Down by the riverside I laid my burdens down and I'm travelin' light
Posted in Sermon Notes on Jul 31st, 2022
Longer Tables, Shorter Walls: The Fuel of Inclusion: Compassion Matthew 9:35 – 10:23, NRSVUE Reflections If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are (people) who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Jul 10th, 2022
Longer Tables, Shorter Walls: Every Imperfection Belongs Acts 15:36-41, NRSVUE Reflections Mark stands between Barnabas and Paul, each reading Mark from a different and completely true angle. These perspectives on Mark could not be reconciled and neither could Paul and Barnabas. There is no tragedy here, simply the truth that the risks of ministry are […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Jul 3rd, 2022
Longer Tables, Shorter Walls: Every Gentile Belongs Acts 15:1-21, NRSVUE Reflections So let us repent of pretending to decide who is “truly” the people of God and who is not, of a politics of construction and policing mythological borders of peoplehood between ourselves and others who remember the God of Israel as their own. Such […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Jun 26th, 2022
Longer Tables, Shorter Walls: Difference Belongs Isaiah 56:3-5, Acts 8:26-28, NRSVUE Reflections According to the law, a eunuch is excluded from the assembly. The law is very clear on that point. As a Jew, Philip should have viewed the eunuch as “damaged goods” and refused to baptize him on that basis. If Philip baptizes the […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Jun 19th, 2022
Longer Tables, Shorter Walls: The Poor Belong Acts 6:1-7, NRSVUE Reflections If my sister or brother is not at the table, we are not the flesh of Christ. If my sister’s mark of sexuality must be obscured, if my brother’s mark of race must be disguised, if my sister’s mark of culture must be repressed, […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Jun 12th, 2022
Longer Tables, Shorter Walls: Every Body Belongs John 10:1-11, Acts 2:42-47, Acts 3:1-7 NRSVUE Reflections The idea that our bodies don’t matter to God is a lovely idea that comes from a warm place with a cozy blanket, but it is not true. To be sure, I am a beloved child of God, but it […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Jun 5th, 2022
Longer Tables, Shorter Walls: All Nations Belong Acts 2:1-13, NRSV Reflections The disciples speak, and God accomplishes an intercultural miracle in which everyone hears the words in their own native language. God broke boundaries of culture and region in an intimate way by meeting people through the intimacy of their own home language. This is […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on May 29th, 2022
Vignettes of Hope: New Hope (In the Midst of Chains) Acts 16:16-34, NRSV Reflections The United States now has the highest rate of incarceration in the world, dwarfing the rates of nearly every developed country, even surpassing those in highly repressive regimes like Russia, China, and Iran. In Germany, 93 people are in prison for […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on May 22nd, 2022
Vignettes of Hope: New Access Acts 16:9-15, NRSV Reflections A lot of people suggest that the Millennials and Gen Z have given up on traditional religion. I do not think that is accurate. I believe they are doing what most generations have done in their 20s and 30s – taking a break from organized religion. […]
Posted in Sermon Notes on May 15th, 2022
Vignettes of Hope: New Experience Acts 11:1-18, NRSV Reflections Theologically and objectively speaking, we are created in union with God from the beginning (e.g., Ephesians 1:3-9). But it is hard for us to believe or experience this without a healthy ego and boundaries. Thus, the first part of the spiritual journey is about externals, formulas, […]
Traveling Light Relay
Down by the riverside I laid my burdens down and I'm travelin' light