Sermons
What do we need to do?
Have you ever wondered what you need to do? I know I have. Sometimes it is rather trivial, maybe wondering if I should do the dishes or start supper. Sometimes it is anything but trivial, maybe wondering if I should pursue this or that career path. The question seems to be one that is likely to come up rather frequently as we go about our lives. I realize today is…
Stones and a builder
I remember one of the things I first learned when I began public speaking. It is something I did my best to drill into my public speaking students when I taught it myself. Don’t begin a talk/speech/toast/whatever with an apology. However, this isn’t any of those things, not even the “whatever.” Please accept my apologies for the delay in getting this post from Words From the Middle out so late….
Abundance? What does that mean?
This Sunday is frequently called the Good Shepherd Sunday. It makes sense, the Psalm is Psalm 23, the Gospel lesson is Jesus as the Good Shepherd, they all fit in. So why talk about abundance? The last part of the Gospel lesson says, “I [Jesus] came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10b NRSV) The rest of the Gospel lesson is Jesus talking about sheep, sheepfolds,…
No. No one is blind.
Today’s sermon comes from the story of two of Jesus’ disciples mournfully going to Emmaus. We don’t know why they were going there, but we know they encountered a person on the trip who asked them what they were talking about. They rhetorically asked the person if they were the only stranger in Jerusalem who hadn’t heard about the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. They explained what had happened, and…
What proof do you need?
What proof do you need? The question almost seems unnecessarily provocative. Why would I choose such a title? Well, first of all, it’s a question. I like sermon titles being questions. The life of faith seems to be one long string of questions we ask ourselves, others, God. I like sermon titles asking questions, even when I don’t know the answer. Not all questions have answers, and that’s not a…
A woman’s voice
Today is Easter Sunday, or the Resurrection of the Sovereign [sic]. The highest of the holy days in several religious calendars. It is the day, if not necessarily the date, that Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, the Christ. As I mentioned at the top of the sermon, this can be a surprisingly difficult Sunday to preach. It is difficult, not because I’m afraid I won’t…
Not an ordinary day
Palm Sunday can be tricky to put together. Good Friday tends to be an easier service. So what happens when you add them together and call today Palm/Passion Sunday? Easier? Harder? Neither, really, just different. The move to Palm Sunday being combined with Good Friday came about when it became obvious that Good Friday service attendance was a difficulty for quite a few people. The days of everything shutting down…
What’s permanent?
We all want things to last. There is comfort in permanence; if nothing else, it is predictable. The moon is permanent and predictable. There is something wonderful about watching it wax and wane but always being there, even when we can’t see it. We want our relationships to last. We want the relationships of people we love to last. Just about everything we value, we want to stick around. But…
Who gets chosen?
Who gets chosen is a question we usually think of in terms of getting picked for a team at school. But being chosen can be a big thing. Being chosen for an award or a promotion can make a big difference to our self-esteem and sometimes to our paycheques. Being chosen is also a big thing in the world of theology. The theological term is predestination. There is a group…
Water
Water. It is one of the critical things for survival. We can live for about three days without water. We have to have it. Most civilizations arose around water – lakes, rivers, oceans – because if you have water, you can get the other things you need to live. Agriculture is impossible without water; water from the sky or water from irrigation works, the source is irrelevant. Two of today’s…