Tag: love

Feeling it

Feeling it (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 22:34-40
October 26, 2014

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.

Two weeks ago, we talked about loving God with all your mind, following the lead of the Presbyterians.  We talked about the importance of using our minds, of thinking clearly, of doing Bible study: not just winging it, not just making it up as we go along, not just following our gut, not just doing what we’ve always done because we’ve always done it that way, but listening to God, paying attention to God’s word, becoming smart about our faith, becoming capable critics both of culture and of religion, becoming wise enough to discern between what is genuine and what is false, between what comes from God and what is just so much hogwash.… Continue reading ...

Fear not!

Fear not! (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
John 12:12-15
November 30, 2014

Last Monday evening, St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCullough announced the decision of the grand jury: Officer Darren Wilson would not be indicted in the shooting death of Michael Brown.  And then, on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, all hell broke loose.

Now the story is about broken windows and burned-out buildings and National Guard troops. … Continue reading ...

Love is eternal

Love is eternal (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
1 Corinthians 13:8-10
February 19, 2017

Love is eternal …

This next Saturday afternoon, Erin Brock and Josh Medhus will be married in our sanctuary.  Bob and Pat, Erin’s parents, will be there.  Terry and Lorna, Josh’s parents will be there.  Lynne and I will be there.  But Erin so wishes that her grandpa, Harold Brock, was still living and could be there, too, to share this special moment with her. … Continue reading ...

Love never gives up

Love never gives up (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 9:32-38
February 12, 2017

Give up.

You’re tired.  You deserve a break.  Give up.

You’ve done all you could, more than your share.  Give up.

The emotional cost is too high.  It’s not worth it.  Give up.

Some things can’t be fixed.  Some people don’t want to be helped. … 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 ...

What is left unsaid

What is left unsaid Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 53:7-9
March 29, 2015

Words.  Lots of words.

Praise God!
God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord!
God bless the king of Israel!

Look!  The whole world is following him!
There’s no stopping him.
What are you going to do?

Crucify him!  Crucify him!… Continue reading ...

Again … joy

Again … joy (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 53:10-12
April 5, 2015

How does it all begin?

With a dance …

Out of nothing, out of an empty, shapeless, lifeless void, God sets the universe dancing.  Atoms of hydrogen and helium excite and collide and combust, dancing into flame, dancing into light, swirling, congealing, taking shape as stars, dancing stars!… Continue reading ...

Exasperated

Exasperated (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Mark 6:53 – 7:13
August 30, 2015

I am exasperated!  Do you want to know why?  OK, I’ll tell you why!

Some Pharisees and teachers of the Law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus …

From Jerusalem.  These guys had come a long way!  It’s a hundred-mile trip from Jerusalem to Gennesaret. … Continue reading ...

You are not far

You are not far (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Mark 12:28-34
November 1, 2015

You are not far from the kingdom of God.

How I wish it were true!  But we seem far, so very far from that day.  So very far from the day when wolves and sheep live together in peace.  So very far from the day when swords are hammered into plows. … Continue reading ...

The Lord will take delight in you

The Lord will take delight in you (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Zephaniah 3:14-20
December 13, 2015

You can’t see his face.  Oh, yes, you can see his face, the face he presents to you, and it is a pleasant enough face: smooth skin and kind eyes and a ready smile.  He smiles whenever he sees you and asks how you are doing and keeps his focus on you as you answer.… Continue reading ...