Date: August 7, 2011
Liturgical Sunday: Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
RCL Scripture: Psalm 105: 1-6, 16-22, 45b; Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28; Romans 10:5-15; Matthew 14:22-33
Sermon Title: Faith
Knox Presbyterian [audio:https://wordsfromthemiddle.ca/wp-content/uploads/110807_-_knox.mp3|titles=Faith]
St. Mark’s Presbyterian [audio:https://wordsfromthemiddle.ca/wp-content/uploads/110807_-_St_Marks.mp3|titles=Faith]
I am sorry for how long it has taken to get this latest post up. We left for Calgary immediately after the service in Moose Jaw and for Vancouver the next morning at a very, very early hour. We have been enjoying some vacation time here thanks to the wonderful hospitality of Heather’s brother Stephen and his wife Lindi and son Ben.
There were many preaching options from these texts but in the end I felt strongly that faith was the direction that was the correct one.
I have tried to avoid the almost inevitable reality of hobby horses in my preaching but I know that there are some things that I keep coming back to over and over again. One of these things is how we have some very significant misunderstandings about St. Peter and his reputation. I try to address some of these this week while spending much more time talking about faith and what it means.
Warm blessings,
Barry
I think one of the reasons we beat up on Peter is because he’s distressingly like each of us. He’s not very stable in his faith. The big difference is that Peter lived his unstable faith life on the outside. For the most part we have those struggles internally and then lie to ourselves and those around us that we’re doing ok. I believe that one of the reasons that Christ chose Peter as the ‘rock to build his church upon’ was because he was the most obviously real (flawed, but sincerely committed) one of the bunch. He was all in for Christ, but sometimes that wasn’t as nuanced as others would have been. I too find Peter to be a huge source of hope and encouragement. If Jesus saw hope and worth in Peter, he can find something in me!