Sermon Archives

Lectionary
June 5, 2016

Idolatry

I once knew a college student whose idol was reason and logic. He loved the life of his own mind, the way his brain could dance and leap from one idea to another idea. In a split second, he could spot the flaw in someone else’s argument and tear it to shreds. He loved smashing […]

April 24, 2016

Unity and Diversity in Christ

In 1968, Martin Luther King lamented that 11 am was the most segregated hour in the nation. In her book, Disunity in Christ: Uncovering the Hidden Forces that keep us Apart, Christena Cleveland reiterates this lament as she explores the ways in which our churches are still divided, not just racially, but ethnically, culturally and […]

April 17, 2016

An Alternate View of Hell

Today I’m going to talk about hell. If you were here two weeks ago, you’ll remember a sermon on what happens to Christians after they die. After that sermon, the college class suggested I do something on hell. So I’m going to talk a little about hell today, but I want you to know that […]

April 3, 2016

Come, Lord Jesus!

Six years ago Tyndale House, an evangelical Christian publisher, released a book called The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven: A Remarkable Account of Miracles, Angels, and Life Beyond this World. This book begins with the story of how six-year-old Alex Malarkey, and his father, Kevin Malarkey, were involved in a traffic accident. The accident […]

November 23, 2014

A Reluctant Prophet and a Persistent God

I debated preaching this sermon from the doorway, just as Jeremiah preached his temple sermon in the gate of the temple. What difference does it make where one stands to speak? Does it sound different if spoken in the doorway, rather than from the pulpit? It’s an interesting welcoming strategy as well, to speak this […]

October 26, 2014

Even Solomon in all his Glory

“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.” (Matt.6:28-29; Luke 12:27) The Gospels of Matthew and Luke include this reference to Solomon in Jesus’ teaching about worry and anxiety over food, drink […]

October 19, 2014

Those Glorious Nights

Most Christians whom I know love daylight and fear darkness. Jenny and I had neighbors twelve years ago who were fine Christian people—members of one of the local Missionary churches here in town. One day shortly after they moved in their new home, they decided to install night lights at the front and back corners […]

October 12, 2014

As for me and my Household..

In early February Bethany’s faculty joined some 500 teachers at a conference center just outside Washington, DC, for the Mennonite Educators’ Conference. Keynote speaker Kenda Creasy Dean talked about Christian faith in America today, and she identified a set of ten pedagogical approaches – ways of teaching – that facilitate faith development in young people […]

October 5, 2014

Stuck

There you are, stuck. Maybe you’re stuck at work. One woman I’m acquainted with felt trapped in her work at a church-related organization. This organization did great work in the community for the sake of Christ, and was known far and wide for doing competent, compassionate work. Her stuckness came from the fact that the […]

September 21, 2014

Joseph’ Sexual Harassment

This story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife is a clear-cut case of sexual harassment in the workplace. Sometimes we think the Bible has an ancient feel to it, that its stories come from so far away and so long ago that they don’t have any congruence with our context and our situation. Despite the fact […]

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