Category: Matthew

When he comes, what will he do?

When he comes, what will he do?
Matthew 21:33-46
October 4, 2020

It’s all gift, all of it:

the vista from the ledges on the brow of Blue Hill, stretching from the mountains of Acadia across Blue Hill Bay and Penobscot Bay to the Camden Hills,

the brightly-colored leaves — orange and yellow and red — providing a last visual treat before long months of chill and darkness,

the fire that sparks and crackles, taking the edge off the chill and intimating deep mysteries of the universe in its dancing flames.… Continue reading ...

A public witness

A public witness (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 10:32-33
June 25, 2017

Bay of St Columba

In the Bay of St Columba on the Isle of Iona,
The stones remember Columba and the monks
Who followed him in trust to work and pray.
With the constant arrival and exit of cold salty waves, 
Which daily invade the beach and flee back out to sea,
Smoothed rocks covering the sand sing and chant,

    “Where have you gone, dear friend?… Continue reading ...

Making disciples

Making disciples (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 28:16-20
June 11, 2017

What do you know about Moldova?

(To play the video, go to link: https://sermons.believersjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/MoldovaSunday.mp4)

Now what do you know about Moldova?

Moldova is a little over half the size of Iowa, with about the same number of people.  It’s capital Chişinau is the size of Des Moines. … Continue reading ...

And reconciling the world to yourself

And reconciling the world to yourself (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 28:16-20
April 16, 2017

Irreconcilable differences. That is grounds for divorce in Iowa, the only grounds for divorce in Iowa. Irreconcilable differences. A relationship grown so divided, so distant, so broken, that it cannot be saved, that the partners cannot be reconciled. Irreconcilable differences. It is now the catch-all term for any number of factors contributing to the degradation of the relationship.… Continue reading ...

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 ...

You have come to us

you have come to us (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 21:33-43
March 26, 2017

Great God of Earth and Heaven
(New Century Hymnal, #579)

Great God of earth and heaven whose Spirit is our breath,
at Christmastime born human, at Easter shared our death …

“Great God of earth and heaven.”  Creator, sustainer, provider.  Holy.

Great God of earth and heaven. … Continue reading ...

Our crucified and risen Savior

Our crucified and risen Savior (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 16:21-26
March 19, 2017

If any of you want to come with me,
you must forget yourself, carry your cross,
and follow me. 
For if you want to save your own life,
you will lose it;
but if you lose your life for my sake,
you will find it.… Continue reading ...

My own dear son

My own dear son (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 3:13-17
January 12, 2014

This is my own dear son …

God loved the world so much that he gave …

that he gave the world his own dear son.

This is my own dear son …

That’s what we remember, that’s what we proclaim, during these seasons of Christmas and now Epiphany, that God gave to us his own dear son. … Continue reading ...

A dangerous God

A dangerous God (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 9:1-4, Matthew 4:12-17
January 26, 2014

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.  (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)

“Seven out of ten people live in countries where economic inequality has increased in the last thirty years.”

Does it matter?

In our own country, we like to talk about the  current economic recovery, but ninety-five percent of the growth in wealth since the 2008 financial crisis has gone to the wealthiest one-percent of Americans, while, during that same period, the bottom ninety percent of the population has become poorer.… Continue reading ...

The man of Nazareth

the man of Nazareth (Click
on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 15:21-28
March 12, 2017

I am not the same person I was 22 1/2 years ago.  Are you?  I’m not the same minister I was 22 1/2 years ago.  I have changed, significantly, since I have been here among you.  I don’t think in the same way. … Continue reading ...