Tag: church

Grace

Grace (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Ephesians 2:4-10
April 8, 2018

Craig Driver, Jo Tefft, Leah Reisinger, Steve Peters.  This is who we are, the people gathered in this particular room at this particular hour, each of us bringing our own stories: stories of finding our way, some of us having an easier time of it, some of us a harder time; stories of making a living and making a life, of falling down and rising up, of gaining and of losing; stories of leaving our mark and of being marked by the people who come into our lives.… Continue reading ...

The church’s one foundation

The church’s one foundation (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Mark 8:27-29, 1 Corinthians 3:9-17
February 11, 2018

I am going to read the scripture lesson once more, and I want you to listen carefully, because there will be a quiz!  You may follow along if you would like on page 1372 in the Good News Bible, because this will be an open book quiz!… Continue reading ...

I don’t know

I don’t know (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Ecclesiastes 6:1-12
October 15, 2017

As of July 1 next summer, my life’s journey will take me into unknown territory.  I have never been retired before.  Some of you are retired and you’ve told me it’s a good thing, but I’ve never experienced it for myself.

My whole life has been impelled by clear duties: obey my parents, do well in school, do well at my job, and my identity and sense of self-worth have come in large part from fulfilling those duties. … Continue reading ...

Open the doors!

Open the doors! (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 49:1-6, John 1:29-42
January 19, 2014

Here we are.  It’s a Sunday morning and we’re in church.  I have chosen to come here this morning and you have chosen to come here this morning.

Do you come here because you want to feel safe?  Because you want to come to a place where you can be yourself without fear of being judged or laughed at or belittled? … Continue reading ...

What’s next?

What’s next? (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
1 Peter 1:1-9
April 27, 2014

But what comes next?

It was an exhilarating, exhausting, excruciating, and euphoric week.  Not this week, but the preceding week, the week that began on Palm Sunday and ended on Easter Sunday.  If you paid close attention, if you followed Jesus every step of the way, if you opened your eyes and your ears to the horrors of what was done to him and the wonders of what was done by him, you were surely left limp, physically spent, emotionally drained. … Continue reading ...

And …

And … (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
1 Peter 1:17-23
May 4, 2014

This is Christ’s gracious offer, not continuation, but transformation.

What’s the difference?

This is Christ’s gracious offer, not resuscitation, but resurrection.

What’s the difference?

What would it mean for you?  To be transformed?  To be resurrected?  Not merely extending or stretching out your life as it is, but transforming your life, changing it, setting it in a new direction, filling it with new vitality, giving you a new life, giving you eternal life? … Continue reading ...

Leaving jealousy behind

Leaving jealousy behind (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Romans 13:8-14
September 7, 2014

In seventeen days, on September 24, our church will celebrate its 158th anniversary.  Our congregation has a long history in Waterloo, virtually as long as the history of the town itself.  It is your church, it is our church, but it is a church we have inherited, with a long-established tradition of worship and ministry and mission in Waterloo and the Cedar Valley.… Continue reading ...

Finding your own way

Finding your own way (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 23:1-12
November 2, 2014

Tuesday is election day.  Did you know that?  How did you know?  You haven’t received any flyers in the mail or seen any political ads on TV, have you?

$60,000,000 has been spent on a single race in Iowa, the contest between Bruce Braley and Joni Ernst for the senate seat vacated by Tom Harkin. … Continue reading ...

πληρωμα

πληρωμα (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Ephesians 1:15-23
November 23, 2014

The church is Christ’s body,
το πληρωμα του τα παντα εν πασιν πληρουμενου.

The church is Christ’s body.  Christ is our head; we are his body.  God put all things — all things! — under Christ’s feet, and then gave him to the church.  So Jesus Christ is present … in the church.… Continue reading ...

Meanwhile

Meanwhile (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 40:3-5
January 18, 2015

I pray … a lot.

I pray for my children and my grandchildren, for my mother and for Lynne’s mother, and for Lynne.

I pray for this church — for energy, for passion, for spirit, for the strong presence of God’s spirit in us and among us. … Continue reading ...