Anger
A Sermon on Ephesians 4:25-5:2 This week I encountered this quote from writer and preacher Frederick Buechner. “Of the seven deadly sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are…
Grow Up
A sermon on Ephesians 4:1-16 The only slightly provocative title of my sermon is this: Grow Up. I’d like to draw from Ephesians chapter 4 this morning. Paul speaks about the need for the church to come to maturity. In verses 14 and 15 he says “We must no longer be children… We must grow up.” So this morning I’d like to mine this passage to understand how we all can grow…
David and Bathsheba
A Sermon based on from 2 Samuel 11:26 – 12:13a I’ll love to tell you that I planned a 5-part series on the life of David and that we’re in week three of that series. The reality though is that for about 2 months I have been planning to go off-lectionary and preach a series on spiritual gifts. My hope is that we all might be able to see how the Holy Spirit has…
The Christmas Present
A Sermon for Christmas Eve, 2017, based on Luke 2:11-12 What is the worst Christmas present you’ve ever gotten? When I was a little boy, I thought that pretty much every Christmas gift that wasn’t a video game or at least a toy was the worst Christmas present I’d ever gotten. To shirts, I’d say “Why?” To socks? “Are you kidding me?” To a book? Well, it could be worse… (It…
Overshadowed
A Sermon for December 24, 2017, based on Luke 1:26-38 Have you ever found yourself in way over your head? I know this is probably silly compared to some of your experiences, but it felt like a really big deal to me at the time. I played trumpet in the band in middle school. As we were all headed to high school the next year, we were supposed to go at a particular time to…
Testify to the Light
A Sermon for December 17, 2017 based on John 1:6-9 When I was in middle school, our family had a vacation. At some point we made our way to a cave– we’ve been to several caves, but I can’t remember which one it was. We entered the cave via an elevator, and our guide promptly led us to a rather large open area. We spent a few minutes looking around, with the guide…
Get Your Feet Wet
I’d like to speak this morning from the title: Get your feet wet Last week we spoke about Joshua, and how one thing that set him apart for leadership of the people of Israel was that he was filled with the spirit of wisdom. Wisdom was a primary trait that was going to enable him to lead the people out of the wilderness where they had been wandering for 40 years and into…
Walking on water: Reflections from a first-timer
Walking on water: Reflections from a first-timer A Sermon for August 13, 2017 on Matthew 14:22-33 Thanks for inviting me here this morning. This really is a very interesting building you have here. We don’t really have anything like it where I’m from. Sometimes we meet in people’s houses, but a lot…
Kingdom Identity, Kingdom Walk
A Sermon for August 6, 2017 on Genesis 33:22-31 and Matthew 14:13-21 The disciples are ready to send the crowds away. Presumably they don’t want the hungry crowd to turn into a hungry mob. But Jesus quite casually suggests that the disciples don’t need to send them away. “You give them something to eat,” Jesus says. The disciples don’t have much to give. They’re…
But what about suffering?
A Sermon for July 30, 2017 on Romans 8:18-39 We’ve arrived in the last section of Romans 8. We’re at the climax of chapter 8– the climax of the climax of the letter. These are some of the most beautifully composed truths in the whole New Testament. Paul, the writer of the letter, is bringing everything that we’ve talked about over the past 6 weeks together. The big…