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Do Not Be Afraid, I Am With You.
[To listen to this sermon on audio, click here] A sermon on Luke 2:1-20 Whoever you are and wherever you find yourself on your journey of faith, know that you are most welcome here, to receive God’s goodness, mercy, and love. Amen. Goodness, mercy, and love. That’s my prayer every time I step into this pulpit. That – by God’s grace, through my words - you all would hear and receive God’s goodness, mercy, and love. Those words feel especially relevant on Christmas Eve. That’s
Nurturing Witness
A sermon on Luke 1: 39-55 [An audio file of this sermon is available here;] If our gospel reading for today sounded familiar, then chances are you may have participated in one or more of the extra services we have had here at Abiding Peace over the course of this month. At my installation service on December 2 we heard the second part of today’s reading: Mary’s song commonly referred to as The Magnificat. My former pastor, Lee Zandstra preached about this song, and how our mi
Calling Out for Change
A Sermon on Luke 3:7-18 [An audio recording of the sermon is available here] I imagine that many of you have heard the latest Christmas controversy this year… the one about whether or not there are serious ethical problems with the 1940’s holiday duet “Baby It’s Cold Outside.” Now, don't worry I am not going to pontificate on my opinion about that debate from the pulpit. But I bring it up because the debate has me thinking about the phenomenon sometimes referred to as “call-o
Wilderness Witness
A sermon on Luke 3: 1-6 [For an audiofile of the sermon, click here] Last week I ended my sermon with a challenge – a challenge to embrace the call that we all share as followers of Jesus to be witnesses; to see our faith as something more than personal and private; to hear, in the “uncovering” language of Luke’s apocalyptic sermon, an invitation to remove the veil from our own lives; to recognize the power of our stories – about how God has showed up in our lives – to become
Witness to Hope
A sermon on Luke 21:25-38 [An audio version of this sermon can be accessed here] A few hours from now, many of us will be back in this sanctuary for another service, a service installing me as the regularly called pastor of this congregation. Which is wonderful, and dream-fulfilling… and also a little weird, right? Because, I’ve been serving as the pastoral leader in this community for more than 2 years. The service feels a little bit like a “beginning” that starts in the mid
