Liturgy: Ruth, Ruth 1:1-17 (October 15, 2023)

*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.*

Hymns:

Hymn GTG #306, “Blessed Be the Tie that Binds”

Hymn GTG #340, “This Is My Song”
Hymn GTG #300, “We Are One in the Spirit”

Sermon: "Holy Provocation", Numbers 20:1-5, 9-13/Hebrews 10:19-25 (November 14, 2021)

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Families fight. This is a universal truth. It doesn’t matter if yours is connected by genetics or by choice; it makes no difference how healthy the dynamics between its members are. All families fight.

The Church likes to pretend that it’s exempt from this natural law—that because we have Jesus as our head, we meet conflict with a level of grace and humility that puts everyone else to shame. But come on; we all know that isn’t true. ALL. FAMILIES. FIGHT. And God’s family is no exception. From arguments about what color to paint the walls to full-blown denominational schisms, the Christian family has been fighting with each other since time immemorial. Our fights may not resemble the backset arguments of our childhood over who’s touching whom or the tension of a holiday dinner in an election year, but they’re just as inevitable.

Sermon: "Recipe for Repentance: Trust”, Romans 4:13-25 (February 28, 2021)

(This is the second sermon in our Lenten series, "Recipe for Repentance". Last week's sermon can be found here, and the Ash Wednesday message can be found here.)

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Paul’s letters aren’t always what you might call “user-friendly.” Many of us avoid reading them because they’re so complex and dense. Even the most devout among us, those who’ve successfully endured Leviticus’ litany of laws and stayed awake through the genealogies in Matthew and Luke, find themselves thwarted by Paul’s rhetoric. His arguments are so sophisticated and his language so theologically technical that it really can’t just be read; it must be studied and absorbed in order to be truly appreciated. And who has time for that, right?

Sermon: "A Letter to My Family", 1 Corinthians 3:4-11, 21-23/Romans 12:4-13 (November 11, 2018)--Farewell Sermon

11/11/18

Sermon video here; benediction video here.

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Writing a “goodbye” sermon is really tough. From an intellectual standpoint, it’s hard to decide what it should look like, how it should be put together. Which scripture do I choose? How do I choose it? What final message do I want to share? What important points should I make? What kind of tone do I want to convey? To be honest, I went through at least three different iterations of potential sermons, one of which involved me singing a Broadway song from the pulpit, none of which I wound up using. So, you’re welcome.