I still don’t have internet at home, which is hampering my blogging activity somewhat. But I’m hunkered down at work this afternoon trying to make all of the necessary cyber connections before I go back into my own beautiful and unconnected wilderness. So here are some thought’s on this coming Sunday’s Lectionary passage from Hosea.…
And an excerpt from this week’s sermon on Philemon: Paul’s basic claim in Philemon is the same as it is in Galatians 3:28: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” At…
So I haven’t been posting on the blog much. I’ve been caring for people and planning for church conferences and driving to swim lessons and trying to buy a house. (I hope to have exciting news to share soon!) Oh yeah, I’ve also been writing sermons. (Because, if you will recall, I have the best…
Here is an excerpt from a Pentecost sermon I preached a couple of years ago. You might also be interested in this Call to Worship and Benediction written for Pentecost. – – – – – – – At one point Jesus says to the gathered believers, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift…
This story from Acts is a troubling one in many ways. Here are some reflections from a sermon I preached in 2010. (Full sermon is posted here.) – – – – – As far as we can tell, Paul does not free this slave girl out of kindness. He commands the spirit to leave the…
At Peace, we continue to explore the virtues listed in 2 Peter 1:3-11. Yesterday, I preached on ύπομοήν (hoop-o-mo-nay)–enduance, patience, perseverance, fortitude . . . It gets translated a lot of different ways. I’m having trouble choosing an excerpt from the sermon, but you can find the whole thing here. I will simply leave you…
[Below is an excerpt from a sermon I preached on All Saints’ Day a few years ago.] This vision John gives us is a beautiful vision. A necessary vision. It is a vision that Christians have clung to through persecution and war and slavery and untold numbers of personal sorrows and tragedies. “And I saw…
At Peace, we are beginning a worship series on virtues as outlined in 2 Peter 1:3-11. Our call to worship comes from Psalm 1: Blessed are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; Blessed are those whose delight…
*Below is the last part of my Easter sermon from this past Sunday (Luke 24:1-12). You can find the entire sermon here. I know that Easter sermons usually focus on the women–their faithfulness, their witness. Or maybe on the men and their disbelief. Or, if we preachers just want to go for the obvious, we…
Our gospel reading for this week is really a rather odd bit of scripture. Only five verses and still we have two distinct parts. In the first, Jesus is warned—by the Pharisees no less—that Herod is out to kill him. Jesus responds by calling Herod a “fox” and saying he will go to Jerusalem anyway.…
Spacious Faith 