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The Light In The Valley Of The Shadow Of Death – A Funeral Sermon on Psalm 23
Today we “walk through the valley of the shadow of death” (Psalm 23). Today the familiarity, poetry, and beauty of the 23rd psalm have a different tone. The shadow is dark and the valley is long and deep. I will not mislead you by denying that reality or letting platitudes and sentimentalities echo off the…
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What Is The Songline Of Your Life? – A Sermon On Luke 1:46-55
Are you familiar with songlines? Songlines are a part of the aboriginal life. The aborigines tell a creation story in which creation ancestors wandered the continent singing out the name of everything that crossed their path – birds, animals, plants, rocks, caves, desert brush, waterholes – thereby singing the world and all creation into existence.…
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I Look At Charlottesville And I Am Afraid – A Sermon on Matthew 14:22-33
The boat of our life is far from land right now. The night is dark, the waves are high, and the wind is strong. There is every reason to be afraid but I don’t want to live in fear and I don’t want you to either. I want us to see the light that shines…
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Deliver Me From The Hand Of My Brother – A Sermon On Genesis 32:3-31
We all have an Esau. Individuals, communities, parishes, religious orders, nations, you, and me – we all have an Esau. I am not talking about a literal Esau but a symbolic and metaphorical Esau. That does not mean, however, that Esau is not real. He is absolutely real. Esau is the face of our past…
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Dealing With The Unknown, Unchosen, or Unwanted – A Sermon on Genesis 29:15-28 and Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
The problem is that life doesn’t always work that way. Nor is that, Jesus says, how the kingdom of heaven works. Sometimes real life, kingdom life, is like a net dragged through the sea. It pulls up both the good and the bad. Other times it is like a field that you see day after…
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A Prayer for Victims of Human Trafficking
Almighty and gracious God, you heard the cries of your people enslaved in Egypt, you empowered Moses and Aaron to speak boldly to Pharaoh on their behalf, and you delivered them from their bondage. We hold before you the lives and cries of all enslaved and trafficked people, especially those who died in or are…
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A Sower Went Out To Sow – A Sermon on Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
So here’s what I am wondering. Might you and I be sowers of seed? When we hear or read this parable we are pretty quick to judge ourselves or others as one of the four types of ground: the beaten path, the rocky ground, thorny terrain, or good soil. But have you ever thought of…
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A Father’s Faith Or A Father’s Certitude? – A Sermon on Genesis 22:1-14
What do you think Sarah would have said if Abraham had told her his plans? Do you think she would have shared his certitude? Picture Abraham coming to Sarah and saying, “Let me tell you what God told me. Isaac and I are gong on a little trip. …” It’s not hard to imagine that…
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Who Would You Be If You Ever Became Fully Yourself? – A Sermon on Matthew 10:24-39
Who would you be if you ever became fully yourself? What new possibilities might arise? How would your relationships change? What fears would disappear? How do you imagine your life would be different? The sword Jesus brings is the sword of separation. It is neither a rejection of family and relationships nor is it destructive…
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Interrupting the Silence 