I’ve posted the sermon I preached this morning on Mark 11:20-25. I was honored to preach for one of our ecumenical mid-day Holy Week worship services here in Lawrence. We pastors had decided to take the texts chronologically for the week. I agreed to preach on Tuesday without knowing what I was getting myself into.…
Holy Week tends to be pretty hard on pastors–or at least on me. There is, of course, the practical aspect of organizing and leading extra worship services. (Between today and next Sunday there are seven worship services in which I have a significant part.) More worship services means more sermons to write, more music to…
*This order of worship is from 2011. You can see the 2013 service, which does not include foot washing, here. – – – – – Welcome and Introduction Confession and Assurance Hymn: What wondrous love is this (v. 1) Prayer of Confession and Assurance of Pardon (From Psalm 51) Hymn: What wondrous love is this…
I’ve added my sermon from Palm Sunday 2009 to my “Pages” (on the right hand side bar). The main point is that we try to make Jesus into the savior we want, thus depriving ourselves of the fullness of Christ’s salvation.
I’m finishing up a beautiful novel: The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, by Kim Edwards. At one point in the novel, Bree is talking with her sister Norah. Bree has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and Norah is worried about her. Bree says, “I’m on the church prayer list. That helps.” This comment struck me first…
Here is the prayer of confession and assurance of pardon I wrote for our worship this coming Sunday. I use imagery from both the Old Testament and Gospel texts for this week: Ezekiel 37:1-14; John 11:1-45. These scripture passages are so, so powerful. I’m seriously considering skipping the sermon and just telling these amazing stories. …
Last Friday night I led a Lenten spiritual retreat for a small group from my congregation. As a logistical note, let me recommend the Hollis Renewal Center for anyone in the Kansas City area. Our group found it to be a hospitable, Spirit-filled place. (And the prices are quite reasonable as well.) I cannot begin…
If you look to the right of the screen, you will notice some new links labeled “pages.” I’ve been trying to post sub-pages for my “Sermons, Etc.” page for the last few weeks, and realized they were not showing up. So the helpful support folks at WordPress told me I could change my theme or…
This prayer of confession emerges out of the story from 1 Samuel 16:1-13; particularly from God’s statement to Samuel: “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord…
[I know, I know . . . it’s Saturday. Guess I don’t have the delayed publication feature quite mastered.] This prayer is based on the Gospel reading for the third Sunday of Lent (Year A): John 4:5-42. As always, you are welcome to use this in your worship setting. Prayer of Confession God of living…
Spacious Faith 