Prepare Ye

Here is the first sermon I gave in the Garden, for August 9th. I first want to thank God and everyone involved for this opportunity to serve God here in this wonderful setting of Burke’s Garden and Bluefield. I realize what a unique and precious opportunity this is, and I ask for the help of God and of everyone to serve this community to the best of my ability. Today’s Gospel lesson begins with Christ saying, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” This continues the discourse we have heard in previous weeks about bread; the miraculous feeding of the 5,000 and the manna from heaven. Now, he explains that he is the bread of heaven, come down to sustain and provide salvation for humanity. Christ has come to draw people to God and, through Him, to salvation. The word used meaning to draw is the same word used when Jesus commands those who are fishing to pull in their nets once they have captured their

This is the text I worked off of to give my sermon on August 23rd. I deviated from it somewhat when I gave it in the Garden and again at my supervisor's church. The texts for the day were:Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18; Psalm 34:15-22; Ephesians 6:10-20 and John 6:56-69. < Pray for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. Pray that I may declare it boldly. AMEN. When I coached football, we had a saying we told our players during the most challenging parts of practice, “Go hard or go home.” It meant we coaches wanted all they could give. When the players came to practice we wanted their total focus and maximum effort. If they were not willing to do that, then they were not being helpful to the team; they should go home. I had one player I coached ask me one day after I had been on him because I knew he was not giving his maximum effort what more wanted. I told him, “All I want is all you’ve got.” From the Gospel, for th

At the Church Wide Assembly, Bishop Hanson said the following as part of his report: "Now that by God’s grace through faith on account of Christ we are free—free from bondage to sin, death, and the devil—what are we going to do? Now that we don’t have to do anything to earn God’s favor, what are we going to do? Listen to Luther’s response in Freedom of a Christian: I will therefore give myself as Christ to my neighbor, just as Christ offered himself; I will do nothing in this life except what I see is necessary, profitable and salutary to my neighbor, since through faith I have an abundance of all good things in Christ." Some form of this statement is going to work itself into a number of my sermons. It states something I've been wrestling with so much better than I could get my head around. btw, there is A LOT of comments I want to make about the discussion of the Sexuality statement and resolutions at the CWA, but I will hold my tongue rather than type something r

This isn't going to be a full blown post, but things are going well here in the Garden. I'm settled in, completed my first solo service (preaching and presiding) and did not commit any major trespass. Well, the sermon did go 18+ minutes. But people said they learned a lot. (Key word = Lot) So here are some photos of the Garden. I'll post the sermon when I convert it from outline form. This is my "2nd office." It is my deck just outside of where I've put my office. You can see why I move outside when the weather allows. This is a view of the church's cemetery from my deck.

I'm in the Garden, and have been since the 1st, sorry I haven't blogged, but it's been a busy two weeks. I'll blog properly, but I wanted to share this from the Church of Scotland's Pray Now series. Sometimes, I go to that place called Lonely I go there by myself or with companions and stay a long while or just for a short time. It's a place that aches with abandonment A place where even the tears have run dry. And I long to know God Will I ever find you there? No one talks about visiting this place It carries a stigma hidden in many disguises. The child in the playground that no one plays with The awkward teenager - too big, too small, too fat, too tall The clubber dancing wildly fearing the day's end The person with learning disabilities that has never known a friend The single person left out by couples who dine The parent longing for adult conversation The widow/er grieving a companionship of love The old person at home or in a home, wondering if this i