Texts: Jeremiah 23:1-6; Psalm 23; Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 If you took the time to read the appointed texts for today, you would perhaps have seen what I saw: there were numerous ideas worthy of exploration and meditation. I want to think
Sermon: The Plumb-Line July 15, 2012
Texts: Amos 7:7-15; Ps. 85:8-13; Mark 6:14-29 Well, that’s a gruesome tale if ever there was one! Several things are worth noting at the outset: First, whoever thinks that Judaism and Christianity are religions that focus on the spiritual and
Sermon: Living by Grace July 8, 2012
TEXTS: Ezekiel 2:1-5; 2 Corinthians 12:1-12; Mark 6:1-13 The words of St. Paul in this so-called “second letter” to the Corinthians which may, in fact, be a redaction from portions of several letters strung together, have had great meaning for me over
Sermon: Health and Freedom July 1, 2012
Text: Mark 5:21-43 Fortuitously, albeit coincidentally, the Gospel lesson for today presents us with a story from the ministry of Jesus, whose ministry is our own as we are now the body of Christ in the world, about illness and
Pentecost Sunday Sermon: A Fresh Spirit May 27, 2012
Come like a mighty wind, and cleanse us Come like fire and burn away our dross. So went part of a prayer from the 7th General Assembly of the World Council of Churches meeting in Canberra, Australia in 1991. That
Sermon: The Community of Friends May 13, 2012
Texts: Acts 10:44-48; Psalm 98; John 15:9-17 The reading from Acts 10 offers a foretaste of Pentecost, only two weeks away. After Peter receives a vision telling him that nothing is unclean, the same revelation is given to the community—this
Sermon: The Unavoidable Imperative May 6, 2012
Texts: Acts 8:26-40; I John 4:7-21; John 15:1-8 Of all the lectionary readings, the arrangement of these three together in the Easter season is one of my favorite. I love the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. I am convinced
Easter Sunday Homily: No Ending Here April 8, 2012
Text: Mark 16:1-8 Mark began his gospel with a man, John the Baptizer, shouting in the wilderness, and ends it with three women, in a city cemetery, shaken to the core of their being, made silent by their fear and
Meditation for Palm Sunday April 1, 2012
It all began with a parade, a very modest one that over the years has grown in the imaginations of centuries of believers. As Mark tells it, this particular parade must have drawn only a small crowd. If it had
Sermon: “Spirit-Driven” First Sunday in Lent, Feb. 26, 2012
TEXTS: Genesis 9:8-17; Mark 1:9-15 I have said that Mark has two purposes for his Gospel: first, for us to see, hear, and learn who Jesus is; and secondly, what it means to be his follower. During Lent, in particular, the