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God of the Unexpected
A dramatic proclamation of Acts 16:9-15 Throughout this Easter season I have been focusing on the readings from Acts in my sermons. I decided on this focus because, in the stories of Acts, we get to see how the very first generation of Christ-followers translated all the things they knew about Jesus into their actual lives. Church wasn’t a social expectation for them, or even a theological commitment. It was the shape of their transformed lives. And since we spent all of Lent
Love is Better Than Purity
[A sermon on Acts 11:1-18, and John 13:31-35; an audio recording of the sermon is available here] During the supper conversation at one of our mid-week services this past Lent, I mentioned a quote I had just read from Lutheran Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber’s new book, Shameless. The quote came from her discussion of the so-called “purity culture” that is central to some branches of the American Christian church, but it has relevance beyond that context as well. Pastor Nadia writes:
Grief, Belief, and the Meaning of Life
A sermon on Acts 9:36-43 [an audio recording of the sermon is available here]. I have to be honest. Last Monday, when I read the lectionary texts for today, my heart sank a bit. Because our first reading this week was the story of a resurrection… not Jesus’ resurrection (which I cling to as a source of hope) but the resurrection of a disciple, a woman named Tabitha, or Dorcas – depending which language and community she was moving in. And while this faithful woman’s story is
The Journey of Faith
A sermon on John 21:1-19 and Acts 9:1-20 [for an audio recording of the sermon, click here] 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. I invoke your “journeys of faith” every week at the start of my sermons, but it occurs to me that I don’t often take the time to explain what I mean by that. A journey, of course, implies movement – travelling from one place to
