Sermons from 2017 (Page 3)
Donkey Duty
A Sermon for Palm Sunday, April 9, 2017 on Matthew 21:1-11 Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of two of Jesus’ disciples: let’s call them James and John. Let me tell you about your experience. In the years that you’ve followed Jesus, you’ve been amazed by Jesus’ compassion. He would see people that the society considered untouchable– people…
Why are there bones?
A Sermon for April 2, 2017 on Ezekiel 37:1-14, Romans 8:6-11, John 11:1-45 Katie and I moved to Catonsville just as she was starting medical school. There were a couple of precocious children in our new neighborhood whose houses shared the alley with ours. They had started a newspaper called “The Alley Times” that they would put out monthly featuring news and stories that…
Why me?
Why me? A Sermon for March 26, 2017 on John 9:1-41 Why me? When troubles come our way in life and they shake us, that’s one of the first questions we ask. As soon as we’re actually able to wrap our heads around the reality of what’s happened, it doesn’t take long for the question to follow: why me? When the cancer diagnosis comes, “Why me?” When someone you love betrays…
Jesus is Not Our Waiter
A Sermon for Wednesday, March 22, 2017 on John 6:24-35 Jesus had just miraculously fed 5,000 people. This was what the Gospel of John calls a sign. It was as if God had stuck a big post in the ground and nailed a big, wooden arrow to it, and painted in beautiful, bold, bright letters: “I sent Jesus.” And then God had placed the sign in the path of 5,000 people so that…
Have you had enough to drink?
A Sermon for March 19, 2017 on John 4:5-42 It was a hot Dominican summer day at Barrio de la Playa del Muerto (“The neighborhood of the beach of the dead”). Our missions group was running a packed medical clinic and a ruthless game of soccer, along with some parachute games, and jump rope When you’re running around in the summer sun with Dominican kids, it takes some…
The Good News of Mowing the Weeds?
A Sermon for March 12, 2017 on John 3:1-17 and Romans 4 Several summers ago, I remember that Katie and I were going through a particularly busy season of life. With Katie working nearly 80 hours a week in residency and me pursuing my Master’s in Computer Science, sometimes it felt like it was all we could do to get some food cooked, the dishes and the laundry done, and…
Temptation and the Tempter
A Sermon for March 5, 2017 on Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-8; Matthew 4:1-11 We read three texts today that are quite closely related. In Genesis 2, the first man is given one command– only one. In Genesis 3, he breaks that one command. The story that the Bible tells is that because of that breaking of the commandment, death entered the human race. By sinning, humanity…
What is a Christian? (Part 4)
What is a Christian? Today we are completing our 4 week series trying to answer this question. Of course, on the one hand, the answer has always been obvious. A Christian is someone who follows Christ. But what does that actually mean? It’s worth remembering that part of the reason that we come here every week is that we’re all trying to work that answer in our lives.…
What is a Christian? (Part 3)
A Sermon for February 12, 2017 on Matthew 5:21-37 What is a Christian? We’re in our third week, trying to answer that question using Jesus’ teaching in “the Sermon on the Mount.” When we began this series two weeks ago, I urged us to commit ourselves to take Jesus’ words seriously. If you shared that sentiment with me, then this is probably the week where that commitment…
What’s a Christian (Part 2)
A Sermon for February 6, 2017 on Matthew 5:13-20 What is a Christian? We’re in week 2 of my planned 4 week sermon series focused on answering this question. We’re really trying to understand who Jesus’ followers are, both externally, in terms of how they act, and internally, in terms of what’s in their hearts. By way of review, last week we talked about the section of…