Sermon Archives

October 10, 2021

Job’s Bitter Complaint

Mark did a terrific job last week launching our 4-Sunday series on Job. He used his law background to good advantage. I wouldn’t want to oppose Mark in a court of law! Job asks the really big questions of life: Who is God? Where is God? Who are we as humans? Why is there suffering […]

October 3, 2021

In the Case of Job

In the Case of Job

Thank you, your honor. May it please the court, I’ve prepared an opening statement in this civil action brought by Job, resident of 2924 Maple Street, the Land of Uz, zip 56655, against the defendant, God, also known as The LORD, Yahweh, the Most High, the Holy One of Israel, and many other names.

September 26, 2021

Cure or Healing?

Cure or Healing?

Duane Beck, a retired Mennonite pastor, says that when he started his first pastorate right out of seminary, he preached repeatedly on the theme of discipleship. He discovered that the members of his congregation were committed Christians who had every intention of deepening their life of discipleship, but they didn’t or couldn’t for some reason. […]

September 5, 2021

Living Faith

To begin my sermon, I’m going to need four volunteers. Now, I have two requirements for these volunteers: the first is, you need to be able to catch a middle-aged body; specifically, my body; and the second is, you need to be trustworthy. My physical safety depends on you meeting both of these requirements. That’s […]

August 8, 2021

Reorientation

Some of you may know the name John Dear—no, not the green tractors that used to go put-put—but John Dear [D-e-a-r], a Catholic priest and peace activist from CA. Early in his career John Dear felt obligated to support an inmate on death row, since he opposed the death penalty. He contacted an inmate in […]

July 25, 2021

Wonder Bread

I want you to imagine that all of us who have gathered here this morning represent the entire world’s population. Now, I need fourteen people to stand up. If our attendance today is similar to previous Sundays, the people standing up represent the people who went to bed hungry last night. According to the World […]

July 18, 2021

God in Space

Last week, Richard spoke powerfully about the need for lament. A lament is a prayer that cries out to God in the midst of pain, grief, any circumstance that seems out of control. Lament is our response when we find ourselves in a space, a place where the right response can only be a desperate […]

July 11, 2021

Lamenting the Loss of Laments

Twice in my life I’ve had to face my mortality: At 15 I was in a serious car accident in which I could well have been killed. Then, at the ripe age of 50 I had open heart surgery. After this last incident I had a need to talk about my mortality, but I had […]

June 27, 2021

The Following Christ

It has been almost twenty years since I’ve seen a little girl named Dianora. I think about her, though. In my mind, Dianora will always be a baby. Her grandmother, Alicia, cradled her in her arms when she knocked on the door of our house when we lived in Mozambique. She was looking for my […]

June 20, 2021

The Power of One

Only a boy named David, only a little sling, only a boy named David, but he could pray and sing. Only a boy named David, only a rippling brook, only a boy named David, but five little stones he took. And one little stone went in the sling, and the sling went round and round. […]

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