Today we’re beginning a season in the book of Psalms. Which reminds me of a story I once heard of a traveling preacher who visited a small, rural church and began his sermon by saying, “Since I’m new, I asked your minister for a list of all of you, broken down by age and byRead more
Luke 10.21-24 Pastors can be guilty of boring people with too many reflections from their own lives, and I’m sure at times I’m no exception. But you’ll have to forgive me today because what we’ve just heard from Jesus in Luke 10 remind me of a recent event in our family’s life. A few weeksRead more
It came as little surprise to me that Jennifer passed away when she did. We had many conversations about death, about eternity, about what it meant to trust that God would keep her safe, maker her well, in this life or the next. In fact, I felt warmed to walk away from one of myRead more
Luke 9.46-48 Watch the sermon here. The island of Capri in southern Italy is a playground for the rich and famous. Visit and you’ll see super-yachts, fancy restaurants, and high fashion boutiques. Capri is a place synonymous with opulence and wealth, and the Roman ruins there tell us it was the same in Jesus’ day.Read more
Colossians 1.9-11 Last year a handful of us on the team set up portable workspaces in our church sanctuary, spreading out around the room in a kind of physically distant communal office. We didn’t take that time together for granted, because even though the faces were repetitive, they were at least live faces! Of course,Read more
Below are the links to twenty-one poems since January 2021. Investiture Beloved On the ChestObject of Prayer To a Welshman Mistakes Her Contrition Fuji (Psalm 19) Graffiti WastelandHomileticsTwo England Strokes The Cost On a Bluebell Early On a Windowsill River Bend Elizabeth Tree Halfway
LWC May 9, 2021Essentials: Spirit (fruit)Galatians 5.16-25 Happy Mother’s Day. Today we’re talking about what we heard in the passage a moment ago: how does the produce of a life with God’s Spirit turn up in us and through us? As it’s Mother’s Day, maybe a parenting picture will help to begin. Anyone who’s gone onRead more
NUCLEAR This is our second talk on body in our Essentials series. Last week Rikk took us on a tour of scripture in relation to the body. What did we hear? We heard that humans are God’s refection, embodiments of God’s presence and character within creation; that every human is made in the image of God, so what weRead more
LWC March 28, 2021John 13. 1-17Watch / Listen Here I’ve only had my feet washed by someone once. I was twenty-three, had just become a pastor and of course already knew an awful lot about what it meant to be a one. Surprisingly, I think I know much less now than I did back then.Read more
Matthew 20.1-16 (The Workers in the Vineyard) The story of the workers in the vineyard reminds me of a play I saw a number of years ago called Jesus Hopped the A Train. It’s set in Rikers Prison and surrounds a couple of characters who’ve been locked up for murder. It was a very uncomfortable play,Read more