Sermons

2 Kings 2:1-14 When I was a kid, I loved optical illusions, especially those with two different images in the same picture. The one I remember the most was a silhouette either of a young woman or an old crone. Our text for today is similar. It is the mental and spiritual version of an […]

Isaiah 40:21-31 Before I read our scripture for today, I want to give you some background. This passage was written during the time of the Babylonian exile. Jerusalem had been defeated, the temple had been destroyed, and everybody with any status had been deported to Babylon. They saw this defeat either as a sign of

Mark 1:21-28 One of my favorite websites to read when I’m working on sermon preparation is called Working Preacher. This is how my favorite columnist on that site began his post on this text: “Dear Working Preacher, Tell me the truth: don’t you just dread exorcism stories? I mean, if there’s one kind of biblical

1 Samuel 3:1-10 Our Old Testament story for today actually begins two chapters before our reading. It begins with the story of Elkanah, and his two wives: Peninnah and Hannah. Hannah was the favored wife, the beloved wife; but Peninnah was the fruitful wife. Hannah was not able to have children—a fact that her rival

Mark 1:4-11 I read a sermon early this week that captured my imagination. The preacher, Rev. Maxwell Grant, says that he wishes it were harder to join the church. He says “It’s harder to get a membership at Costco than it is to become a Christian.” [1] We might think we’re doing a good thing to

Matthew 2:1-12 When I was in junior high school, my church always had a live nativity. The church was on a busy road in Miami Florida, and each year on the nights leading up to Christmas, all the youth would gather on the front lawn in our costumes and would reenact the Christmas story as

Luke 1:67-79 Have you ever wanted something for a long time? Worked for it, waited for it, dreamed of it, only to finally get it and then find out that it wasn’t what you thought it would be? I am a priest. This is not a chosen vocation. It is my lineage. I am of

Luke 1:5-25    

Luke 17:11-19 In 2007 a journalist named A.J. Jacobs published a book called The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible. The author grew up in what he describes as a secular home, not a religious one—a Jew by birth but an agnostic by belief. He

Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25 We are surrounded by choices. We can go into the supermarket and buy cans of crushed pineapple—or tidbits, chunks, or slices, in heavy syrup or its own juices, and in at least two different brands. Plus we can go to the produce department and buy a whole pineapple or a fresh pineapple