Down by the riverside I laid my burdens down and I'm travelin' light
Posted in Sermon Notes, Uncatagorized on Apr 16th, 2011
Lenten Sermon Series: What So Good about Good Friday? The Fifth Word: I Thirst John 19:28-37, NRSV Reflections The stories in John of Jesus offering living water, of those following him never being hungry or thirsty, only heightens our sens of horror and awe, as we get the full impact of what John is saying, [...]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Apr 3rd, 2011
Lenten Sermon Series: What So Good about Good Friday? The Fourth Word: Forsaken by God Matthew 27:45-46, NRSV Reflections To speak of sin by itself…is to forget the resolve of God…. Human sin is stubborn, but not as stubborn as the grace of God and half so persistent, not half so ready to suffer to [...]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Apr 3rd, 2011
Lenten Sermon Series: What So Good about Good Friday? The Third Word: Woman, Behold Your Son John 19:23-27, NRSV Reflections Christianity served as a revitalization movement that arose in response to the misery, chaos, fear, and brutality of life in the urban Greco-Roman world…. Christianity revitalized life in Greco-Roman cities by providing new norms and [...]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Mar 16th, 2011
Lenten Sermon Series: What So Good about Good Friday? The Second Word: You Will be With Me Luke 23:32-43, NRSV Reflections Whoever heard of a suffering God? The idea is plain daft. God is up in heaven, and there he will stay. But wouldn’t it be wonderful if it were true? If God came to [...]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Mar 16th, 2011
Lenten Sermon Series: What So Good about Good Friday? The First Word: Father Forgive Them Luke 23:32-34, NRSV Reflections Instead of genuine forgiveness, our generation has been taught the vague notion of “tolerance.” This is, at best, a low-grade parody of forgiveness. At worst, it’s a way of sweeping the real issues in human life [...]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Mar 8th, 2011
The Nature of Faith 1 Peter 1:3-9; Hebrews 11:1,6, NRSV Reflections Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand.– St. Augustine (354-430) inPatches of Godlight The Nature of Faith Faith involves thinking Life is unstable, cannot use bible in a superstitious way [...]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Feb 24th, 2011
Called to Community: Mission Mark 2:1-12, NRSV Reflections Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand.– St. Augustine (354-430) inPatches of Godlight Community into Ministry Effort: It is hard work, it requires money People can be cantankerous But when people’s lives are [...]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Feb 24th, 2011
Called to Community: Intensity Matthew 5:23-24; 46-48; 7:1-6, NRSV Reflections Sin, both our own and that of others, drives us into customized selfishness. Separation from God becomes separation from neighbor. The same salvation that restores our relation with God reinstates us in the community of persons who live by faith. Every tendency to privatism and [...]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Jan 19th, 2011
Called to Community Matthew 5:21-24, NRSV Reflections Typically an American today would say “I want to be spiritual but I don’t want to be religious” and what they mean by that is that “I want to have a personal experience of divine reality but I don’t want to have to deal with other people, I [...]
Posted in Sermon Notes on Nov 6th, 2010
Confession and Assurance Psalm 51, NRSV Reflections Repentance is not a popular word these days, but I believe that any of us recognize it when it strikes us in the gut. Repentance is coming to our senses, seeing, suddenly, what we’ve done that we might not have done, or recognizing…that the problem is not in [...]