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HE LIVES! He lives! He lives. (Easter Sunday Year A)
Acts 10:34-43; Psalm 118:1-2,14-24; 1 Cor 15:1-11; John 20:1-18 He lives! He lives. He lives. In November of 2007 my wife’s dad died. We knew it was coming. We knew his cancer was terminal for a few months. We watched him fade. We knew it was only a matter of time. But when that time
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“And Jesus wept.” (5 Lent Year A)
Ezekiel 37:1-14; Psalm 130; Romans 8:6-11; John 11:1-45 “And Jesus wept.” John 11:35. Our Revised Common Lectionary says, “Jesus began to weep”, which is simply saying the same thing in the present instead of the past tense. But none of that left-brain distraction matters here. The fact that Jesus wept, and still weeps, speaks to
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Joy is faith in God. (4 Lent Year A)
1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 23; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41 Rejoice: to feel joy, to be joyful. Joy: A feeling of extreme happiness or cheerfulness, especially related to the acquisition or expectation of something good. Happiness because of hope. Joy in the Bible: a deep-rooted, inspired happiness as a special gift from God, as a faith
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We are God’s ministers bringing the Good News of salvation into a tired and violent world. (3 Lent Year A)
Exodus 17:1-7; Psalm 95; Romans 5:1-11; John 4:5-42 Today’s passage from the Gospel according to John is a long and winding road of past, present, and future history. Let’s unpack some of what’s going on. Jesus and his disciples wander through the outskirts of a city that was once a great jewel in the crown
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Can I trust God? (3 Lent Year A)
Exodus 17:1-7; Psalm 95; Romans 5:1-11; John 4:5-42 When you’ve had the privilege of being around folks who are suffering from debilitating illness, or suffering from the loneliness of a loved one lost, or suffering from the hopelessness of old age, or suffering the grief of young death, trivial questions fade away and you
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“God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (2 Lent Year A)
Genesis 12:1-4a; Psalm 121; 2 Romans 4:1-5, 13-17; John 3:1-17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” Today we continue the story of our salvation with all three readings from scripture. In Genesis, long before the giving
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Today begins a pivotal moment in all our lives. (Ash Wednesday Year A)
Joel 2:1-2,12-17; Psalm 51:1-17; 2 Cor 5:20b-6:10; Matt 6:1-6,16-21 There are moments in our lives that we look back upon as pivotal moments; where the decisions we made have moved our lives in one distinctive direction or another, where the consequences have been positive or negative. Sometimes we’re lucky enough to see those moments for
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God is concerned with your appearance, but it’s not what you think (5 Epiphany Year A)
Isaiah 58:1-12; Psalm 112:1-10; 1 Corinthians 2:1-16; Matthew 5:13-20 Appearances. We live in a society that is obsessed with appearances. Are my teeth white enough? Is my hair the right color? Do I have the right amount of hair in all the right places? Am I tall enough? Am I young enough looking? Am I
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“Blessed are we who mourn, for through God we will one day find comfort.” (4 Epiphany Year A)
Mica 6:1-8; Psalm 15; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; Matthew 5:1-12 This may sound strange coming from the person who is preaching but this is not the sermon I set out to preach today. There are some wonderful scripture readings this morning from the prophet Mica and from Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians. So
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“We have lived a magical night, a night we will remember throughout our lives, a night in which life defeated death.” (3 Epiphany Year A)
Isaiah 9:1-4; Psalm 27:1, 5-13; 1 Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-23 Gloom. Darkness. Deep darkness. Death. On August 5th 2010 a mineshaft partially collapsed in northern Chile, trapping 33 coal miners more than half a kilometer below the surface of the earth. For us Americans that’s roughly 622 meters, 2,040 feet, 680 yards, almost 7 football