Posts

Showing posts from November, 2016

Faith Fixes You

This is the manuscript from my November 27 sermon that I worked off of. The lesson for the day was Joel 2:12-13 and 28-29. We are one week ahead of the Narrative Lectionary. Yesterday, I saw online that an actor named Ron Glass passed away. You might know him from Barney Miller ; he played Det. Ron Harris. I knew him better for another role, sci-fi show Firefly. He played a pastor, known as Shepherd Book. Besides enjoying sci-fi, I connected with Shepherd Book. The series came right at the time I was first considering the ministry, and seeing a man of faith who had not always been a man of faith spoke to me. I watched a couple of episodes of Serenity before writing this, because I wanted to see one particular scene. Shepherd came into his quarters to find another character is “fixing the Bible,” trying to reconcile contradictions, develop a more unified message. In response, Shepherd says, It’s not about making sense. It’s about believing in something, and letting that belief

Will You Answer The Call?

  This is the manuscript of my sermon from November 13, 2016. The lesson was Isaiah 6:1-8. Also included is my Small Talk (Children's Message) which precedes the reading of the lesson. EDIT: Right after I posted this, I saw a link to the following article come across my Twitter feed. Please read this article from the Southern Poverty Law Center on Responding to Everyday Bigotry . May grace and peace be yours in abundance . AMEN. It is a time of chaos. In the midst of a transfer of power and authority, lines are drawn. Controversy ensues. People are angry. Other nations weigh in. There is unrest and controversy. I’m of course talking about the setting for our lesson from Isaiah. The nation of Israel has split into two, the Northern Kingdom, Israel or Ephraim) and Judea, the Southern Kingdom. Israel has joined into an alliance with Syria to fight the Assyrian Empire (the capital city of which is Nineveh, where Jonah went in last week’s lesson.) Judea refuse