Racism – An Online Reading And Discussion Group
Please join me in an online reading and discussion group about racism. Continue reading Racism – An Online Reading And Discussion Group
Author: Michael K. Marsh
Prophetic Tracks – A Sermon On Matthew 10:40-42
I wonder if we have become so accustomed to the way things are that we can no longer see the needs of others, the injustices done to them, or their pain. I wonder if that’s why in the last several weeks so many of us are in shock over what is happening in our country today. We look on in disbelief and ask, “Why? How could this happen? I don’t understand. I can’t imagine.” Maybe it because complacency has blinded us.
What’s happening is not new. What’s new (I hope) is our beginning to awaken to what is happening. I think we are hearing and recognizing what’s happening as a prophetic moment in our lives and in the life of America. Events can also be prophetic. Continue reading Prophetic Tracks – A Sermon On Matthew 10:40-42
Jesus’ Line In The Sand – A Sermon On Matthew 10:24-39
Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
I don’t remember struggling more with the gospel than I have in the last few weeks. And I don’t mean struggling to interpret the truth of the gospel. I mean struggling with that truth in my life, struggling with what that truth reveals about us and our country, struggling with what that truth is asking of us, and struggling with that truth in what I say to you each Sunday. Continue reading Jesus’ Line In The Sand – A Sermon On Matthew 10:24-39
“I Can’t Breathe” – A Trinity Sunday Sermon On Matthew 28:16-20
I don’t know and never will know what it’s like to have the knee of a police officer against my neck, but I still can’t breathe.
I want to be able to breathe again. I want you to be able to breathe. I want the George Floyds of the world to be able to breathe. I want us to breathe faith, hope, and love. I want us to breathe repentance, forgiveness, and healing. I want us to breathe compassion, justice, and peace. Don’t you? Don’t you want those things for yourself, for your kids and grandchildren, for the people of our country, for the world? Continue reading “I Can’t Breathe” – A Trinity Sunday Sermon On Matthew 28:16-20
Letting Peace Hold Our Wounds – A Pentecost Sermon On John 20:19-23
America is in a hard place these days, and we have been for quite a while. Over the last few months of the coronavirus many have said that we’re all in this together. Yes, but we’re not all together in this. We are not “all together in one place” on this day of Pentecost. Our country is divided, fragmented, and wounded. And so is my heart. Maybe yours is too.
It’s not easy to talk about our wounds; whether it’s our individual wounds or our national wounds, whether it’s the wounds we’ve received or the ones we’ve inflicted. To talk about our wounds requires us to look at what we’ve done and left undone. It means we each have to look within ourselves. It means taking responsibility for our lives. It means valuing the life and wounds of another as much as our own. Continue reading Letting Peace Hold Our Wounds – A Pentecost Sermon On John 20:19-23
The Gaps In Our Lives – A Sermon On Acts 1:6-14
At some point we all come to a gap in our life. It takes us to the edge of what we know, to the border of what we believe, to the horizon of what we can see, to the limit of our self-sufficiency. The gap is paradoxical. It look like two opposing edges and feels like we are being puled two different directions, but paradoxes remind us that there is more there than what we can see.
Sometimes the gap feels like an ever widening chasm that I will never be able to bridge or cross. Other times it feels like an abyss into which I am falling and will never get out of. Sometimes that gap is about a longing and desire for something new, something different, something more. Other times that gap is about pain, loss, and heartbreak. Continue reading The Gaps In Our Lives – A Sermon On Acts 1:6-14
The Advocate – A Sermon On John 14:15-21
That we need an Advocate to change God’s mind about us just doesn’t fit a God “who so loved the world.” It’s contrary to Jesus saying that he came not to condemn the world but to save, heal, and transform it (John 3:17). “I came,” he says, “that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:9).
What if the Advocate’s role is not to change God’s mind but to change our minds about ourselves and each other? Continue reading The Advocate – A Sermon On John 14:15-21
Recentering Life – A Sermon On John 14:1-14
Spoken or unspoken, I think there’s a question every troubled heart is asking. Will the center hold or is everything collapsing around us? That’s my question and maybe it’s your question too. I think it’s one many are asking. And today Jesus answers, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” Continue reading Recentering Life – A Sermon On John 14:1-14
The Question of Reopening – A Sermon on Psalm 23 and John 10:1-10
Jesus says that he is the gate. Gates open and close. Gates keep sheep in, and thieves and bandits out. Gates close to death and open to life.
I’m attracted to the gate metaphor because it fits what is happening in our country, our state, our town, your life and my life. I’m talking about reopening. Continue reading The Question of Reopening – A Sermon on Psalm 23 and John 10:1-10
Easter Unlocked And Opened – A Sermon On John 20:19-31
The Second Sunday of Easter – John 20:19-31 Every year I come to this day – the Second Sunday of Easter – and I wonder what difference last Sunday – Easter Sunday – has made. Are our lives and world different because of Easter and, if so, how and in what ways? Look around. What do you see? Has your life changed? Are you living … Continue reading Easter Unlocked And Opened – A Sermon On John 20:19-31
