Sabbatical Thoughts from May 21

 A lot of the work that I've been doing on Sabbatical has been more internal than I expected, so I had the idea to create "highlight images" of some of the insights I've been gleaning to share with anyone who might be interested. I'll use this blog to provide a bit of context, if anyone is interested.

Here's one from earlier in the summer:

Sabbatical Thoughts from July 2

 A lot of the work that I've been doing on Sabbatical has been more internal than I expected, so this morning I had the idea to create "highlight images" of some of the insights I've been gleaning to share with anyone who might be interested. I'll use this blog to provide a bit of context, if anyone is interested.

Sermon: "Switching Gears", Acts 1:1-11 (May 11, 2025)

Before I get started, I want to assure you that I didn’t wear this hilarious shirt by accident, and I promise that I’ll explain it later.

I should also probably take a moment to acknowledge that it’s not, in fact, Ascension Sunday yet, even though we just read the story of Christ’s ascension a moment ago. Normally, the Church celebrates Christ’s Ascension into heaven forty days after Easter (following the timeline of the original events), and we’ve still got three weeks to go. But I figured that since I won’t be with you on June 1 and I’ve given our guest preachers carte blanche to preach on whatever they want, it was worth making sure that we touched on this important story at least once.

And if I’m being entirely honest, it also feels like an especially fitting scripture reading for today. At the risk of comparing myself too favorably to Jesus, I can only imagine that the experience of the disciples here must have been similar to the experience of a congregation watching their pastor prepare to leave on Sabbatical. Both events represent significant shifts in the community’s life; confusion, uncertainty, and even fear are all understandable reactions. Even if you’re NOT experiencing any of these emotions, it’s undeniable that the next three months will be very different from the past six years. Just as the Ascension was for the disciples, the three months that I’ll be on my Sabbatical will be a time of transition and adjustment for all of us: a time of switching gears.

Sermon: "Eyes on the Prize", Acts 6:8-7:2a; 7:44-60 (May 4, 2025)

Let’s be honest – this is a pretty disturbing story. Up until this point, Acts has largely been a celebration of the Holy Spirit’s movement among the people, giving us joyful tales of miraculous healings, communal living, and exponential growth. Sure, the disciples were harassed here and there, but they always seemed to come out okay in the end. This, though – this is dark. There’s no “happy ending” for Stephen, even though he’s consistently described as righteous. Amid all the recorded successes of the early Christian movement, this story is a bleak reminder of the sinful reality of the human condition.

Sermon: "The Space Between", John 20-21 (April 20, 2025 - Easter Sunday)

I’m gonna need a little bit of help with the first part of my sermon today, so if I spoke to you earlier about helping, would you please come up and gather around the table now?

As my helpers are making their way forward, I want to offer a little bit of context for those of you who may not have been following Boone’s Lenten worship very closely. Over the past six weeks, we’ve been reflecting on divisions within humanity, both as found in John’s gospel and as reflected in our own lives. To drive the point home, we used different colored beads – the beads up front here – to “vote” on some of the most divisive issues of our times: Summer or winter? Dogs or cats? Chocolate or vanilla? These particular divisions are, of course, more or less superficial, but they remind us of the many ways that we categorize and separate ourselves out from one another. That’s how the whole world would be if human beings were in charge.

Liturgy: Palm Sunday Lessons and Carols, John 12 (April 13, 2025)

  *You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

Additional Hymns:

Hymn GTG #196, “All Glory, Laud, and Honor”

Hymn GTG #456, “Listen, God Is Calling”

Hymn GTG #200, “A Cheering, Chanting, Dizzy Crowd”

Liturgy: Lent 5 Lessons and Carols, John 11 (April 6, 2025)

 *You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

Additional Hymns:

Hymn GTG #510, “We Gather Here in Jesus’ Name”

Hymn GTG #456, “Listen, God Is Calling”

Hymn GTG #533, “In the Singing”