Magnificat

Scripture: Luke 1:39-55 As I mentioned last week, I’ve decided to take a break from sermons on the “teachings of Jesus” for the remainder of the Christmas season, turn to something more seasonal. At a worship committee meeting in November, Beverly mentioned that the choir would be doing several pieces, such as the one they … Read more

Echoes

Scripture: Luke 1:39-55 As some of you know, I’ve been stay-at-home sick for the better part of this last week. I will spare you the details except to say that my doctor said it would be ok to come to church today, if I felt up to it, but there should be no hugging or … Read more

Comfort

Scripture: Isaiah 40:1-5; Luke 2:25-32 This is a sermon I didn’t intend to give. I wasn’t planning to preach a sermon about comfort. I had been planning to follow up the couple of sermons on Mary and the “magnificat” with a sermon on the passage known as the Benedictus, which comes just a paragraph or … Read more

Our Times in God’s Hands

Scripture: Psalm 31 Happy New Year! If I wanted to really be on vacation the week between Christmas and New Year, I had to figure out the bulletin for today back before Christmas, which means coming up with enough of a theme in my head to choose a scripture and a sermon title and hymns … Read more

Holy (and unholy) Scripture

Scripture: Genesis 13 This is a sermon that has several weaknesses that I can think of right off. You will probably be able to think of several others before I’m done. One of the weaknesses I’m thinking of is that this is pretty much of a “preaching-to-the-choir” kind of a sermon. You will see and … Read more

Loving the Enemy

Scripture: Matthew 5:38-48 I have to say at the outset that Timmie Jones is responsible for a good portion of this sermon, so if it doesn’t go so well, blame her! I’ll explain what Timmie has to do with the sermon in just a moment, and part of that will have to do with the … Read more

Community

Scripture: Matthew 5:38-48 I ended last week by referring to Martin Luther King’s interpretation of the passage from the Sermon on the Mount that we just heard and that was our scripture for last week as well. I should say that I consider Dr. King to be not only a great civil rights leader, and … Read more

In Spite of Our Brokenness

Scripture: Luke 16:19-31 It’s a sad story, the one Jesus told that we heard just a few minutes ago. Maybe it didn’t bring tears to your eyes or make your heart bleed. Probably not. It’s just a story after all. The people aren’t real, not Lazarus or the rich man. Jesus is not talking about … Read more

Let There Be

Scripture: Isaiah 40:26-31 One of the things I asked for for Christmas this year, and received, thanks to Ava, was Toni Morrison’s latest novel, A Mercy. You probably know that way before Barack Obama became the first African American president of the United States Toni Morrison became the first black American to be awarded the … Read more

Getting to No

Scriptures: Matthew 4:1-11; Matthew 5:33-37 I’ve been thinking about Lent recently. Ash Wednesday service to prepare for. Something for the newsletter. Some sermons coming up over the weeks ahead, definitely a sermon to think about for today, the first Sunday in Lent. So I was looking through various things I have stored in my computer … Read more