Mark 12:28-34 (Watch the video here.) Listen, Israel. Listen, Israel:Our God is the one God,and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart,with all your being, and with all your strength. These are the words of Deuteronomy 6:4-9,also known as the shema. It’s called the shema because in Hebrew the text starts,Shema, Yisrael! Which is Listen,Continue reading “Listen!”
Category Archives: Sermons
Show Me Mercy!
Mark 10:46-52 I was chatting with another pastor recently,and I asked her: What is the purpose of a sermon? She replied,“The purpose of a sermon is to create an experience of God.” Ooooo. Isn’t this the purpose of all church life? To bring us into an experience of God.The holy. That sense of something more.Continue reading “Show Me Mercy!”
Lift from the Core
James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a James writes,If you are wise and understand God’s ways,prove it by living an honorable life,doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. James conveys to uswhat is at the coreof the Christian lifestyle:humility. Another translation reads,Show by your good life that your works are donewith gentleness born of wisdom. DrawContinue reading “Lift from the Core”
With a Word
James 1:16-27 (Watch the video here.) With a word, our lives changed: coronavirus. With a lack of words, our world shrinks in size. With a dearth of words, our souls ache with hunger; if only we could listen, watch, think, scroll, read our way to satiation. We thirst for words. Immersed in an ocean, weContinue reading “With a Word”
An Orientation to Transformation
James 2:1-10, 14-17 (Watch sermon here.) James writes, “My siblings, your faith in our glorious Savior Jesus Christ must not allow favoritism.” Do you play favorites? How do you know when you are playing favorites? Hm. At the core of our faith, Jesus provides an orientation to a life of transformation. Jesus begins this orientationContinue reading “An Orientation to Transformation”
The Art of Conversation
James 3:1-12 (Watch sermon here.) Our passage today is a snippet of a letter. I am going to continue reading it, so you hear how James emphasizes wisdom after speaking of the dangers of speaking. James writes, “Are any of you wise and understanding? Show that your actions are good with a humble lifestyle thatContinue reading “The Art of Conversation”
Nothing Going On: A Pandemic Prayer
Mark 1:9-15 Desert Storks-Bill:A flower in the Judean desert,which opens in the morning,for hours decorating bare slopesand dropping petals before noon. Attuned to the weather,this perennial plant producesstorage sacs – or tubers – on its roots,so it can flower in rainy years,and remain underground in dry years. In the forty days that Jesus trekked theContinue reading “Nothing Going On: A Pandemic Prayer”
Walk in Beauty
John 20:1-18 Walk in beauty. I heard that phrase this week,and have been wondering what it means. How do we walk in beauty? Most importantly: How do we walk in beauty when we feel like giving up? I have been thinking about this painting this week. Do you know what it is of? … It’s a paintingContinue reading “Walk in Beauty”
Simplicity
Mark 10:46-52 “in light of each day’s questions, I am never prepared. Today, again, I have nothing to offer but a handful of old prayers, worn down by relentless abrasion of doubt, and a fragment of dream that plays on in my head only half-remembered. Still, the doves coo and circle through the pines asContinue reading “Simplicity”
The Bread of Life
John 6:24-36 Hungry and desperate, the people press in on Jesus from all sides. I have a bread, Jesus tells them, that will always fill you up and satisfy you. Their mind hovers on these words: I have a bread that will fill you up. After all, this is a people, who know what itContinue reading “The Bread of Life”
Joy of the Journey 