Swashbuckling pirates, adventure on the high seas, riding the bus to school, making it on time to your appointments, babysitting your grandchild, working a full day at work, sometimes all of those require equal parts courage and abandon. With all truth, I say that in earnest. I have heard some of the stories of the excitement that can come from the bus,…
Perhaps, nothing has a deeper tradition than what you eat where. Let’s try just a couple: On thanksgiving, we eat… On a campfire, we make After shoveling a snowy driveway, I want to drink…. This end of the summer series sets for us an example of how we use our favorite books, movies, art, and culture to see God’s very presence all…
As you walk the beach, it is hard to carry much: a pail, maybe the hand of another. But the beachcomber is most commonly seen up and down shore with little in their hands. Eyes focused on the sand or shoreline seeking treasure. Often there is a look that is a little out of focused, contemplative or meditative in nature. Beachcombing has…
At one of the first churches I served, a kind parishioner told me if I would only every preach that Jesus loved me and sit down, I would be complete. And I think that they were earnest. The challenge with that proposition is that you and I need for ourselves more application answers to the question, so what? If Jesus loves me,…
I have often said the two most common things a pastor fixes are toilets (I jiggle a lot of chains!) and a limited view of possibilities. Perhaps, it is the volume of people in a church or the way we act in a church, there is a high percentage of toilet talk and repair in church. We also find ourselves needing to…
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. …
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…
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…
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…
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,…