First, Do No Harm – A Sermon On Mark 9:38-50
Jesus is once again asking us to look at ourselves, to be self-reflective. It’s as if he saying to John, “Don’t you worry about that other guy. You worry about yourself.” He’s asking us to look within....
View ArticleIrreparable Loss
Some losses are irreparable. The time is ruined. The suffering cannot be redeemed. There is no gain from this pain, no view long enough to eventually say, “It was worth it,” nothing that can compensate...
View ArticleWhat Have We Confirmed? – A Sermon On Mark 10:2-16
Proper 22B – Mark 10:2-16 The confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh has been completed. But here’s what I wonder. What have we confirmed? I am not speaking of Judge Kavanaugh’s qualifications or character....
View ArticleA New Day, A New Life – A Sermon On Mark 10:17-31
Proper 23B – Mark 10:17-31 “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” I wonder what drove the man to Jesus. I wonder what was going on in his life that caused him to run to Jesus, kneel...
View ArticleA Vote That Matters – A Sermon On Mark 10:35-45
We are sixteen days from the midterm elections and one day from the start of early voting. Ads are running, rhetoric is raging, and lines are being drawn. And here’s what I wonder. What if Jesus’ name...
View ArticleA Prayer For Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Each year October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM). On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. During one year, this equates...
View ArticleUnbinding Abundance – An All Saints’ Sermon On John 11:32-44
All Saints Sunday – John 11:32-44 “Where have you laid him?” Jesus asked them. “Lord, come and see.” The thing that strikes me most about Mary and Martha in today’s gospel (John 11:32-44) is their...
View ArticleOpening Gates – A Funeral Sermon For A Nonbeliever
What God creates, God loves; and what God loves, God loves everlastingly. I hope that you will hold on to those words. They are the thread that runs through everything we will do here today. They are...
View ArticleShh, Be Quiet, It’s Advent.
A new liturgical year begins this coming Sunday, December 2, 2018, with the First Sunday of Advent. The Season of Advent consists of the four Sundays before Christmas. The liturgical color for Advent...
View ArticleThe Unforeseeable Future – An Advent Sermon On Luke 21:25-36
In today’s gospel Jesus speaks of the “‘Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory.” I think that’s a metaphor for the future. I’ve recently begun to think of Advent as the coming of our...
View ArticleWhat Has Laid Claim To Your Life? – An Advent Sermon On Luke 3:1-6
What do you see when you look at your past? What are the feelings and thoughts?Regardless of how we view our past, regardless of what did or not happen back then, to the degree we are enmeshed,...
View ArticleThe Music Hasn’t Ended, The Key Has Changed – A Funeral Sermon
The music of Gene’s life did not end at his death. Though we might be able to name the day and maybe even the hour of Gene’s death, he never knew that moment. He simply moved from this life to a new...
View ArticleIt’s About Ordinary Life – An Advent Sermon On Luke 3:7-18
I remember asking the what-to-do question in my teen age and early adult years as I thought about and made decisions. I asked it during my separation and after my divorce. I asked it after our son...
View ArticleHospitality Heals Our Estrangement – An Advent Sermon On Luke 1:39-45
Throughout our lives we find ourselves in circumstances or situations that are strange, new, incomprehensible. They’re beyond our previous experience and more often than not they leave us feeling...
View ArticleThe Christmas Proclamation
The Christmas Proclamation as it is sometimes called comes from the Roman Martyrology. It is usually read on Christmas Eve before the Midnight Mass. The proclamation sets the birth of Jesus in...
View ArticleYes – A Christmas Sermon on Luke 2:1-20
Jesus is God’s yes to us and the world. Regardless of who you are, where you are from, what you have done or left undone, or what is happening in your life today, you get a yes. There is no one who...
View ArticleEpiphany Proclamation of Easter 2019
The ancient Church had a practice of announcing the dates of Easter as well as other feasts and fasts that do not have a fixed date. Since the Epiphany is a fixed date feast (January 6) and also the...
View ArticleEpiphany House Blessing Using Chalk
The Church has a custom of blessing homes on the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6) and the weeks following. Family and friends gather to ask God’s blessing on their homes and those who live in or visit...
View ArticleBlessing Chalk For An Epiphany House Blessing
There is a tradition of blessing homes on the Feast of the Epiphany and during the weeks that follow. One way of doing this is to use blessed chalk to mark the doorway as follows: Marking the doorway...
View ArticleGod Insists – An Epiphany Sermon On Matthew 2:1-12
Whatever God’s insisting for you might be, whatever the “it” is in your life, “it” is God desiring, maybe even needing, to be seen, known, experienced by you. Epiphany happens at the intersection of...
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