Sermon: "Mission Possible: Nurture", Deuteronomy 11:18-21/Revelation 3:15-20 (October 18, 2015)

(10/18/15, part two of a four part series on the life of the Church for our Stewardship drive)

(Video of this sermon)

I have a book that I bought at a used book store when I was in seminary called, “Children’s Letters to God.” Knowing that I was being called to a ministry specifically focused on education and Christian formation, I figured that this book could provide some important insights as to what I was getting myself into. Now, being a long-time veteran of church school and children’s sermons, I knew that there would likely be some real gems in there, and I was not disappointed:

“Dear God, In Sunday School, they told us what you do. Who does it when you are on vacation?”

“Dear God, Maybe Cain and Abel wouldn’t kill each other so much if they had their own rooms. It works with my brother.”

“Dear God, My grandpa says you were around when he was a little boy. How far back do you go?”

“Dear God, I bet it is very hard for you to love all the people in the world. There are only four people in our family and I can never do it.”

“Dear God, Thank you for the baby brother, but what I prayed for was a pony.”

The Grace of Reminders: A Reminder of Grace

As many (most?) of you know, I started a new call in Boise, ID, almost two months ago (in fact, it will be two months ago exactly this Saturday when my Installation service will be held! Yay!). As some of you also may know, I am really bad with names. Like, unusually bad for someone whose job it is to connect with people. It's not that I don't remember people (although sometimes, especially when I've met several hundred new people over the course of a short period of time, that can be a contributing factor) it's just that names don't stick in my head very well. Usually, I can get around this pretty well by using some helpful techniques (repeating a person's name when they introduce themselves, double checking their name before saying goodbye, listening carefully to conversations for when names come up, etc.) but it's still a frustrating obstacle to entering a new community.