Sermons from 2020 (Page 2)
October 18, 2020
October 18, 2020 “Going with God” Isaiah 57:1-7 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 Matthew 22:15-22 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our strength and our redeemer. Amen. Several years ago I was having a conversation with a friend and the topic somehow turned to a very “hot button” issue. My friend and I respectfully expressed our opposing views on this hot-button topic – and then my friend…
October 11, 2020
October 11, 2020 Matthew 22:1-14 Here is a rather strange parable. Jesus says that here is what the Kingdom of Heaven is like…Now, if you are listening as I did. You would expect Jesus to tell a story of wonder and delight with rainbows and angels crowding round the gates of heaven. But listen to the parable: A king gives a wedding banquet for his son. This sounds delightful! The king sends his servants out to call all who…
October 4, 2020
October 4, 2020 “The Truth of the Matter” Isaiah 5:1-7 Philippians 3:10-14 Matthew 21:33-46 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our strength and our redeemer. Amen. OK, I am going to start with a confession. I found this week’s scripture passages to be extremely challenging and difficult – they talk of murder and death and destruction – hardly “feel good” passages. However, not every passage…
September 27, 2020
September 27, 2020 Exodus 17:1-7 Matthew 21:23-32 Jesus entered the temple courts and while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?” I was a student minister at a church out west. I was in the middle of my theological studies and took the my third year of studies to work full time for this church. I…
September 20, 2020
September 20, 2020 “From the Beginning” Micah 6:6-8 1 John 2:7-10 John 13:31-35 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our strength and our redeemer. Amen. So, in the passage from 1 John that we just heard, the writer says, “I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning.” The audience for the writer of 1 John…
September 13, 2020
September 13, 2020 Genesis 50:15-21 Matthew 18:21-35 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” That is how it is recorded in the New International Version of the Bible but in the New English Bible it says, Jesus said to him, “I tell you not up to seven times, but up to…
September 6, 2020
September 6, 2020 “Where Two or Three are Gathered” Ezekiel 33:10-11 Romans 13:8-14 Matthew 18:15-20 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our strength and our redeemer. Amen. Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” Certainly, in these days of social distancing and adapting to life during a pandemic, these words of Jesus can take on…
August 30, 2020
August 30, 2020 “Divine Things” Luke 16:21-28 Said Jesus to Peter… For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things. It’s all about shifting gears from one line of thinking to another. In this case it is Peter thinking of human things and not thinking of the things of God. Shifting gears. My brother-in-law told the simple and probably not so unique story of his brother. His brother fought in Viet Nam, served his tour…
August 23, 2020
Exodus 1:8-2:10 Romans 12:1-8 Matthew 16:13-20 “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” I am struck by two things, the first of which is the image of Peter being the rock on which the church of Jesus is built. The second is that Jesus invokes the notion of Hades or Hell in this passage. Not even Hades will be able to…
August 16, 2020
August 16, 2020 “Do the Right Thing” Isaiah 56:1, 6-8 Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32 Matthew 15:10-20 In our Old Testament passage for today, God instructs the people, through the prophet Isaiah, to “maintain justice” and “do what is right.” When I read those words my mind immediately went to a movie my children and I recently watched. Over the course of these past months of sheltering in place I have been very grateful to have my children with me. And…
August 8, 2020
August 9, 2020 “The Deep Surrounded Me” Jonah 2:1-9 Matthew 14:22-33 A couple years ago we took a group of 10 youth to Germany. The easy part was flying from Columbus to Germany. The easy part was climbing the tower stairs of the 13th century church. The easy part was learning how to negotiate the wonderful train system of the country. But the devil was in the details. The hard part came when you did not understand the electrical outlets.…