The Gospel lesson Deacon Chuck just read for us contains one of Jesus’ more inflammatory statements: “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” We’re going to unpack this inflammatory statement today, but first I want to tell you all about a person named Sméagol.
Continue reading “My Precious”
Today, September 1, 2025, I’m launching a brand new project that will take about 18 months to complete. I invite you to join me in The Bible in 10, a listening adventure through the Bible in ten minute increments, accessible via email or podcast app. Every day of the week except Sundays, subscribers to The Bible in 10 will receive an email with that day’s (approximately) 10 minute chunk of the Bible. If you are a podcast listener, you can also subscribe via your podcast app of choice.
Continue reading “Introducing “The Bible in 10””
Today we are going to talk about inadequacy. Specifically we are going to talk about how God calls people, not in spite of, but because of their inadequacies. This pattern holds throughout Holy Scripture, but we’ll get into that later. First, a personal story.
Continue reading “Learning to Sing”
Today, I’m going to talk about faith. I’m going to talk about faith for two reasons. First, our reading from the Letter to the Hebrews invokes faith several times and I’d like to explore that with you. And second, over the course of my four weeks off, I discerned the need to recommit myself to some spiritual disciplines in order to exercise my faith. At the end of today’s sermon, I will invite you to do the same. But first, let’s define our terms.
Continue reading “Practice the Presence of God”
As I prepare to go on vacation after today’s services, I am so glad that the piece of scripture I get to talk about this week is the parable of the Good Samaritan. Easily in the Top Five most memorable parts of the Gospel, the story of the Good Samaritan stands as Jesus’ most enduring teaching about what it means to be in relationship with other people. So let’s spend the sermon time this morning unpacking this parable and see what Jesus has to teach us about the danger of “othering” and the power of compassion.
Continue reading “The Good Samaritan”
Today, we read a good chunk of the end of Paul’s Letter to the Galatians. One line jumped out at me this week, and that’s what I’d like to focus on this morning. Paul says, “So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time, if we do not give up.” Let us not grow weary in doing what is right. Another translation says, “Let’s not get tired of doing good.”
Continue reading “The Time That is Given Us”
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
St. Paul says that this commandment sums up the whole law. Jesus says that this commandment, along with the command to love God, makes up all the law and the prophets. The command to love one’s neighbor as one’s self is central to the daily lives of Jesus’ followers – from his first disciples all the way down to us. So let’s talk about this commandment today, about what it means for us and how we might live it out in our own lives.
Continue reading “The Flow of God’s Love”
We have come to the part of our church year when I wear green for about six months. The weeks that stretch from Pentecost to Advent are known as “Ordinary Time” because no particular season falls during them. But I prefer the way Godly Play describes these next six months – the “green and growing Sundays.” As we begin these green and growing Sundays, I’d like us to spend this sermon time taking a deep, cleansing breath.
There is so much going on in the world – so much division, so much violence, so much uncertainty – that collapsing our personal worlds into smaller and more controllable ones becomes an attractive option. Most of us are personally insulated from the largest sources of upheaval, which makes this ability to retreat into ourselves possible. However, while managing our mental and emotional health in the midst of turmoil is definitely beneficial, ensconcing ourselves in bubbles of isolation is not a long-term lifegiving approach.
Continue reading “Catharsis”
Nine years ago on Trinity Sunday, I preached a sermon called “God and Not-God: A Short History.” I’m going to preach a portion of that sermon again this morning before veering off in a different direction. This short history comprehends five truths that God has revealed to us, culminating in the truth of the Holy Trinity. But we need to begin at a more fundamental starting place.
Continue reading “God and Not-God (Updated)”
Today, on this Feast of Pentecost, we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the gathering of Jesus’ first followers. And we celebrate the Spirit’s continued movement in our lives. The Spirit moves in so many ways that we might easily miss how the Spirit is present with us. So I’d like to take this sermon to talk through in brief nine ways we encounter the Holy Spirit. You have a handy bookmark in your program to help you remember the nine ways. Also, as a reminder of the Spirit’s presence among this gathering, we are going to map these nine ways of encountering the Holy Spirit upon the beautiful piece of stained glass art by our own Alison Ives that will hang above the altar for the next six months.
Continue reading “Nine Pieces of the Spirit”
Where the Wind... 