2002

Sermon for Easter SundayScripture: Mark 16:1-8; John 20:11-18; John 11:38-44 I don’t really have the foggiest idea of what you need to hear this morning.  I’m going to have to rely on what I need to say rather than trying to guess what you need to hear.  I have no conviction about what you may … Read more

Scripture: Ezekiel 37:1-10; Genesis 16 and 21 (selections) I want to thank S.O. for being here this morning and for speaking as she has.  When S. approached the worship committee with her desire to speak out as a Jewish woman in dissent against the actions of the Israeli government and in a spirit of solidarity … Read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:25-34 If I were in charge of finding someone to speak on Earth Day themes on Earth Day Sunday, I would not choose me.   And if I were to sit down all by myself to think about what I was going to preach about on April 21, even knowing that April 22 … Read more

Scripture: Luke 24:13-35 I am not giving a sermon today.  I am offering a meditation. What I mean by a meditation is something shorter than a sermon and probably less organized, more like a collection of loosely connected thoughts, rather than any systematic or sustained discussion on some topic.  The shorter part seemed appropriate since … Read more

Scripture Acts 1:1-11 The truth is: I have had a little trouble coming up with a topic for the sermon this morning.  For quite a long time now sermon topics and worship themes have seemed to come rather easily and in the natural course of things, being suggested by seasons like Christmas and Lent and … Read more

PentecostScripture: Acts 2:1-11 I promised that I would return sometime to the question a young man asked in worship several weeks ago: How do you become a Christian?  Sometime is going to be today.  When Basil was baptized a few weeks ago, I noted that baptism was certainly one way a person becomes a Christian.  … Read more

Matthew 7:24-27 The scripture for this morning and the hymn we just sang both lead in, in a rather unsubtle way, to what I want to talk about.  I have been wanting to talk about our possible plans for a Sojourners building project for some time now, feeling that we need to put our concerns … Read more

Scriptures: Psalms 38 and 112 One of my principles of preaching is not to talk too much about “other people”, especially in a negative way.  I consider it inappropriate to spend a lot of words telling you what I think of, for instance, the attitude of Southern Baptists toward women.   Inappropriate because it’s a … Read more

Scripture: Psalm 42; Psalm 146; Luke 13:10-17 I confess that this sermon was born out of a sense of duty.  I was talking last week about voices of lamentation, particularly those which rise from people who have been abused by people they trusted within the church.  I was thinking too of all the voices of … Read more

Scriptures: Psalm 139 and Psalm 23 I’ve decided to turn to the Psalms for my preaching this summer.  The most familiar of the Psalms, of course, is the 23rd, and knowing this was communion Sunday it suggested itself to me for that reason as well—because of the image of a table that God has prepared … Read more