Down by the riverside I laid my burdens down and I'm travelin' light
Posted in Sermon Notes on Jun 5th, 2016
Ambition through the Lens of the Cross Mark 11: 7-11, NRSV Philippians 2: 3-11, NRSV Reflections Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less. — Attributed to C.S. Lewis Don’t be overly ambitious, especially coming from pride Selfish ambition Enemy of Ambition Selfish – always sizing others and compare […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Jun 4th, 2016
Identity Through the Lens of the Cross Mark 15:21, NRSV Galatians 2:20, NRSV Reflections If the cross points us to a God whose most essential characteristic is love, then our new identities are bound up in that same God — we are to be re-made around love, re-defined as those called to a life of […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Mar 4th, 2016
Power Through the Lens of the Cross Luke 23:3-4; 23-25, NRSV 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, NRSV Reflections When grace is pierced, it bleeds pardon. When grace is crucified, it doesn’t condemn. Crucified grace is even cognizant of how nearly impossible it is for sinful persecutors to act otherwise. Those who seek to imitate this kind of […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Feb 28th, 2016
The Cross And Evil: Jesus and His Cry of Abandonment Psalm 22:1-2; 23-24, NRSV Mark 15:33-34, NRSV Reflections ON a Thursday morning a few months ago, I got a call from my doctor’s assistant telling me that I have Stage 4 cancer. The stomach cramps I was suffering from were not caused by a faulty […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Feb 19th, 2016
The Cross and Wisdom Isaiah 29:13-14, NRSV 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, NRSV Reflections In terms of human wisdom, Jesus was a perfect fool. And if you think you can follow him without making something like the same kind of fool of yourself, you are laboring not under the cross, but a delusion. — Frederick Buechner We […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Feb 19th, 2016
Jesus is what God has to say Mark 9:2-9, NRSV Reflections Jesus is the true and living Word of God. Jesus is what the Law and Prophets point toward and bow to. Jesus is what the Old Testament was trying to say, but could never fully articulate. Jesus is the perfect Word of God in […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Feb 19th, 2016
King Herod: Fear, Faith, and Doubt Mark 6:14-29, NRSV Reflections For many people, the opposite of faith is doubt. The goal, then, within this understanding, is to eliminate doubt. But faith and doubt aren’t opposites. Doubt is often a sign that your faith has a pulse, that you’re owning your path, engaged, thinking, feeling, that […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Feb 14th, 2016
Jesus: Healing with Resurrection Power Mark 5:21-43, NRSV Psalm 131, NRSV Reflections Just as Jesus wasn’t coming to be a one-man liberation movement in the traditional revolutionary sense, so he wasn’t coming to be a one-man emergency medical centre. He was indeed starting a revolution, and he was indeed bringing God’s healing power, but his […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Feb 14th, 2016
The Parable of the Sower Mark 4:1-20, NRSV Psalm 126, NRSV Reflections One of the best-kept secrets, and yet one hidden in plain sight, is that the way up is the way down. Or, if you prefer, the way down is the way up. This pattern is obvious in all of nature, from the very […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Feb 14th, 2016
Putting New Wine into New Wineskins Mark 2:1-22, NRSV Psalm 103:6-14, NRSV Reflections If Christ is the answer, what are the real questions? Does God speak my language? How can we live out and share the gospel without domesticating the new wine? — Harvie Conn,Evangelism: Doing Justice and Preaching Grace Period of Epiphany Baptism of […]
Traveling Light Relay
Down by the riverside I laid my burdens down and I'm travelin' light