sermon preached at Monroe Free Methodist church on Feb 9, 2020 How often do we think of our faith as being a private practice, a personal relationship between me and God? Certainly personal practices are essential to our spiritual formation, our growing up to look like Jesus, but that’s not all there is. In fact, […]
Hearing & Seeing God’s Way
The Beatitudes are one of the best-known teachings of Jesus. On one hand I think that is a very good thing; obviously these are crucial statements. BUT the problem of being so familiar with these words is that they often fall on deaf ears. One of Kevin’s mom’s favorite anecdotes kind of gets at the […]
Life After Baptism
sermon preached January 12, 2020 Today is the Sunday of the Baptism of Jesus, a pivotal moment for the work God was doing in the world. In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus demonstrates what his mission is all about: humility and submission, allowing himself to be baptized by John. Then, the fullness of Jesus’ identity is […]
Transformed Together
Here we are at the fourth Sunday of Advent. The waiting and anticipation, the quietness and candle-lighting is leading up to the moment of the Nativity. On Christmas Eve we will gather to “let every heart prepare him room!” All of our songs and Scriptures and candles will help us hold vigil outside of Mary’s […]
How to Stay Awake
“Does Advent even matter when the world is on fire?” The title of this article really grabbed my attention earlier this week. I wasn’t sure where the author, Sarah Bessey, was going, but I thought, “She’s got a point, doesn’t she?” I mean, who do we think we are going about lighting our candles and […]
Are you willing to be filled with THIS Holy Spirit?
So when we read this prophecy from Joel 2, I think it’s easy for us to read it about ourselves. I want each of us to stop and think of situations in our lives that feel desperate, where there is ruin or devastation. Maybe it’s in our personal lives. Maybe it’s as a church. I […]
Demolishing Dividing Walls
Last week we read from Luke 13, one of the many accounts of Jesus breaking the “rules” and stepping all over cultural expectations. In that passage Jesus was brazen enough to heal on the Sabbath. The Synagogue (church) leader was outraged at Jesus’ disrespect for one of the Ten Commandments. But I wonder if the […]
Nourishing Fruit
Was it just me or did anyone else feel some incredible discomfort in hearing the lectionary passages this morning? Psalm 52’s “Judgment on the Deceitful,” Amos’s condemning prophecy against those who give little and take much, the weighty responsibility of Colossians 1, the awkwardness of Martha complaining to Jesus in Luke 10? Sometimes it’s easier […]
God Loves to Throw Parties
Most of us don’t set out each day with “ill intentions.” We certainly don’t intend to harm other people and we’re not intentionally trying to walk a few steps farther away from Jesus. But the thing of it is, we’re actually really skilled at managing our image so it appears we’re doing just fine. In […]
God With Us
For the 7 weeks since Resurrection Sunday, we have been aligning ourselves with the Spirit Empowered Stream of Christian Tradition, seeking the power of the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. We cling to the message Jesus gave to his disciples as he predicted his ascension back to the right Hand of His […]