Beyond the Frost: The Kingdom of God is as if a group of people held V.B.S

In this sermon, based on Mark 4: 26-34, I look at the miraculous way that God's Kingdom is known among us.  It is AS If someone scattered seeds by holding a neighborhood Vacation Bible School.  The kingdom of God can also be compared to a tiny seed that will grow to provide shelter to birds.  God's kingdom comes with great joy and it jumps into our lives and into the life of our church.  It brings with it great potential.  Sure it takes work, but when you look back on it, the work seems unimportant and certainly second to the miraculous work of the Spirit that takes over and makes things flourish.  How might this spark our imagination for daily ministry?  How might our hearts be opened so that they might consider impossible scenarios - like an insignificantly sized seed or crops left to grow on their own?      

The Kingdom of God is near - full of love and grace - and able to bring about unimaginable peace and abundant joy. It also awaits our participation. 

This sermon was originally preached on June 17, 2018 at the closing worship of Vacation Bible School - Polar Blast.  

Working On A Sunday

In this sermon, based on Mark 2:23-3:6, I look at the ways that we find ourselves frozen, immobile, and non-responsive to God's invitation to participate in the work of the kingdom.  Like the Pharisees of old, we obsess about following and enforcing rules instead of reaching out with love to others.  By the grace of God, Jesus forgives our inaction and frees up our movement.    

This sermon was originally preached on Holy Trinity Sunday, May 27, 2018.

Can We Dance?

In this sermon, based on John 3:1-18, I look at God's gracious invitation to take part in the "dance" of the Trinity.  By the law of love, Jesus teaches us dance steps and pulls us out on the dance floor.  As a community of the baptized, the church is responsible for taking the dance into the streets - so that God's love for all might be experienced.   

This sermon was originally preached on Holy Trinity Sunday, May 27, 2018.

To Places We Can't Even Pronounce

This sermon, preached on Pentecost, 2018, is based on Acts 2:1-21.  In it, I wonder what gets in the way of us pronouncing God's grace, love, and forgiveness?  This is a question that I pose both to the church and individuals.  How might the Spirit increase not only our vocabulary of love but also the way in which we speak to others?  

The Spirit, alive at Pentecost, remains active in our lives and seeks our active participation in the growing and expanding love of Christ.  

For Their Sake and Ours

In this sermon, based on John 17:6-19, I wonder aloud about Jesus' love and compassion.  On the night of his betrayal, Jesus prays for his disciples.  In this prayer, he remembers the life-giving relationship that he has with his followers and the relationship that he has with God.  Jesus seeks for guidance for the church that will bear his name.  Jesus prays that they - and by extension 'us'- will remain connected in his love, compassion, and care.

"Feast At the Table of Love"

I preached this sermon on Maundy Thursday, March 29, 2018 at a unique worship experience.  In the sanctuary at St. James, we set tables and chairs.  During worship, instead of sitting in pews, folks sat at table and shared a light fare of  hummus, dates, figs, grapes, wine, and juice.  

The sermon is based on John 13 and Jesus command to love.  

Connected to Jesus Love

In this sermon, based on John 15:1-8, I look at Jesus’ image of the vine and branches.  How do we abide in Christ?   Do we love with a passion and acceptance that resembles Jesus’ love and boundary crossing behavior that went beyond the expectations of the time?  Do we participate in God’s radical hospitality?

Too often and for too long, exclusive varieties of Christianity have shaded the life of Jesus.  Judgment and narrow mindedness has crowded out communities of faith from reaching out into communities especially when those communities change.   

The invitation and mandate of the gospel is one if expanding love.  Of witnessing to God’s goodness for all.  We are called to remain connected to Jesus’ love.   

Lambs of Jesus' Flock

Originally preached on Sunday, April 22, 2018

In this sermon based on John 10:11-18, I ask the question; "how do we live as one of Jesus' lambs?"  The Pharisees - who were largely opposed to Jesus' earthly ministry - thought that to be 'faithful' meant rigid adherence to tradition and rules.  Jesus offered a radical alternative.  To be 'faithful' was to follow the path of love, compassion, and grace.  Christians are called to leave behind their Pharisaic tendencies and allow Jesus to lead us in the direction of God's hospitality.  

March 11, 2018- "Jesus Walks With Us Through Healing"

In this sermon, based on John 3:14-21, I hold up the life of Jesus (God's grace, forgiveness, and inclusion) as essential for our healing as a child of God.  Sadly, Exclusive Christianity has misused this famous and popular portion of John's gospel to justify exclusion and judgment.  Only those who can recite human formulas of faith (i.e. "I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior") are deemed "saved" in their "human-centric" version of salvation.  A careful look at this gospel story reveals God's desire for healing of all creation.  Judgement is found on those who do not seek the light but rather dwell in the darkness.  Throughout John's gospel, light is equated with the life of Jesus.   Jesus' life is one that is filled with love, grace and acceptance.  We are invited to participate in this life as a path of healing and hope.  

March 4, 2018 - "Jesus Walks with us in a Construction Zone"

In this sermon, based on John 2:13-22, I look at our need for renewal and re-construction.  Unlike the other gospels, John tells the story of Jesus' cleansing of the Temple at the beginning of Jesus' ministry.   Instead of a holy exchange at the Temple, Jesus offers his whole life as the connecting point.  Through God's love, grace, and forgiveness we are linked to God.  As followers, we are in need of focusing on Jesus' life and love.   

February 25, 2018 - "Jesus Walks With The Shamed and Invites Us to Follow"

Have you ever experienced public shame or humiliation?  Have you been isolated?  Maybe you know someone who is experiencing ridicule and exclusion - have you reached out to them?

In this sermon, which is based on Mark 8:31-38, I look at issues of shame and honor.  The cross stands as both a symbol of God's ultimate love shown for all of creation and as an invitation to follow behind Jesus' way of living.  This way of life includes reaching out to those who are shamed and isolated.  It is a risky invitation that might bring shame upon us.  God, however, will honor such a path for it aligns with Jesus' love, compassion, forgiveness, and grace.  

February 18, 2018 - "Jesus Walks With Us in the Wilderness"

If we imagine the wilderness as a place that offers both challenges, struggle, and shapes us in lasting ways - where is your wilderness?  Where is life hard for you?  Where do you seek clarity, security, and need healing?  

In this sermon, based on Mark 1: 9- 15, I explore the 40 days in the wilderness prior to the start of Jesus ministry.   There Jesus is faced with tests, hardship, and receives God's care.  On the First Sunday in Lent, I seek God's care in our wilderness wandering.  

February 14, 2018 - Ash Wednesday - "Remember You Were Created in Love"

It doesn't take much for us to look around and see a world that is broken.  Whether we hear the news of national tragedies, political divisions, and international conflicts or reflect on our personal hurts, struggles, and pain - we are a broken people.  At the start of the Lenten season, the mark of the cross is made on our foreheads.  It is a sign of brokenness and our need of God.  

This sermon, which I preached on Ash Wednesday, is based on Matthew 6:1-6;16-21. 

In our baptisms, we are connected with the healing love of Christ.  It is good for us to remember that it is God's love that created us and brings us hope.  We set out on the Lenten walk in the sure and certain hope that Jesus walks with us...   

February 4, 2018 - "So That I May Proclaim The Message There Also"

Do you find yourself ill or have a loved one who is battling sickness?  How do we read and understand the stories in the Bible that talk about healing?  Do miracles still happen today and what do we do when they don't?

In this sermon, based on Mark 1: 29-34, I explore the relationship between healing and the good news of Jesus.   

Jesus heals a variety of ailments as a sign of the present kingdom of God and to demonstrate in a life-changing way the desire of God to restore a broken creation. 

We are invited to head in the same direction of compassion and hospitality as we find ourselves and our community is broken and in need of healing.   What is more, in our sickness and broken lives we are invited to trust in God's presence to bring about the kind of healing and restoration that passes all understanding.  

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When The Path Gets Rocky - 40 Days to a Deeper "Real Life" Faith

January 28, 2018 - "Astonished by His Teaching"

In this sermon, based on Mark 1: 21-28, I look at boundaries.  When Jesus enters the synagogue in Capernaum, he enters a place where the boundaries between inside/outside, clean/unclean, holy/ungodly were fixed and thick.  In his gospel, Mark portrays the scribes and Pharisees as advocating for these thick, narrow, and unmovable boundaries.  In contrast, Jesus announces God's kingdom with boundaries that expand outward with love, grace, and forgiveness.

As followers of Jesus, this good news invites us to expand our hearts, minds, and ministry to reflect God's radical hospitality. 

January 14, 2018 - "Let’s See"

This sermon, based on John 1:43-51, taps into the restlessness that we experience as we yearn for God’s presence and action in our lives.  We desire healing, wholeness, and restoration for our lives, our church, and our world.  In the story of Jesus, we can find a path in the direction of fulfilling our hearts desires.  “Come and see” is an invitation for us to discover, explore, rest, dream, and hope in God’s life for our life.  

December 10, 2017 - ADVENT TWO - The Beginning of Good News in Us

In this sermon, based on Mark 1:1-8, I address the bad news cycle in which we seem to find ourselves.  Not only is the content of the news not good but the way that we receive our news in this highly partisan and polarized context leaves a lot to be desired.  John the Baptist provides helpful hints for faithful people to navigate this turmoil.  With a yearning for God to act, humility, and repentance - we can move in the direction of having the good news of Jesus Christ make a beginning in us.  

December 3, 2017 - ADVENT ONE- At the Top of the List

This sermon, preached on the first Sunday of Advent, is based on Mark 13: 24-37.  At the start of a new church year, we find ourselves in various places.  A lot of things are going on in our world and in our lives that are challenging, upsetting, and turbulent.  We react to this news in a variety of ways: fear, anxiety, confusion, anger, resilience, defiance, and resignation.  This sermon explores the faithful responses of Advent.  Amid the messiness of life itself, there is the promise of new life.  That is the message of the fig tree.  That is a message of Advent.  

November 26, 2017 - In Divided Times, Honoring the One who Slips Through the Cracks

In this sermon, based on Matthew 25: 31-46, the assigned gospel for Christ the King Sunday, I explore a classic apocalyptic parable - the Judgment of the Nations.  Instead of pounding on the pulpit, in the fashion of hell fire preachers, I spent some time in holy wondering about the confusion that both the sheep and the goats have after the judgment.  Both groups don't seem to recall when it was that they saw the Lord in need.  Jesus directs their attention, and our own to the "least of these."  God, in Jesus, chooses to be in solidarity with the world's struggling and suffering people.  We are invited not only to recognize Jesus among the least but also invited to reach out to them.  

One of the illustrations that is used in this sermon is Le Chambon.  This village in Southern France provided sanctuary to refugees (including between 3,000-3,500 Jews) during the Nazi occupation and World War II.  When the villagers afterwards were asked why they did what they did - they were perplexed by the question.  Isn't this what Christians did?   To read more about this amazing story:  click here for info from US Holocaust Museum, for info from Wikipedia.

Who are the ones who are "the least of these" in our culture?  How might we, in a divided time, come together as Christians to share kindness, grace, love, and God's radical hospitality with them?    

November 19, 2017 - Week Three of a Three Week Series - "Give"

This sermon, on Matthew 25:14-30, is the third of a three-part series on saintly living.  In our baptisms, God claims each of our lives and names us as one of God's "saints."  God calls each of us to live out our baptisms by reflecting Christ's love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness.  

This sermon will be looking at our image of God.  In the parable of the talents, two out of three respond in a trustworthy way - they respond in courageous living, which aligns with the overall gospel that Jesus preaches about God's graceful kingdom.  One, however, cowers in fear (following instead the judgemental faith of the Pharisees).  At the end, this results in inaction and a lack of discipleship.  Misery continues for this sad fellow.   

The parable raises a question of stewardship.  How do care for the gifts that God has entrusted to them?  Do we ground our response in the liberating gospel of Jesus Christ?