And shared our common lot

and shared our common lot
Matthew 25:31-46
April 2, 2017

Where was Jesus?  Eighty-some generations ago, when Jesus lived and worked in Palestine, where would you find him?

You would find him sitting by a well, starting up a conversation with a woman, a Samaritan woman, crossing ethnic and gender boundaries to ask from her a drink of water, and to offer her a drink of living water.… Continue reading ...

Faithless servants

Faithless servants (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 24:36-51
April 6, 2014

I want to begin where I ended last Sunday, talking about witness, because that’s what this is all about … witness.

We are the body of Christ in this world.  We are Christ in this world.  When the people of this world look at us, what do they see? … Continue reading ...

May the Lord spare you an untested faith

May the Lord spare you an untested faith (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Genesis 22:1-14
June 29, 2014

Some time later God tested Abraham …

God tested Abraham?  Why?  Hasn’t he been tested enough already?

Asked to leave home, family, everything that was familiar, to go to a new land that God would show him …

Made a promise of many descendants, but waiting and waiting, waiting until he was a very old man before Isaac, the son of the promise, was born …

Already having to give up one son, already losing Ishmael …

Why test Abraham again?… Continue reading ...

The marks of a great nation

The marks of a great nation (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Jeremiah 31:7-14
January 4, 2015

Sing with joy for Israel, the greatest of the nations …

Do you have a problem with that?  Do you have a problem with calling Israel the greatest of the nations?  Does it seem to you … presumptuous?  Chauvinistic?  Prideful?  Does this claim by a Hebrew prophet about his own nation make you uncomfortable?… Continue reading ...

My servant

My servant (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 52:13
February 22, 2015

I am angry, and I am frightened.

I am frightened by ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.  You know about the horrible scene on the beach in Libya, where members of ISIS beheaded twenty-one Egyptian Christians.  It is appalling, revolting, unbearable, unwatchable.  I refuse to watch the video and I quickly swipe past every time a story or photo of the event comes up on the news apps on my phone. … Continue reading ...

Who could have seen the Lord’s hand in this?

Who could have seen the Lord’s hand in this? (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 53:1-3
March 8, 2015

We limit not the truth of God to our poor reach of mind,
to notions of our day and place, crude, partial, and confined;
No, let a new and better hope within our hearts be stirred:
O God, grant yet more light and truth to break forth from your Word.Continue reading ...

It’s not fair

It’s not fair (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 53:6
March 22, 2015

Life isn’t fair.

The University of Northern Iowa Panther men’s basketball team had a better won/loss record than Iowa State, a higher national ranking, and fared equally well against two common opponents, and yet the NCAA selection committee awarded Iowa State a “No. 3” seed and UNI a “No.… Continue reading ...

Ordinary servants

Ordinary servants (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Luke 17:5-10
October 2, 2016

I want you to focus your minds.  I want you to put aside all distractions.  I want you to summon all your strength, all your willpower, all your determination.  I want you to pour your heart and soul into this, and I want you to strive … to be ordinary!… Continue reading ...