[View the story “A Christmas Sermon Storify” on Storify]
It’s a Saturday in the middle of winter, and the heating system in your church breaks down. It’s cold outside, and somehow seems even colder inside. The air stings, and the pews are frigid. You can’t imagine having sweet little old ladies sitting on them tomorrow, but you don’t want to cancel church again. It’s been a snowy winter. The HVAC company van rolls into the church driveway, and the technician gets out with a clipboard […]
No, if we know anything these days, it’s that we know so very little. Our confidence can wither in moments, and everything that we once thought was “up” will be found to be “upside down.” For the pundits and the pollsters try and lull us to sleep with their braggadocio. They hypnotize us with their numbers, and plans, and historical perspectives. They have their canon laws, their proof texts, and their little prayers that we […]
In the Gospel of Luke the disciples ask Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray,” and Jesus gives them a shorter-than-we’re-used-to version of the Lord’s Prayer. There’s a jillion sermons and books and journal articles and videos and blog posts about the content of the Lord’s Prayer, how important it is, how similar it is to other ancient Jewish prayers of Jesus’ day, etc. But, here’s the thing… I think we might just possibly be barking […]
[View the story “meh.” on Storify]
This really is my Easter sermon. So, if you were coming to St. Mark’s on Sunday, and you wanted to be surprised, well, this is your #spoileralert [View the story “possibility” on Storify]
[View the story “The spiritual discipline of joy” on Storify]
[View the story “Like those who dream” on Storify]
We normally think of Advent as a time to prepare for Christmas. And, it is. “Advent” means “the coming,” and it is indeed about Christ coming in Bethlehem… But, that’s not all it’s about. Because one of the tenets of our faith is that Christ will come again. And so, each Advent we begin with remembering Jesus’ second coming, before we turn our attention back to Jesus’ first coming. We see this theme in the […]
Ezekiel 17:22-24 is the Hebrew Bible Lesson properly appointed for Proper 6B, Track 2 according to the Revised Common Lectionary. The king had abandoned the covenant that God had made with his people, and instead was looking to buttress himself with an alliance with the Egyptians. Instead of drawing strength from God, the king was looking towards the help of another nation. This does not please God. And, so judgment will follow. But, judgment isn’t all […]