Tag: relationship

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 ...

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 ...

Your kingdom come

Your kingdom come (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Isaiah 58:1-9
February 9, 2014

All too often we are simply not on the same page — us and God.  You think?

But I am not now thinking primarily of “us” in the general sense, of humanity as a whole going its own merry way, in spite of God or even to spite God. … 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 ...

Today is the day!

Today is the day! (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
2 Corinthians 6:1-2
June 21, 2015

Life goes on.  Life goes on and we settle into a rhythm.  A daily rhythm, a weekly rhythm, a rhythm of seasons and of years.  A rhythm of sleeping and waking, eating and exercising, working and playing, spending time alone and spending time with others. … Continue reading ...

Open the gate!

Open the gate! (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Luke 16:19-31
September 25, 2016

Audio excerpt from Clarence Jordan, “The Rich Man and Lazarus”

(http://www.believersjournal.org/sermons/wp-content/uploads/ClarenceJordan.mov)

πλουσιος (plousios) and πτωχος (ptochos) … rich man and beggar … one they party with and one they spit on … one clothed in the finest fabrics and latest styles and one clothed in sores … one feasting sumptuously — sumptuously!… Continue reading ...