Christmas. The Festival of the Incarnation. A celebration of God's enfleshment and embodiment. As I'm reflecting on Christmas and preparing myself to lead my community in the celebration of the birth of Christ, I'm considering the connections between the festival of Christmas and the community of faith. The church, as the body of Christ, is … Continue reading Festival of Incarnation
A little over a month ago, I preached a sermon talking about the difficulty of being in community together and how being in community together can also be messy. In that sermon I asked for forgiveness for the inevitable ways that we, as a faith community, would let you down and disappoint you. This blog … Continue reading A Word of Hope…and an Invitation
Since I'll be needing to do this regularly soon myself, I thought I'd get back into the habit of forming some thoughts for preaching this weekend. The Revised Common Lectionary texts for this weekend: Amos 7:7-17 + Psalm 82 + (or Deuteronomy 30:9-14 and Psalm 25:1-10) + Colossians 1:1-14 + Luke 10:25-37 --------------- I don't … Continue reading “Who Is My Neighbor?”
Here's some background info on the book we'll be reading from on Sunday: In the books of 1st and 2nd Samuel, we see the shift of Israel from a nebulous, largely tribal group of people toward a more organized monarchy. The people of Israel demand a king, and although God, through Samuel, warns them that … Continue reading 1st and 2nd Samuel
--- a collection of thoughts in preparation for my sermon on sunday --- Text: Exodus 14:10-14, 21-29 Saying “trust in God” during times of turmoil is a really nice thought; it looks great on a Hallmark card... The reality is, however, it’s not so easy, is it? I mean, here today, we have God leading God’s … Continue reading Thoughts on Trust
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 "Growing stalks of wheat are being choked out all across the world this week. We read news stories and Twitter updates, and throw our hands up, and through painful sobs we manage a muffled “Why, God…?” We yearn for the harvest, for that day when all of God’s beautiful, perfect, tender grains … Continue reading Some thoughts on Pentecost VI
the narrow way 