Sermons
Lent begins
Another year, another season of Lent. There is something reassuring about the repetitive nature of the church year. Not everyone finds this to be the case, but I am one of those people for whom a routine is useful. When I was younger I don’t think I would have predicted a rhythm which is spread out over a year would have meant as much as it does but . ….
Glory to glory
I was originally going to call this post “One out of two” but that didn’t really address the sermon but more my morning. So first the actual preaching bit and later I’ll talk about the morning. Today was Transfiguration Sunday or the Sunday where we celebrate The Transfiguration of Our Lord, depending on where you encounter it. This isn’t the easiest Sunday to preach. Oh you can take the easy…
Are we different?
A few weeks ago it was determined that this Sunday would be PWS&D Sunday. What might that be you ask? Well let me tell you. PWS&D stands for Presbyterian World Service and Development and it is the part of the Presbyterian Church in Canada that meets physical needs, while not losing sight of the spiritual needs, of people. You might think of it as the relief arm of the Presbyterian…
Called?
This Sunday’s texts are linked together, at least somewhat, by three different stories about what it means to be called, or more properly, “called.” This is more than getting a phone call or a text to come over and hang out. The calls we looked at today are the calls God makes to people. There is a call to being a prophet, a call to being a fisher who catches…
Not just for weddings
This Sunday’s epistle reading is one of the very best known. Frequently called the “Love Chapter,” 1 Corinthians 13 is indeed about love. It is also completely appropriate for a wedding, or an anniversary, or lots of other occasions. However, is this the reason Paul wrote it? As both sermons make clear, Paul wrote this letter we call 1 Corinthians to a church facing some difficulties, especially around their understanding…
One body for all of us
It is good to be back. I was hoping to be back last week but the weather was sufficiently threatening to prevent us from going, us in this case being Heather and me. This week was Heather and me as I am still not able to drive, hopefully by next week but I must say it was very nice to have a chauffeur 🙂 This Sunday we spent our time…
Jesus’ baptism
Oh you lucky, lucky people! This Sunday you don’t “have” to listen to me, you get to listen to Heather instead! I suppose this needs some explanation but as the explanation has nothing to do with the usual purpose of this blog I’ll put it down at the bottom so scroll down if you are curious. This Sunday celebrates the Baptism of the Lord. The text for this liturgical year is…
More gifts
Living with two different calendars means we don’t always get what we want on the day we want it but sometimes it does work. January 6 is the Epiphany of the Lord, and this year it fell on a Sunday, so we were able talk about the Epiphany and sing “We three kings” on the actual day! This is very exciting for those of us who worship in liturgical churches….
The gift of Christmas
I often spend quite a lot of time on sermon titles. They are frequently questions, which I then endeavour to answer in the sermon, and if they aren’t questions they almost always provide direction for me. Every now and then I am very pleased with a sermon title; this Sunday has such a title. We tinkered with the Lectionary texts to “allow” us to light the Christ candle today (neither…
What does love look like?
Merry Christmas! I’ll get to this Sunday’s sermons in a moment or two but first there are a few words I need to say. I have been preaching in various Presbyterian churches for about 23 years. It hasn’t been a full time thing but if I figured it out correctly, I have been a preacher in one Presbyterian church or another in Saskatchewan for 65% of the last 23 years….