1-10

View photos referenced here: https://www.stpaulqc.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Nostalgic-Collage.pdf

Sara Olson-Smith preaches on Palm Sunday. Jesus chose humility over power — a donkey, not a warhorse — because his victory could only come through love, not force. In giving himself fully for others, he conquers death and shows us the breadth of his care. That's the invitation for us, too: shift a habit, risk something, live for others — because that's not just sacrifice. That's where joy lives.

Preaching text: Matthew 21:1-11

How did Jesus ride a donkey AND a colt? View photos here: https://www.stpaulqc.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/palm-sunday-2026-sermon-slides-SOS.pdf

Katy Warren preaches on surprise. As adults, we rarely experience genuine surprise — we're creatures of habit who know what to expect, and the familiar can make us forget how spectacular life really is. Yet one of the greatest gifts of faith is remaining open to being surprised by God, seeing wonder where we've grown accustomed to routine. Where we're tempted to place a period, God places a comma.

Preaching text: John 11:1-45 (excerpts)

View photos mentioned in sermon here.

Mark Niethammer preaches on perspective. Perspective changes everything. Two people can look at the same cloud and see two completely different images. Grace looks at the world differently. When God does something beautiful in front of us – what do we see? Do we see the possiblity that grace may be breaking into the world in ways we did not expect?

Preaching text: John 9: 1-41

Sara Olson-Smith preaches on mattering. Every human being has a deep need to matter — to feel valued and to know their life has purpose and meaning. Yet many of us struggle to believe this, drowned out by voices that make us feel invisible, cast aside, or beyond redemption. The good news of Jesus is simple: you matter, deeply and completely.

Preaching text: John 4:5-21, 25-30, 39

Maddy Tyler preaches on trust. Being "born again" is not a rebirth but a spiritual transformation. John 3:16 reveals God's plan — sending Jesus to live, die, and raise the world into something new. To truly believe is more than agreeing to facts; trust is relational, a willingness to rely on what we know to be true.

Preaching text: John 3:1-17

Katy Warren preaches on temptation. Sometimes temptation isn't a clear line we knowingly cross — it's a slow, subtle drift that pulls us away from our center before we even realize it's happening. We find ourselves lost in anger or resentment, wondering how we got there, having forgotten who we are and who we want to be. We have been named children of God, yet how easily we are lured into living like it isn't true.

Preaching text: Matthew 4:1-11

Sara Olson-Smith preaches on God’s love. Jesus is God's glory packaged in human form—making the invisible God visible to us. God's presence isn't reserved for mountaintop moments when life feels good; Jesus bends down into our worry and grief, carrying divine light into our struggles and sorrows. Jesus breaks into the world's despair with radiant, unstoppable love.

Preaching text: Matthew 17:1-9