Year: 2001

Scripture: John 21:1-14. I was drawn to the scripture this morning by where I went on vacation. As members of the worship committee know, I was intending to preach on a different passage today, the story of Jesus meeting two of his grieving disciples on the road to Emmaus. That’s a good story too, but … Read more

Scripture: Isaiah 55:1-2; John 21:15-19. “Feed my sheep,” Jesus says to Peter. Those are essentially the last words Jesus speaks in the gospel of John, and I want to reflect on those words this morning. Actually, I think I will mostly ignore the sheep part. It is unfortunately quite common for the Bible to refer … Read more

Scripture: John 14:25-27 and John 21:15-19. Failure is a word that kept coming up as I was thinking about the sermon this morning. I didn’t know much more than you did as to what to expect from our drama troupe this morning. I thought it would be better not to know what was coming–and more … Read more

Scripture: John 21:15-19. The sermon title has a double meaning. It refers, on the one hand, to the fact that later on in the service we will have some people joining the church, which is always a happy thing. It quite frankly makes me feel good, probably makes all of us feel good, when people … Read more

Scripture: Acts 17:22-28; Revelation 22:1-5. I need to say at the outset that for me a service of Christian worship and the Memorial Day holiday are not an easy fit. When the idea came up in the worship committee, it seemed like a natural and right thing to do—to acknowledge Memorial Day, some of the … Read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:16-20; 1Corinthians 12:4-7. In all honesty, I have been thinking that my words this morning would probably turn out to be pretty generic. Last week was Pentecost and I didn’t get to preach on Pentecost, so I have been thinking all along that I would give some kind of a Pentecost message this … Read more

Scripture: Hosea 2: 14-23; Revelation 3:8, 10-14. This is a sermon about race…partly…eventually. But let me begin today with the scriptures, with a reading from the Hebrew scriptures, from a book called Hosea. I decided to read this passage myself today, because it needs some explanation. We need to do a little Bible study even … Read more

Scriptures: Matthew 14:22-33; Philippians 2:13-14 I don’t know what made me think of “faith” as the topic for today’s sermon or the theme for my preaching for the summer.  It’s probably too broad as a topic.  Just about every sermon I give I hope touches on faith in some way or another, and there aren’t … Read more

Scriptures: Romans 12:1-3, Hebrews 12:1-4 This is a right-brain sermon, I think.  My brain sometimes gets confused about what is right-brain and what is left-brain, but if right-brain is when there’s no orderly progression of ideas, then this is probably a right-brain Sunday.  I’m feeling this sermon to be a little bit like a collage, … Read more

Scripture: 1 John 3:1-3 Most of you know I have just come back from spending a week in Kansas City, where new church pastors gathered for a few days and then the UCC General Synod met.  Because the Disciples of Christ were also holding their General Assembly, this was something of an extravaganza, with all … Read more