Lent
Lent 4: The Journey Home
Lent is the season of return, the time of rolling away shame, the moment when exile begins to end. Not just for us as individuals, but for our communities, our churches, our world.
Lent
Lent 3: The Patient Gardener's Gift
This is the heart of grace: not just a one-time invitation, but an ongoing commitment to what is best for us. God does not just call us once and walk away. God cultivates us.
Lent
Glory and Resilience: 2nd Sunday in Lent
The Transfiguration story shows us the glory of God revealed just before Jesus faces opposition. Yet, he remains faithful and steadfast.
Lent
The Temptation of Jesus: First Sunday in Lent
When confronted by Satan’s temptation, three times Jesus quotes exclusively from Deuteronomy 6-8. He knows he's standing in for Israel in these stories in order to re-tell it as God had intended. In the language of the school yard, Israel – through Jesus – gets a “do over” and so do we.
Ash Wednesday
Dust and Grace: The Journey of Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday isn't just a religious ritual, it is a call to awareness instead of self-deception; to life in the face of death; and, to transformation in and through Jesus Christ.
Ezekiel
Sermon: 5 Lessons for a Pandemic
Here's the text of the sermon I preached this morning in our first GoToMeeting.com worship experience. We had some technical issues, but a good first effort. Ezekiel 37:1-14 37 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of
Lectionary Yr B
Psalm 22: A Surprising Lenten Study
Last Wednesday night I led the meditation for our community Lenten "meal and meditation" service. I chose Psalm 22 from the lectionary for the previous Sunday, but used the entire psalm rather than just the last portion. Here's the study -- Psalm 22: A Lenten Study
Lectionary Yr B
Podcast: A Difficult Call to Discipleship
Here's a passage packed with dramatic moments like "get behind me, Satan" and "take up your cross and follow me." For the second Sunday in Lent, I preached from Mark 8:31-9:1. The lectionary reading did not include Mark 9:1, but I
Lectionary Yr A
Palm Sunday Service Idea
Designing worship for Palm Sunday has always been a challenge for me. Either we focused on the joy of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, with palms and singing and celebrating; or, we focused on the Passion of Christ -- His crucifixion, death, and burial. Last year, however, we combined
Ezekiel
Podcast: Opening Graves, Restoring Hope
For the fifth Sunday in Lent, I preached on Jesus raising Lazarus from the grave, from John 11:1-45. After encounters with Nicodemus (John 3), the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4), and the man born blind (John 9:1-41), Jesus raises his friend, Lazarus from the dead. This
John
Podcast: The One Thing We Can Know
Last week for the third Sunday of Lent, I preached on the story of the man born blind from John's Gospel the 9th chapter. It's an interesting story of bad theology, judgmental assumptions and an inexplicable miracle. And, it has an important lesson for us today.
Lectionary Yr C
Taking the Light Down from the Mountain
Last Sunday I preached on the Transfiguration of Jesus. But the lectionary reading this year couples the story of the mountaintop Transfiguration of Jesus with the healing of a young boy down in the valley. The common interpretive wisdom on this passage (Luke 9:28-42) is that you have to