Today marks the beginning of Advent, a season of endings and beginnings. As the calendar year draws to a close, a new church year begins, inviting us to reorient our lives around the birth of Christ—a birth that ushers in new ways of living, loving, and hoping. Yet, as we know, even as we prepare […]
This morning, as we turn our hearts and minds to Thanksgiving, we have two texts written under dramatically different circumstances. The first text comes from Deuteronomy and is part of a sermon Moses delivered to the Israelites as they stand at the threshold of the Promised Land. Earlier Moses reminded the people of their time […]
A young man was searching for the secret of wisdom, and heard that there was a guru high in the Himalayas who knew he secret. So, he set off to find the guru, going through much hardship and travail until finally, high in the mountains, he found the Master sitting in the lotus posture. “Tell […]
Kerry was having what she thought would be a routine premarital conversation with a young couple, when it took an unexpected turn, moving suddenly from logistics to theology and Presbyterian history. Kerry was asking a series of questions in preparation for the service in the sanctuary. Will there be bridesmaids and grooms? If so, how […]
Friends, today we gather to explore another fruit of the spirit—hospitality. And before you challenge me on whether hospitality is a fruit of the spirit because indeed it is NOT listed as one of the seven fruits in Paul’s letter to the Galatians, let me tell you! First, I was assigned this fruit and this Sunday… […]
Today, we continue our Fall preaching series on the Fruits of the Spirit, the marks of being a Christian. Courage, Peace, Temperance and Self-control, Patience, and Justice lie behind us. Hospitality, Humility, Wisdom, and Gratitude lie ahead of us. During this election season, I have thought what if we were to take this list into […]
Sally and Ryan’s mother faced a situation that all parents often face. There were two brownies left for her two young children – and one was bigger than the other. It did not take long for the two children to argue about who would get the bigger piece. This time, the mother tried a new […]
It is one of the most difficult choices I face in daily life. It is a choice that each one of you undoubtedly has also faced this week. You, of course, know what I am talking about: The decision about which checkout line will be fastest. In these days of gargantuan grocery stores, building supply […]
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” I am guessing that in Paul’s list of some of the fruits of the Spirit, “self-control” is not the one that would get you particularly excited and racing to church to hear preached. I also imagine that few of […]
“The children were having breakfast. This was not a pleasant sight.” So begins Jill Murphy’s children’s book, Five Minutes’ Peace, a children’s book that parents will often offer to read to their children. Because although the characters in the book are elephants, a mother and three children aged about seven and below, the story describes […]
What can I tell you about courage? I missed the Viet Nam draft by a few years and was never called to go into a battlefield and face enemy fire like some of you have. Or on the flip side, I did not have to wrestle with declaring myself a conscientious objector, going before a […]
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