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Rejoice, Favored One!
This is an adapted form of the sermon I preached this morning, the Fourth Sunday of Advent. The gospel text was Luke 1:39-55. Other texts I referred to were Micah 5:2-5 and Luke 1:26-38. About twenty-seven centuries ago, Micah was a prophet who spoke to the people of Judah. Micah preached a message of judgment.…
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Share. Play Fair. Don’t be a Bully.
This is an adapted form of the sermon I preached this morning, the Third Sunday of Advent. The gospel lection was Luke 3:7-18. John gives some surprisingly practical advice in today’s gospel. It’s surprising to me, anyway. I mean, John is out there in the desert, shouting at those who come to him, calling them…
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Waiting in the Darkness
This is an adapted version of the sermon I preached yesterday, the First Sunday of Advent. The gospel reading was Luke 21:25-36. I must confess: this sermon drew a lot from a sermon by Frederick Buechner entitled “Waiting,” found in his book Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons. I hope I haven’t breached…
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The Beginning of the Birth Pangs
This is an adapted form of the sermon I preached this morning. The gospel text was Mark 13:1-8. I also referred to the other readings as well, Daniel 12:1-3 and Hebrews 10:11-25. When? When? When, O Lord, are the buildings going to fall? When are the wars you predict to come? When will nation rise…
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Learning from Women
This is an adapted form of the sermon I preached this morning. The gospel text was Mark 12:38-44, the story of the so-called “widow’s mite.” I am growing a moustache for the month of November in support of a movement called “Movember.” Movember started about fifteen years ago in Australia, and is now embraced worldwide.…
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Clinging
This is an adapted form of the sermon I preached this morning, All Saints Sunday. The gospel text was John 11:32-44, the raising of Lazarus. One day, not long after Halloween, a day not unlike today, a monkey came upon a jar filled with Halloween candy. It’s not important how this jar got into the…
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Oh, the Places You’re Free
This is an adapted form of the sermon I preached today, Reformation Sunday. It was also the occasion of the Confirmation of two of our youth, Erinn and Jared. The gospel reading was John 8:31-36. As part of the sermon, I read aloud from a copyrighted book; instead of printing the book’s word’s here, I…
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How Can You Be God’s Kingdom?
This is an adapted version of the sermon I preached this morning. The gospel text was Mark 10:35-45. Throughout worship today, I invited people to perform gestures and poses they weren’t used to for various elements in worship, things like making the sign of the cross, and using the American Sign Language sign for “Thank…
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Red Prayer, Blue Prayer
This is an adapted form of the sermon I preached this morning. I left the lectionary behind today, and used this gospel text: Matthew 6:25-33. Jesus tells us not to worry. Don’t worry about what you will eat, what you will drink, what you will wear. Consider the lilies of the field. The birds of…
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Jesus and Divorce
This is an adapted form of the sermon I preached this morning. The gospel text was Mark 10:2-16. You may wish to go ahead and read that now — more than usual, this sermon depends on people having just heard it. This is not an easy gospel passage to hear. It’s tempting for me to…
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