Down by the riverside I laid my burdens down and I'm travelin' light
Posted in Sermon Notes on Jan 25th, 2011
The Light Has Dawned Matthew 4:12-23, NRSV Reflections The ants know the formula for their ant heap; the bee knows the formula for his hive (they may not know it in human terms, but they know it in their own way and it is enough); human do not know their formula.— Fyodor DostoyevskyA Writer’s Diary: […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Jan 19th, 2011
Called to Community Matthew 5:21-24, NRSV Reflections Typically an American today would say “I want to be spiritual but I don’t want to be religious” and what they mean by that is that “I want to have a personal experience of divine reality but I don’t want to have to deal with other people, I […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Jan 3rd, 2011
An Epiphany for a Watching World Matthew 2:1-12, NRSV Reflections It’s not just the saints and poets who ‘realize life’ while they live it. It is anyone who wants to see God. A God who does not go into hiding. A God for whom the game of hide and seek has to do with us […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Nov 6th, 2010
Confession and Assurance Psalm 51, NRSV Reflections Repentance is not a popular word these days, but I believe that any of us recognize it when it strikes us in the gut. Repentance is coming to our senses, seeing, suddenly, what we’ve done that we might not have done, or recognizing…that the problem is not in […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Oct 24th, 2010
Finding Faith Luke 17:11-19, NRSV Reflections When Christians affirm, as they do, that Jesus is the way, the true and living way by whom we come to the Father (John 16:4), they are not claiming to know everything. They are claiming to be on the way, and inviting others to join them as they press […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Oct 8th, 2010
The Gentleness of Jesus John 8:2-11, NRSV Reflections In the person of Christ do meet together infinite majesty and infinite meekness. These are two qualifications that meet together in no other person but Christ. It is he that is terrible out of his holy place; who is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Sep 29th, 2010
Flourishing Colossians 1:1-14, NRSV Reflections Fruitfulness is an image of overflowing abundance growing out of generosity – a generosity of heart as well as possessions. It is a community forming itself around Jesus, refusing to let enemies be enemies and debtors be debtors.— Brian Walsh and Sylvia Keesmaat Flourishing: bearing fruits “When you don’t have […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Sep 29th, 2010
Creating a Culture of Grace Luke 6:37-42, NRSV Reflections Not long ago, I was asked by a college student how I could stand to go to church, how I could stand the hypocrisy of Christians. I had one of my rare inspirations, when I know the right thing to say, and I replied, “The only […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Sep 28th, 2010
The Primacy of Community John 17:1-3, 20-26, NRSV Reflections Love cannot exist in isolation: away from others, love bloats into pride. Grace cannot be received privately: cut off from others, it is perverted into greed. Hope cannot develop in solitude: separated from the community, it goes to seed in the form of fantasies. No gift, […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Sep 8th, 2010
Seeking the Shalom of the City Jeremiah 29:4-14, NRSV Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and […]
Traveling Light Relay
Down by the riverside I laid my burdens down and I'm travelin' light