DO ... (Page 3)

DO Prevenient Grace

Prepare the way of the Lord!  The prophets declare.  During Advent, we are accustomed to hearing those words.  Getting ready for what is coming next.  Christ, incarnation of love, will be born. During Lent, we listen with earnestness.  Easter is coming.  The liturgical year circles through preparation and feast, fast and celebration.  Our spiritual lives cycle on a larger scale as well. …

Do Tell Parables

This morning, we continue in our series on the power of telling stories in parables and continue in the gospel of Mark.  This year, we have been reading the gospel of Mark together.  We have paired it with our year long verse: Be doers of the word, not just hearers, who deceive themselves, from James 1:22.  Lest, you and I only nod…

Do Tell Stories of Hope Deferred

Today, we begin a series of sermons on the narrative power of telling stories.  Jesus told stories everywhere he went.  He was a great story teller, stories about planting, lost sheep, and coins.  Families and children gathered around Jesus to hear stories.  They brought food and laid down their blankets to hear his teachings.  Often, he would teach them in parables. Parable…

Do Believe in Trinity

I wonder if you have heard this one:  Several centuries ago in the 1300s, the Pope decreed that Jews had to convert to Catholicism or leave Italy. There was a huge outcry from the Jewish community, so the Pope offered a deal: he’d have a religious debate with the leader of the Jewish community. If the Jews won, they could stay in…

Do Believe in Holy Spirit

After the followers of Jesus had made it through the shock of the death of Jesus, they had amazed it through the resurrection of Christ.  They lived in excitement in the 40 days of greatest hits of “tell me another.”  The disciples looked at the sky with the ascension wondering where Jesus had really gone as he went up to heaven.  Now,…

Do Believe in Resurrection

“DO Believe In Resurrection” Today, we begin a short series, three sermons on belief.  Three weeks to ground us on three crucial beliefs that we hold in common in the larger Christian church – resurrection, the vital role of Holy Spirit as we celebrate Pentecost next week, and then the mystery of Trinity as we together ponder Trinity Sunday, the following week.…

DO give seeds

This Easter, I received spinach seeds ahead of the planting season, along with a geoplanter, gardening gloves, and the right tools.  So, after I heard the frost warnings had passed us by (a bit harder this season), we diligently planted our small spinach seeds in our planter and have been faithfully watering them each day.  We are getting ready to plant our…

DO Include – Mental Illness

In the gospel lesson, we find the crowds, perhaps even Jesus’ own family, accusing and worrying that Jesus is out of his mind!  Things have gotten out of control and Jesus might have gotten a bit more here!   What should we do!? They find themselves wondering.  What is Jesus doing!! The complexities of family are not glossed over in anyway.  In fact,…

DO Value Each – Bullying

This year, we have been taking the challenge to read together the gospel of Gospel of Mark.  After a slight detour with Holy Week and Easter readings, we pick up back in chapter 3.  The writer of Mark gives a quick clear account of the gospel immediately as rushing us towards to the words that require our action and attention.  Immediately, we…

Do: Pause and Wait

I sat with him and waited.  His family had said good-bye.  They had gone home.  Chaplain, they asked, could you wait with James, until he passes over, they wondered.  Yes, I nodded.  And so, I sat with him and waited.  All of the machines had been turned off.  All of the medical professionals had taken leave.  And so, I sat with him…