Category: Christmas
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It’s Just Us And The Baby – A Christmas Day Sermon On Luke 2:8-20
Today’s sermon is going to be pretty low key. I think that’s what this day calls for. This day always feels to me more like a day for reflection than proclamation. I’m taking my cue here from Mary. It’s so quiet this morning, so calm, so empty and, yet, so overflowing. This is always one Read more
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Tonight It Is Filled – A Christmas Eve Sermon On Luke 2:1-20
When I was kid I loved the “then and there” Christmas story. You know it. It’s the one we just heard from the gospel according to St. Luke (Luke 2:1-20). It begins, “In those days …” and it happened “in that region.” “In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus ….”“In that region Read more
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Greening The Church And Our Lives
Every year part of our preparation for Christmas is the greening of the church. We set up and decorate the Christmas trees. We hang wreaths and greenery. It involves a lot of doing and activity. Some people are opening boxes and organizing the greenery. Some are on ladders hanging greenery. Some are putting Christmas trees Read more
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Will We Be Dreamers Or Searchers In 2021? – A Sermon On Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23
We’re three days into the new year, a time of change and transition often marked by the calendar more than the circumstances of our lives or world. Regardless, the 2020 year end reviews are well underway with commentaries, assessments, and judgments. For some, maybe most, “Good-bye 2020,” could just as well be “Good riddance, 2020.”… Read more
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The Flight To Egypt In Poetry And Music
This coming Sunday one option for the gospel is the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23). Every time read this story I remember the words of poet George Szirtes and the music of Richard Causton. Richard Causton is the composer of the 2015 commissioned Christmas Carol, “The Flight,” performed by King’s College during Read more
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“The Work Of Christmas” – A Sermon On John 1:1-18
I think most of us hear about the Word becoming flesh and living among us and we immediately assume it’s about Jesus. I don’t disagree with that. We see him enfleshing the Word of God throughout his life; enfleshing forgiveness, love, mercy, peace, gentleness, nonviolence, wisdom, compassion, generosity. That was his way of being and… Read more
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Now What? So What? – A Christmas Day Sermon On Luke 2:8-20
It’s so quiet this morning, so calm, so empty. Christmas Day is one of my favorite services every year. It’s just us and the baby. Most years I come to Christmas morning with two questions: Now what? So what? I never seem to have a final and lasting answer. So, once again, I come to… Read more
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By Way Of The Interruptions – A Christmas Sermon On Luke 2:1-20
It began about nine months ago. Life was interrupted when the unexpected and unimaginable happened. And I wondered, “How can this be?” Life was changing and things were getting too real too quick. The government made travel decrees. Some family, friends, and businesses closed to us and said, “No, you can’t come in.” Things just… Read more
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The Christmas Proclamation
Throughout the season of Advent, the Church has reflected on God’s promises, so often spoken by the prophets, to send a savior to the people of Israel who would be Emmanuel, that is, God with us. In the fullness of time those promises were fulfilled. With hearts full of joy let us hear the proclamation… Read more
Interrupting the Silence 