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Tempting the Church (Sermon)
This is an adapted form of the sermon I preached this morning, the First Sunday in Lent. The gospel text was Matthew 4:1-11. So Jesus had a party for his baptism. But it wasn’t like the parties that my wife and I hosted for our kids’ baptisms. Shortly after our daughter Zoe was baptized, we…
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You and Your Father In Secret (Sermon)
This is an adapted form of the sermon I preached today, Ash Wednesday. The gospel text was Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21. Long-time readers of this blog may notice a distinct influence from a retreat I took three years ago. Did you ever get the sense that God is hiding from you? Maybe you feel like there’s…
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The Mountains of Matthew (Sermon)
This is an adapted form of the sermon I preached this morning, the Transfiguration of Our Lord. The gospel reading was Matthew 17:1-9. Something amazing, absolutely astonishing, happened on top of a mountain in today’s gospel reading. But I think in order to really see what was so astonishing, we need to take a step…
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Jonah on the Mount (Sermon)
This is an adapted form of the sermon I preached this morning, the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany. The gospel reading was Matthew 5:21-37, the third consecutive reading from the Sermon on the Mount. The sermon presupposes two things: first, that you just heard the gospel reading. (Well, they all presuppose that, but this one more…
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Letting Your Light Shine (Sermon)
This is an adapted form of the sermon I preached this morning, the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany. The gospel reading was Matthew 5:13-20. This was a really gimmicky sermon, so I’m going to write it like a script. I think that’s the best way to present it in written format. MICHAEL: So, in today’s gospel…In…
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Blessed are You (Sermon)
This is an adapted form of the sermon I preached on Sunday, the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany. Many apologies for the lateness of this post — it’s been a busy week. The gospel reading was Matthew 5:1-10, the “Beatitudes.” Today’s gospel is about being blessed. It’s about blessings. And we know that we have been…
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Tap Tap (Sermon)
This is an adapted form of the sermon I preached this morning, the Third Sunday after Epiphany. The gospel text was Matthew 4:12-23. I’ll have to explain how some of the sermon worked. I started by walking through the congregation, tapping five people on the shoulder, and telling each of them, “Follow me.” I led…
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Come and See (Sermon)
This is an adapted version of the sermon I preached this morning, the Second Sunday after Epiphany. The gospel text was John 1:29-42. We meet John the Baptist again, and he’s pointing to Jesus. John was always pointing. If you look at artwork of him over the centuries, you will find that quite often he…
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You Are … (Sermon)
This is an adapted version of the sermon I preached this morning, the Baptism of Our Lord. The gospel text was Matthew 3:13-17. When my wife and I were expecting our children, we thought a lot about what we would name them. It was an important decision, and there were a lot of things to…
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There is Light (Sermon)
This is an adapted form of the sermon I preached this morning. Today we observed the Epiphany of Our Lord, and used a service of Lessons and Carols. All of the readings and songs were in some way related to light, and I invited the congregation to repeat the word and point to the cross…
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