08 Jun

Exodus: God’s Relentless Pursuit

On Sunday I will begin a new sermon series on the book of Exodus. Exodus tells the story of Moses who is to the Hebrew scriptures (the Old Testament) what Jesus is to the New Testament: the dominating figure, the man whose story must be...

25 May

40 Day Mark: Passing the Baton

Forty is an important number in the Bible. In the story of Noah, it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. Moses led the Israelites through the wilderness for 40 years. Jesus spent 40 days in the desert being tested and later, he appeared to...

18 May

NOT According to Plan

Have you ever had a day that goes nothing at all like you planned? Not a single thing that you thought you were going to accomplish gets done. At bedtime, your “to do” list looks exactly like it did at breakfast. That’s the kind of...

20 Apr

Easter People in a Good Friday World

He is risen! He is risen, indeed! We had a glorious celebration of Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday, and I trust yours was, too. The sanctuary was beautifully adorned with Easter lilies, spring bulbs in pink, purple and yellow bloom, and white paraments—cloth coverings for the...

12 Apr

Easter Changes Everything

As I sit at my desk writing and working this morning, I hear our church organist in the background practicing for Sunday’s Easter service. If you can’t be inspired by the strains of Jesus Christ Is Risen Today, Thine Is the Glory, and The Hallelujah...

30 Mar

Engaging Hard Truth through Art

On Sunday I have the unenviable task of preaching about the torture and humiliation that Jesus endured as he neared his death on the cross. The purpose of crucifixion—Rome’s “go to” method of execution for would-be “messiahs”—wasn’t just to kill the victim. It was to...