Two or three times on Facebook today I saw a picture posted of an engraved quote at the FDR Memorial in Washington DC. It reads, The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have little….
For a long time now, the comma has been an important symbol for the United Church of Christ. You have to love a denomination that finds metaphor in punctuation. The idea started with the “God Is Still Speaking” campaign that played off of a Gracie Allen quote—“Never put a period where God has placed a…
One of the records that has been in heavy rotation at our house is Fifteen by The Wailin’ Jennys. (There are so many anachronisms in that sentence.) It is a record of cover songs, and specifically songs about grief and sorrow. They have the awesome audacity to sing Emmylou Harris’ “Boulder to Birmingham,” Warren Zevon’s…
As Advent begins, I wonder how Christ can be born again in our time and in our culture. Yet Luke starts his story by noting that Quirinius was governor of Syria, and he made Mary and Joseph go to Bethlehem because Augustus declared a change in the tax plan. They were surrounded by wars and…
“From This Window . . .” A Sermon for Westbrook Congregational Church UCC Genesis 22:1-14 September 17, 2017 I was a high school English teacher for a number of years. When I had to be out of the classroom, I tried to leave lesson plans for the substitute that were easy to implement. I was…
Though I preached this sermon only a couple of days ago, the events of the week have continued to unfold. Rather than try to update it, I will let it stand as its own little time capsule, even as I continue to figure out how to respond to what is happening around us. “Two Questions”…
I am a few days late posting my sermon from last Sunday, but here it is. “A Forgiving Air” Genesis 32: 3-12, 22-32 A Sermon for The United Churches of Durham, Connecticut August 6, 2017 To say their relationship was difficult would be an understatement. Jacob, the younger brother, had cheated Esau out of the…
“You’ve Got to Carry That Weight” Matthew 10:37-42 A Sermon for First Church or Christ, Congregational East Haddam, Connecticut July 2, 2017 When it comes to the stories of our faith, there’s not a Sunday that goes by that we don’t start in the middle of something. Our passage for this morning is a good…
I’m taking a break from miracles this week and posting, instead, the manuscript of the sermon I preached Sunday at North Haven Congregational Church in North Haven Connecticut. I hope you find something here that speaks to you. “No Easy Way Out” Genesis 21:8-21, Matthew 10:24-39 We have sparrows in our barn. Behind our house…
I know. It’s Tuesday. Suffice it to say there has been a lot going on. I’m still looking at sight and the way Jesus healed blind people. Bruce Corley was one of my New Testament professors in seminary. I loved his classes. He began our discussion of Jesus’ miracles by saying we should read them…