Sermon: "Turn, Turn, Turn", Ecclesiastes 3:1-7 (April 23,2013)

4/23/13

For context, this is the sermon that I was required to preach in class instead of the one about the Boston Marathon Bombings (which had happened the day before). It was extremely difficult to write because my thoughts were elsewhere, and because I had little emotional connection to the situation (it was fabricated for the assignment). The following is what resulted:

Are You "In" or "Ex" (-troverted, That is)?

There's been a lot of articles making the rounds on facebook (at least, among my friends) about the introvert/extrovert divide. Some are funny, some are informative, some are just kind of dumb (Kanye West an introvert? Really?!?). It's certainly food for thought in considering the plentiful ways that humanity demonstrates its brilliant diversity. When you know which "club" you belong to, suddenly you know yourself a little bit better.

The Best Terrible Decision I Ever Made

One of the first questions that inevitably comes up within the first half hour of meeting someone, once they find out my job, is, "Ah, ministry, that's cool! Why did you want to do that?"

It's kind of a trick question, because I'm not entirely sure that anyone WANTS to do ministry, at least in the conventional sense of the word. I have heard more seminarians and pastors comparing the number of years that they ran away from God's call than I have heard telling stories about how they immediately responded in faith. More Jonahs or Moseses than Samuels or Isaiahs (if you don't get that comparison, here is your homework: read Jonah 1:1-3, Exodus 4:13, 1 Samuel 3:10 and Isaiah 6:8). I am definitely in the former camp (about 8 years or so of running once I first sensed the call).

Sermon: Response to the Boston Marathon Bombings (April 17, 2013)

4/17/13

So, I've never quite figured out why, but I was hit so hard by the Boston bombings back in April. Even though no one that I knew was there, I felt physically sick for about two weeks afterwards. In order to cope, I wrote this.

Family Matters

Often, when I'm going about my morning routine getting ready for the day, I find myself reflecting in some depth about whatever has been on my mind recently. Being in my mid-to-late twenties, a TON of my friends are getting married, and many of them are starting to have kids. I, as you may be aware, am not among them.

Now, this doesn't bother me on principle. Although I would certainly like to have a family of my own, I'm sure as H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks not going to settle for the next guy to show an interest in me just because my "biological clock" thinks it knows better than me. I've looked into it; it doesn't.

Sermon: Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 (August 11, 2013)

8/11/13

A sermon I wrote for pulpit supply at the church in which I was baptized:

So, before I went to seminary, I liked reading a lot. I particularly liked fantasy, science fiction, that sort of thing. One of my favorites was a little series about a boy wizard with a lightning-bolt-shaped scar. Who here has read Harry Potter? There are a lot of fantastical elements to the wizarding world that Harry, having been raised in “muggle,” or non-wizarding, society encounters for the first time along with his readers. From angry letters that literally yell at you--called “howlers”--to photographs that move, the wonders of Harry Potter’s world are endless.