Jesus’ baptism is one of the most intriguing stories in the Gospels, not because it underlines the institutional rite but because of the way it validates our humanity. Here’s my sermon from last Sunday. ___________________________ A little over three hundred years after Jesus walked the earth (and Matthew and the others wrote down the gospel…
I spent the week wondering if the magi ever knew what their visit had helped to set in motion on a couple of fronts, which led me to this sermon. ______________________________ When I was in high school I had an after school job working as a gofer—all errands all the time—in a doctor’s office. It…
The magi came a week early at our church so we could look at the second half of the story (what happened after they left) sequentially, which means we get a clear look at the way Matthew framed the birth of Jesus–and it’s a tough picture. On our calendar, the travelers always arrive at the…
This last Sunday of Advent leans into Christmas at our church since many folks will not be around Christmas Eve. This morning we looked at Matthew’s telling of Joseph’s side of the experience, brief as it is. I closed our service with my last Advent carol, “Knock Again.” ________________________ When I read the brevity of…
quenched disorder I’d never seen those words beside each other until I read the phrase and the definition “the right level of randomness to explore the adjacent possible” let’s go back to quenching and the randomness I keep seeing little fires having to be put out and those little fires keep us paying attention the…
Our in-person worship got snowed out today, but I was able to record from home, so this sermon got to be more than just a manuscript. Joy is the theme of the third Sunday in Advent, and the scripture was Mary’s response to her surprising circumstance. Here’s where it took me. ___________________________ Of all the…
ice the rain came late this afternoon actually more of a drizzle or mist just enough to coat the streets before the temperature drops below freezing which means we will wake to a coating of ice that will impair our travel and leave some of us stranded or feeling fearful I wonder if it was…
Tonight’s post is a video, since I have spent a good part of the afternoon and evening working on a music video which will be released on the streaming services on my birthday, Friday, December 12. I am posting here for you, and you can also find in on YouTube, if you would like to…
brain freeze I have spent all day trying to get warm it has felt as though the freeze was coming from inside my bones and working its way through my skin to join the frigid air that has surrounded me like a custom suit no snow or ice just freezing cold there is probably something…
This week’s sermon is built around Matthew’s description of John the Baptist, but I wandered a bit through the Christmas story to get to him and ended up thinking about what it takes to exact significant change in our lives. _______________________________ When we read Matthew’s description of John the Baptist and the things he said…