Sermon: "Unexpected Expressions of Joy", Philippians 4:4-7/Luke 3:7-16 (December 16, 2018)

12/16/18--Advent III

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Today marks the third week of Advent, so at the beginning of worship, we lit three candles. Traditionally, the first candle represents hope, the second candle represents peace, and the third candle—this week’s candle—represents joy. Before I go any further, I want us to think about what joy looks like, and how we express it. What words come to mind? Exuberance? Energy? Confidence? Boldness? Singing? Shouting? Dancing? Jumping?

Sermon: "Preparing for Our Part of the Story", Malachi 3:1-4/Luke 1:68-79 (December 9, 2018)

12/9/18

(Advent II: my first Sunday preaching for Boone Memorial Presbyterian Church in Caldwell, ID)

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I love Advent. Every year I look forward to this special time of transition, excitement, and anticipation: a new liturgical year begins, many of my favorite traditions return, and the Church once again awaits Christ’s coming. An exciting time, indeed. And here at Boone Memorial Presbyterian Church, we have extra reason to anticipate and celebrate joyfully this Advent—you and I are beginning our ministry together, and I know that we’re all feeling hopeful and eager to find out what God has in store for us. There’s so much to look forward to, and Advent is a particularly apt time for us to be anticipating this community’s bright future together. 

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.

Sermon: "Relational Gratitude", Job 1:1, 2:1-10/Hebrews 2:5-12 (October 7, 2018)

10/7/18

Sermon video here.

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Before I begin today, I must confess that the excitement of preaching this week has been eclipsed for me by another even more exciting, more personal event. You see, tomorrow is my first wedding anniversary, and as we all know, it’s smooth sailing after the first year, so I’m pumped. In all seriousness, though, this week has been a flood of memories for me, since the week leading up to the big day were filled with last-minute on-site details (because I had done a bulk of the planning from well over 2000 miles away). And I know that there will be even more memories in the coming days, as I relive the ceremony, the reception, and of course, the most important part. You know what I’m talking about.

The thank you notes.

Worst Group Project EVER

I realized this week that writing a sermon feels like a nightmare group project with myself.

--Student 1 is in charge of the research, but she just wants to skim everything and get it over with.

--Student 2 is in charge of taking notes, but doesn't really care if the order is helpful at all--she just slaps them down on the paper willy-nilly.

--Student 3 has to come up with some sort of outline or structure. She's probably the most helpful member of the team, but resents everyone else's laziness.

--Student 4 is the one who writes the sermon. She's the type A classmate who keeps working on the project until the absolute last minute because she's trying to make it perfect and fix everyone else's mistakes. She thinks she's the most important member of the team, but everyone else is SO OVER IT.

--Student 5 is the diva who finally shows up just in time to make the presentation, gets the credit and everyone else agrees is the literal worst.

Sermon: "The Trouble with Teaching", Isaiah 50:4-9a/James 3:1-12 (September 16, 2018)

9/16/18

Sermon video here.

Now that school has been back in session for a month or so here in Idaho, and we’ve resumed our full Christian Education program here at FPC, it seems like as good a time as any to talk about teachers. I mean, we all know how important teachers are, right? They’re the ones who help us to grow into better people by opening our minds, supporting our exploration, and encouraging our discoveries. The best ones help us to understand and appreciate things that we previously had little interest in. I bet that most of us can easily recall a favorite teacher of ours from our past—and it might not have been a school teacher. Friends, family, extracurricular leaders, neighbors, pastors, even folks you meet on the street: any of these people could wind up teaching you.

If You Love Something...

I am not a gardener.

In fact, I would characterize myself as "the furthest thing possible from a gardener". What's the opposite color of green? That's what color my thumb is. So when my sunflowers started wilting, I was devastated.

Nick and I bought a sunflower plant a month or two ago because it was getting towards the end of the season, so they were on clearance. It was his idea--he knows how much I love sunflowers and how anxious I am about the state of our garden and yard (i.e. "off the charts" anxious), so he suggested that we give it a shot. Now, you have to understand how I feel about sunflowers. They're my favorite flower. They were in my wedding bouquet. They're a tangible symbol of light and hope is a world that is often weighed down with ugliness and pain. So yeah, I like sunflowers.