It’s Time to Start Over . . . a sermon planned for the Palisades Community Church on January 13, 2019 but unable to be given due to snow. Begin by reading Mark 1:9-11 Anyone here on the second Sunday of January already in need of a new start? You thought you’d stop eating so many …
Sermons
Manuscripts of sermons preached
Where Do You Belong?
Where do you belong? To whom to you belong? I’ve been thinking about this a lot this week realizing that . . . Most of our definitions of what it means to belong comes with constraints like rules and regulations. If you want to belong to a gym, you’ve got to pay a monthly fee …
It’s Time to Wake Up
It’s Time to Wake Up . . my first sermon preached at The Palisades Community Church on Romans 13:11-14 There’s something about the pace of the summer that gives us all an excuse to slow down. We disappear at our favorite vacation spot for as long as our budge allows. We don’t answer emails right …
Why Do I Need to Talk to People I Disagree With?
Do I really need to talk to people I disagree with? It’s been a couple of weeks but today, I want to offer another installment of “How do we live in these days?” If you missed the last post about privilege, you can read it here. I’ve been thinking a lot this week about how …
Advent’s Peace: It’s Not What We Expect
Here we are: Advent week #2. Lighting the candle of peace each day. Though it’s the time of year that we sing “Let there be peace on earth.” Though it’s the time of the year when we hear Amy Grant singing about her wish for “No more lives torn apart. And wars would never start.” …
Be the One Who Says Thank You
There are two words that are never going out of style in the English language. THANK YOU. But we aren’t a culture that is really very good at thank you’s are we? How often are feelings hurt because someone forgot to say it, One of my favorite gospel stories on the topic of saying “Thank …
Do You Hear the Saints?
A sermon preached to celebrate All Saints Day on Hebrews 11:29-12:2 at the Federated Church, Weatherford, OK I shocked my family when in the 7th grade I informed them one evening after supper that I was going to try out for he girls’ basketball team. They were surprised at my declaration because I’d never shown …
Meet a God Who Makes Stupid Investments, or Not?
Money doesn’t grow on trees. Prepare for retirement. Have your nest egg for security. Always get the most bang for your buck. Such life management principles are what many of us adhere as if they were Bible verses. And, it’s common sense, right? Life is short after all. We need to make good choices with our money …
A Punishing God (Or Not?)
A sermon preached at North Chevy Chase Christian Church on Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 Let me just start by saying, In fact, some of my pastor friends just can’t believe I’d be brave (or stupid enough) to pick it for my focus scripture this morning. (Did you read this text? Click on the link above before …
Learning from the “I’m Spiritual But Not Religious”
A sermon preached at North Chevy Chase Christian Church in conversation with James 1:17-27 “I’m Spiritual but not Religious” is among the most commonly cited reason why people don’t come to church. Over the years, I’ve heard: “Pastor, I don’t think I need to come to church. I’d rather commute with God by watching the …
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The 10 Commandments Revisited
The Ten Commandments . . . It isn’t usually the type of post that you imagine me getting excited about, especially when you know I’m not a person all into “hell fire and brimstone” or tons of “thou shall nots.” However, when I read famed Old Testament scholar Walter Bruggemann’s take on this passage …
Intentional Trust
A sermon preached at North Chevy Chase Christian Church on Exodus 16:2-15 Only when you trust someone, do you begin to really get to know them. Such was a life lesson I began to learn from all of the youth group trips my parents forced me to attend, beginning in the 7th grade. Every fall, …
