SERMON SHORT FOR MAY 9th, 2021 WIND, SPIRIT, BREATH Acts 10:1-8, 44–48, John 3:1-10 The Holy Spirit features big in the story from Acts this week. Actually, the Holy Spirit is the main player throughout the whole book of Acts. I have always been intrigued with the biblical play of the words “Spirit/wind/breath.”…
APRIL 2 & 4, 2021 GOOD FRIDAY AND EASTER SERMON SHORT: CAN’T HAVE ONE WITHOUT THE OTHER Every year a minister is called upon to imagine a new and creative way to talk about Good Friday. Every year a minister is called upon to imagine a new a creative way to talk about Easter. This…
SERMON SHORT FOR MARCH 28th, 2021 PALM/PASSION SUNDAY A DAY ONLY THE LORD COULD MAKE Genesis 1:1-5, John 12:12-16. I have always felt Palm Sunday is a bit of a wonky liturgical day. We can use it to celebrate a big parade of Jesus entering Jerusalem. Or we can go the maudlin route of…
SERMON SHORT FOR MARCH 21st, 2021 GLORY John 12:20-33, Hebrews 5:5-10, Psalm 51:1-12 Take a good look at the people we glorify in our culture. Our heroes are as much an indication of who and what we are as they are an indication of who and what they are. We all have our own…
SERMON SHORT FOR March 14th, 2021 THE DOUBLE EDGED GOSPEL Numbers 21:4-9, John 3: 14-21, Psalm 103:1-3, 17-22 It’s a peculiar thing in our bible stories that often the blessings for God’s people are also the downfall of God’s people. Water created and formed the world. Then water destroyed it in the flood. The…
SERMON SHORT FOR March 7th, 2021 RIGHTEOUS ANGER Exodus 20:1-17, John 2:13-22 Remember the day that gentle-Jesus-meek-and-mild threw a hissy-fit in the temple? Jesus did not lash out at the people there, he was lashing out at their worship. He attacked religion. His assault is not upon the pagans at the local pub,…
SERMON SHORT FOR February 28th, 2021 SPINNING IT RIGHT Isaiah 53:1-12, Psalm 22:23-31, Mark 8:31–38 Martin Luther King Jr said, “Most Christians are thermometers that record or register the temperature of majority opinion, not thermostats that transform and regulate the temperature of society.” How common it is it for us to water down the…
SERMON SHORT FOR February 21st, 2021 DON’T FALL ASLEEP IN CHURCH 1st Samuel 3:1-21, Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18, John 1:43-51 Be careful if you have become too accustomed to things always being the same in your life, and in your church. Didn’t this past year teach us that much of what we thought was steady…
SERMON SHORT FOR February 14th, 2021 A NEW KIND OF ENDING Psalm 83, Luke 21:25-33 This week the request from two people is: “I’ve always wanted to hear a sermon about … The second coming of Christ.” This is not an easy topic since so much popular media has promoted a violent Armageddon…
SERMON SHORT FOR February 7th, 2021 THE YEAR THAT WAS Psalm 119:33-40, Matthew 5:1-16 This Sunday we will look back on the year that was. From dumpster fires to the election of America’s first female vice president; from murder hornets to vaccine releases; from restaurant closures to Amazon boom – 2020 will never be…
SERMON SHORT FOR January 31st, 2021 LOVE WINS Luke 7:1-10, Micah 4:1-5, Psalm 133 Another entry in our “I’ve always wanted to hear a sermon about …” “I would like to hear about non-believers and what God has planned for them.” There have been billions of humans experience life on this planet. Will only a…
SERMON SHORT FOR January 24th, 2021 WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN BY GOOD PEOPLE Psalm 51, Psalm 120, Matthew 5:38-42, Judges Chapters 19-21 “I’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO HEAR A SERMON ABOUT …” The Bible has many wonderful stories, which we’ve often heard in sermons and Sunday School lessons. It has many other stories too, which…
SERMON SHORT FOR January 17th, 2021 TWO REALMS IN THE ONE SPIRIT Genesis 1, Psalm 8 “I’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO HEAR A SERMON ABOUT …” We asked people to finish this sentence as a starter for our themes of worship at the start of the year. We’ll start with this response: “I’ve always wanted…
SERMON SHORT FOR JANUARY 10th, 2021 LET’S START THE NEW YEAR RIGHT Isaiah 40:1-11, Luke 10:25-37 Here we are in a new year. This happens every year and I expect most of us are used to it now. We expect that each new year brings us new stuff, new beginnings, new hope. But then…
SERMON SHORT FOR December 13th, 2020 Advent 3 A VERY COVID CHRISTMAS PAGEANT Isaiah 61:1–2, John 1:1-18 This is the Sunday for the candle of Joy. We turn a major portion of our worship to show real joy in retelling the Christmas story. But this year, in a very Covid form. It is a really…
SERMON SHORT FOR DECEMBER 6th, 2020 Advent 2 – Change to Peace Matthew 3:1-12, Isaiah 11:1-10 This is the Sunday of the Candle of Peace and the Sunday of John the Baptist crying out in the wilderness: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” The word “repent” is taken from a Greek word…
SERMON SHORT FOR NOVEMBER 29th, 2020 Advent 1 Tear open the heavens and come down! Isaiah 64:1-9, 1st Corinthians 1:3-9 “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down so that the mountains would quake at your presence.” The prophetic words of Isaiah. The plea and prophecy of a people…
SERMON SHORT FOR NOVEMBER 22nd, 2020 A CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINE – WORSHIP John 4:7-26, Colossians 3:16, 17 Worship as a discipline is something that happens. It is an experience. When we speak of having a “worship service,” we are usually referring to the forms and the gathering of God’s people at a particular time…
SERMON SHORT FOR NOVEMBER 15th, 2020 A CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINE – SERVICE John 13:1-17, Luke 22:24-27 What are we called to do as followers of Christ? To follow implies that we will do what the leader does. And our leader served. The greatest image of his service was the towel. He was with his…
SERMON SHORT FOR NOVEMBER 8th, 2020 A CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINE – SUBMISSION Philippians 2:1-11, Matthew 5:38-48 I squirm to confront the discipline of submission this week. We are all too aware of how so much abuse has been suffered by people because others have asserted a distorted hierarchical definition of submission over them. The…