Sermon: "Shoot for the Moon", Deuteronomy 15:1-11 (September 3, 2023)

About a month ago, NPR’s Scott Detrow interviewed Russell Moore on the radio show “All Things Considered”. Russell Moore serves as editor-in-chief of the magazine Christianity Today, is the author of a new book about Evangelicalism in America, and USED to be a high-ranking official in the Southern Baptist Convention. I say “used to be” because he resigned from his position and left the denomination in 2021. He was gravely concerned about how the Southern Baptist Convention had handled allegations of sexual abuse as well as what he perceived as its tolerance for white nationalism within the church.[1] In his interview with NPR, he shared his thoughts about the crisis that Christianity is facing in America today.

Sermon: “It’s Not (Supposed to Be) Fair”, Matthew 20:1-15 (September 20, 2020)

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Are you ever surprised by how many scripture passages remind you of parental lessons from your childhood, or is it just me? It’s almost as if…our parents knew what they were talking about. Weird, huh? When I read this week’s passage, all I could hear was my mom’s voice saying, “You and your sister have different needs, so you get treated differently. It’s not about being fair; it’s about doing what’s best for each of you.” Interestingly, I remember being most incensed about this argument when my sister was allowed to get her ears pierced much earlier than I’d been allowed to, but I digress. The point is that, regardless of what my childish sense of justice perceived as fair, it was my parents’ job and prerogative to distribute resources (and ear piercings) based on what they determined each of us needed to survive and thrive. If that meant that one of us got a better “deal” than the other, well, that was their call. I think that most of us adults would agree that this is the right and proper way for such decisions to be made: not based on what’s objectively “fair”, but what the guardian believes is best.