November this year was full and pastoral ministry ended up focusing a lot on bereavement care with families experiencing loss. At some point during those weeks, my wife and I decided to try and get away for 2-3 days in early Advent so we could pray, read, and do some planning and writing. It was … Continue reading Advent Retreat 2018
Friends and family, I want to thank all of you for joining us today for a celebration of Kenny’s life. None of us want to be here today, but here we are. In the midst of death, we are, against all odds and all forces that might suggest otherwise … we are here to proclaim … Continue reading Defining a Life and a Love – A Funeral Sermon for my Brother
It is a beautiful Saturday morning in the fall. Over the past 3 years, my wife and I have begun living into what we have termed #aPastorsShabbat which begins every Friday evening and continues until Saturday evening. What started out as an "etch a sketch" type of practice in our home has begun to take … Continue reading Every Seventh Day a Miracle
God became flesh. Incarnation – derived from the Latin in caro – to be made flesh. That is the miracle we celebrate at Christmas. Yet we hear the Christmas story so often that we speed right past the scandal of it. Imagine for a moment that you had never heard the story of Jesus. You have … Continue reading Incarnation as Charge and Challenge
Malaise - a condition of general bodily weakness or discomfort; a vague or unfocused feeling of mental uneasiness and lethargy. Something happens to many of us in the dead heat of summer. We sometimes call this season the “dog days of summer” or the “summer malaise.” We slow down. We try our best to stay … Continue reading From Summer Malaise to Missional Motivation!
Remembering the Context This sermon is the third in our series on Job – Weathering the Storm. First – lets recap a bit. Do any of you remember the scene in Job chapter one and two? The action is fast, furious, and unrelenting: First messenger comes – Sabeans have attacked Job's field hands who were watching … Continue reading Harsh Words (sermon 3 on Job)
When Friends Come When the going gets tough in your life … who shows up? What do they do? What do they say? “When Job’s three friends heard about all this disaster that had happened to him, they came, each one from his home – they wept loudly … each one tore his garment and … Continue reading So-Called Comfort (sermon 2 on Job)
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