Sermons & Newsletter Articles

Waiting for Sainthood

Year B Wisdom 3:1-9 Psalm 146 Revelation 21:1-6a John 11:32-44 May the words of my mouth O God…  speak your truth… I only recently became aware of something called a “mash-up”…  but apparently they’ve been around for a long time…  friends of ours invited Joel and me over to see a movie that only someone with a vivid...

Slowing Down the Rush to Christmas

A Seven-Week Advent Redux When I was growing up, there were certain things you just couldn’t buy on Sunday. Entire sections of department stores were simply roped off, and retailers respected the rhythms (and boundaries) of the religious and secular holiday seasons. We didn’t see Christmas displays or hear Christmas music or notice any...

Always Being Made New

Year B Jeremiah 31:31-34 Psalm 46 Romans 3:19-28 John 8:31-36 May the words of my mouth O God…  speak your truth… The Protestant Reformation is said to have begun when German monk Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses onto the door of the Wittenberg Church on October 31, 1517…  and the sound of that...

Seeing Fully

Year B Jeremiah 31:7-9 Psalm 126 Hebrews 7:23-28 Mark 10:46-52 May the words of my mouth O God…  speak your truth… Do you remember in English class…  ever having to do an assignment called Compare and Contrast…  where you’d take two paragraphs…  or poems…  or novels…  and describe how they’re similar…  but also how...

The Greatest or Least

Year B Isaiah 53:4-12 Psalm 91:9-16 Hebrews 5:1-10 Mark 10:35-45 May the words of my mouth O God…  speak your truth… Michael Hegeman…  who is the Preaching Professor at Princeton Theological Seminary…  wrote…  that scripture itself…  is God’s divine condescension to human language…  and human capacity…  to know more about the mysteries of God…  when we speak of...