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Will You Come to the Party?
A sermon on Luke 15: 1-3, 11b-32 For an audio recording of this sermon, click here. Photo by Matheus Frade on Unsplash The parable we just heard is familiar enough that I feel pretty safe in asking a few congregational participation questions about it. Can anyone tell me what this parable is traditionally called? (“The Parable of the Prodigal Son”) Right – I imagine you have all heard it before. In fact, it’s such a common phrase that even people who have never set foot in a
What Do We Do With Pain And Fear?
A sermon on Luke 13:1-9. For an audio recording of this sermon, click here. Photo by Marianna Smiley on Unsplash This past Sunday, Shelli Skeels opened our Council meeting with a powerful devotion about living in a time of anxiety. She shared an inspiring reflection from C.S. Lewis written in 1948 under the threat of the atomic bomb, and she compiled scriptural reminders of the call to find our peace and trust in God, but perhaps most importantly she invited us into a space o
All That It Means To Be Human
A sermon on Luke 4:1-13. For an audio recording of this sermon, click here. Photo by Brandon Hoogenboom on Unsplash. As many of you know, I grew up in what can be called a “non-liturgical” church tradition. This is not to say that we didn’t have a liturgy – any fairly predictable pattern of worship is a liturgy – but the kind of liturgy that I grew up with did not emphasize the different church seasons, with all of the layered meaning and tradition that these seasons provide.
Mercy, Enemies, and Peace
A sermon on Luke 6:27-38. [for an audio recording of this sermon, click here. Photo by Christian Cacciamani on Unsplash] Last week we heard the first part of Jesus’ “sermon on the plain,” and it was pretty challenging: A “woe” for every blessing; And when that makes us anxious, an exhortation to trust God instead of trying to grasp onto security; Which ultimately works out to a call to join in God’s rebalancing work, even if that means we lose some of our advantages when the
