~ Acts 4:32-35/1 John 1:1-10 ~ You know what yesterday was, don’t you? It was National Farm Animals Day! Oh, you thought I was going to say National Siblings Day, didn’t you? Because, of course, that’s what everyone was posting on social media (for those of you who indulge … Read More
~ Mark 16:1-8 ~ I think it fair to say, without Easter, we wouldn’t know about Jesus. I mean, if the story had ended with Jesus dying on a Roman cross, just like so many other thousands of Jews in those days, he would have been forgotten. Indeed, without Easter … Read More
~ Jeremiah 31:33-34/Psalm 51/John 12:20-28 ~ The fifth Sunday of Lent: This journey through Lent can be rather tedious, can’t it? Ever since Ash Wednesday the themes have been rather somber; maybe to some, depressing. Fasting and penance; introspection and reflection about hard stuff, week after week. Maybe you’re saying, … Read More
~ John 3:14-18/Ephesians 2:1-10/Psalm 107 ~ I have a story this morning. It was my very first sermon. I was 18 years old. First semester at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and my first “practical Christian work” assignment was at the mothership of rescue missions, the Pacific Garden Mission just … Read More
~ John 2:13-25 ~ It was a seminal moment in the struggle for racial justice. September 15, 1963, the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Four members of the Ku Klux Klan planted dynamite with a timer beneath the steps of the church. The resulting explosion killed four young … Read More
~ Genesis 17:1-7; 15-17/Mark 8:27-38 ~ I have to say up front that I am very wary of talking about devotion. I have issues with trying to assess how devoted I am, how devoted you are. In my growing-up experience, for which being truly devoted was a must, I’ve seen … Read More