Are you an “Early Adopter?” It’s a term that describes someone who is one of the first to buy and try some new piece of technology. Early Adopters are the first customers. They are always eager and willing to try new things, especially new gadgets. On a bell-curve of who buys a new tech gadget, first there are the Innovators, the people who create and market the items. Then come the Early Adopters, the first people in town to own one. If you have a “Smart speaker” like an Amazon Alexa … [Read more...]
Found when lost – Sermon for Lent 4
*Audio can be found at the bottom of the page* “We had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.” – Luke 15:32 There is something reassuring about old familiar stories: they are like the old family recipe that has been passed down for generations – warm cookies, cake with that special family ingredient. They are comfortable, they often bring warm memories to mind. Our story from the Gospel of Luke this morning … [Read more...]
Repent and Live – Sermon for Lent 3
*Audio Available at the bottom of the page* During the season of Lent we rightly focus on repentance and the call for us to confess our sins and such. It is a season of prayer and fasting, a season where we can assess our lives of faith and discipleship, determine where we are lacking and areas where we need to grow – on Ash Wednesday we are encouraged to observe a holy lent, by self-examination, penitence, prayer, fasting and almsgiving and meditating on the word of God. Repentance … [Read more...]
Who do you love? – Sermon for February 24th
*Audio available at bottom of the page* “But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.” ~ Luke 6:27 If there was ever a time for us to hear Jesus’ words in the passage, we heard this morning from the Gospel of Luke it is now. Like no time in our lifetime, or at least my lifetime, has our society been so fractured and divided. We need only look at the complete polarization of the political landscapes across the globe: the rise of Trumpism in the US, the … [Read more...]
Dearly Beloved – Sermon for Baptism of Christ 2019
*Audio available at the bottom of the page* "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." - Luke 3:22 Whenever we baptize someone these days, it often becomes a pretty big deal – perhaps it’s because we don’t baptize as often as we used to or because we love a big spectacle, but it seems that more and more the baptism of a child has become an event. Everyone gets dressed in their finest clothes (the child is often in a fancy dress or suit), family from all over are invited … [Read more...]
What is faith? – Sermon on Habakkuk
What is faith? What does it look like to have faith? Is faith a matter of trust, or belief, or hope, or choice? I bet that if we took a survey of the sanctuary today – we’d probably come up with at least a dozen different definitions and understandings of faith, and they probably all wouldn’t agree with one another. Even though it’s kind of our thing, faith is a complex word and idea to define. How do we explain something that is on the one hand a gift and on the other a choice that we … [Read more...]
Return to Me: Sermon on Hosea
“Return, Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall!” – Hosea 14:1 As a father of two young girls who love books, and love to be read to – I read a lot. Bedtime, morning, afternoon, you name the time and there is a good chance a book is being read in the house. There are undoubtedly a lot of cringe-worthy books in publication (books I eventually need to hide for my own sanity), and there are a lot of cute or funny books that we love to read, but it really is remarkable how … [Read more...]
Sermon for Pentecost 18 – Mark 9:30-37
In Round 1 of this year’s World Cup, Spain and Portugal played to a 3-3 draw. The game was one of the most entertaining of the whole tournament. One highlight was Portugal’s superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo, scoring all three of his team’s goals. His third goal was the most impressive, tying the game in the final few minutes by just clearing the wall of Spanish defenders before tucking under the crossbar out of reach of the Spanish keeper. But it was the celebration after his first goal that … [Read more...]
Just a Fool – Sermon for Holy Cross Day
“For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” – 1 Corinthians 1:18 Today we are celebrating the feast of the Holy Cross, a day that is linked to the dedication of the Church Constantine dedicated, purportedly on the site where Jesus had been crucified 300 years before, and where according to legend Helena (Constantine’s mother), had discovered a piece of the true Cross during the excavation of the church, the … [Read more...]
Working Faith – Sermon on James 2
My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? – James 2:1 There was once a seminarian who conducted an experiment. The seminarian wondered what the Bible would look and sound like if he took out every single text regarding ‘the poor’ in the whole Bible. The seminarian set about his task, and as Jim Wallis describes in his book God’s Politics, it took the seminarian a very long time. Barely a book of the Bible went by where … [Read more...]
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