Sermons on Isaiah (Page 5)

DO: One Word

For the wise ones, it began with a hunch. The Magi had been studying the stars and surveying the skies and working the astrology and waiting for what was coming. Their preparation came ahead of the great story. Epiphany, the season of brilliant manifestation and aha! and revelation came first with showing up in ordinary…

Blue Christmas

We entered in the darkness tonight, friends.  On the longest day of the year, we entered into a dark room.  Already, we have lit together two candles.  We light candles to remind of God’s presence.  We light candles to call our own attention to God.  Pay attention tonight to the light.  It might be easy to look for the darkness, but look…

Shattering Shepherd Stillness

Have you considered that Christmas might be more about shattering stillness than securing it? Hear me as an introvert, who loves quiet moments. Travel with me for a moment to the hillside outside Bethlehem over two thousand years ago, where sheep are resting in the dark, shepherds are settling in, and the stars are overhead. Frederick Buechner imagined the shepherds in the…

Shepherds: Shock and Awe

The prophet Isaiah foretold that Messiah would be called:  Prince of Peace.  Jesus – the Prince of Prince. Peace, not as the absence of conflict, but a deep and abiding authority over chaos and presence of justice.  In a world filled with war and conflict, it is almost impossible to imagine peace.  Peace is a stark and opposite change from the daily…

Join Us!

When I was in junior high, I can remember making and receiving mix tapes.  Musical gifts of time.  They took hours!  In fact, so many hours, that I cannot get rid of them!  We have at least a box-full in the basement.  You would listen to the radio on an oversized boom box for songs that you thought should be a part…

Ugly Sweaters, Songs and Salvation 8:30

Have you seen the so-called ugly Christmas sweaters?  Have you ever been to an ugly Christmas sweater party?  Did you wonder where this trend from?  Maybe we could point to Dr. Huxtable or National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation for the appearance of the first ugly Christmas sweater.  It was in 2002 that the first recorded ugly Christmas sweater affair was held in Vancouver,…

Ugly Sweaters, Songs, and Salvation

Ever since the wise ones, we have wondered and struggled over the quest of the perfect gift.  Like our children helped us illustrate, the perfect gift is heaven-given.  However, this does not keep us from searching for the perfect gift for our family and friends: the toy guide for Toy R Us, the latest and greatest electronic gadgets, or maybe stylish attire. …

Away in the Manger, No Silent Night

A long time ago in a place far away, God came to earth to be with us. I want to tell you the story of Jesus’ Away in Manager – but it was no silent night.  (noise makers) Our story begins with Mary. Mary, a young girl, has heard from an angel that she was going to have a baby. When the…