Sermon: "The Original Prosperity Gospel", Genesis 12:1-9 (September 20, 2026)

The first time I encountered the prosperity gospel was in seminary. I remember watching a video about this so-called Christian movement with my jaw on the floor. The idea that God rewards faith, positive thinking, and regular tithing with financial wealth was counter to everything that I’d ever learned about God up to that point. It’s God-as-a-cosmic-vending-machine theology on steroids. By the time a pastor with the actual name Creflo Dollar showed up on the screen to defend this theology, I was convinced that the whole thing had to be either a joke or a cult. Everybody knows that God isn’t in the business of trading blessings for obedience, right?

Liturgy: Abram's Call, Genesis 12:1-9 (September 20, 2026)

        *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 that you have either used or adapted it.*

Hymns

Hymn GTG #47, “Bless All Who Trust in God”

Hymn GTG #51, “To Abraham and Sarah”

Hymn GTG #765, “May the God of Hope Go with Us”

Liturgy: The Call of Abraham - Genesis 12:1-9 (September 18, 2022)

*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.*

Call to Worship

Leader: God called Abram to leave behind his land, family, and home.
People: Where God calls, we will follow.

Leader: The Lord’s Word is good; the Lord’s promises are true.
People: Where God calls, we will follow.
Leader: The Lord be with you!
People: [Respond with indicated gesture:] And also with you!
Leader: Let us worship the Lord.

Sermon: "Father of Hope", Genesis 12:1-9 (September 18, 2022)

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Most of you probably didn’t realize it, but last week, we made a shift in worship from using the Revised Common Lectionary to using the Narrative Lectionary. The Revised Common Lectionary, which has guided my preaching for most of the time I’ve been your pastor, is a three-year cycle of scripture readings based around the liturgical year (beginning with Advent). Its purpose is to ensure a more or less comprehensive survey of the Bible and to prevent repetitive preaching. The Narrative Lectionary, on the other hand, approaches scripture differently. It selects and orders biblical passages in such a way that it presents a cohesive narrative of God’s people. Over the course of each year in a four-year cycle (one for each of the gospels), the Narrative Lectionary moves from Genesis to the patriarchs and matriarchs of our faith, through the Kingdom of Israel and the prophets, through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, all the way to the history of the early Church, as if telling a single, continuous story.

Sermon: "Let Us Build a House: Homesick", Genesis 12:1-9/Luke 21:25-36 (November 28, 2021--Advent I)

(This is the first sermon in our Advent and Christmas series, "Let Us Build a House", based on the Advent theme from A Sanctified Art.)

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Think about the last time you moved. The searching, the haggling, the financing, the packing, the scheduling, the physical and emotional energy expended, and after all that, the unpacking and updating documents and settling in. All that work is multiplied tenfold if you’re building a house from the ground up. And if you’re moving across the country? Forget about it. No matter the circumstances, I think we can all agree that moving house is a monumental task.

And yet, we still do it. People move from one place to another all the time. These days, it’s rare for anyone to live their entire lives in the same house that they grew up in; in fact, the average USAmerican moves more than 11 times over the course of their life.[1] People move in good times and in hard times—many even moved during the worst parts of the pandemic last year. Even though finding a new place to live can literally be a full-time job, even though fitting everything you own into boxes can feel impossible, even though leaving an old home behind can be painful, moving is still a near-universal human experience.

Sermon: "In God We Trust", Genesis 15:1-6/Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 (August 11, 2019)

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Our first reading today is one of the more astounding stories in the Bible. I don’t mean because of the number of descendants that God promises Abram (although that IS incredible) and I don’t mean because of the prospect of an elderly couple having a child in their old age (although that IS inconceivable). No, the reason this passage is so astounding is because of what God’s doing here: God is entering into a covenant relationship with humanity.