Tag: Baptism
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The Things That Make For Peace – A Sermon Luke 19:28-40 For Palm Sunday
Did anything strike you as strange about today’s first gospel reading (Luke 19:28-40)? Did it sound like something was missing? It’s the familiar Palm Sunday story about Jesus sending his disciples into the village to retrieve a colt for him to ride to Jerusalem. As he rides along people are “spreading their cloaks on the Read more
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Winnowing Our Life – A Sermon On Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
As you may know, today is the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus. This year we hear Luke’s version of that story (Luke 3:15-17, 21-22). And in a few minutes we will, as part of that story, renew our baptismal vows. Before we do, however, I want to ask you a few questions about your Read more
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All Are Responsible – A Sermon On Mark 1:4-11 And Acts 19:1-7
Last week, some of you may remember, I ended my sermon by asking this question: Will we, in 2021, be different from and better than how we were in 2020? There’s not much about the first ten days of 2021 that suggests we will. I think it’s still an open question and, I hope, still… Read more
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Here We Are – A Baptismal Sermon On the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:1-12
Emmitt, though you are only four and a half months old you are never too young to hear the Beatitudes for the first time, and neither are the rest of us too old to hear them again for the first time. Today you are being immersed in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) as a way of… Read more
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Consenting To Life – A Sermon On Matthew 3:13-17
What do you do when your prayer is not answered, the budget doesn’t work out, expectations are not met? What do you do when your plan doesn’t come together, a relationship ends, or life is interrupted? What do you do when it’s a hard day and you just want to say no and run away?… Read more
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The Many Baptisms Of Life – A Sermon On Acts 8:26-40
Baptism doesn’t happen just in the font at the back of the church. We’ve been taught and come to believe there is only one baptism in the church. And I think that is right, but I want to put the emphasis on “in the church.” In the church there is only one baptism. In life… Read more
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Advent in America: Politics and Baptism – A Sermon on Matthew 24:36-44 for Advent 1A
The First Sunday of Advent – Matthew 24:36-44 Many are saying that the world has changed and that it changed on November the 8th with the election of Mr. Trump as our next president. Some are excited and hopeful about this change. They’ve waited a long time for this day. Others are terrified and dismayed Read more
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The Holy Work of Crossing Over – A Sermon on Luke 7:11-17
Luke 7:11-17 Think about someone who was there for you at a critical moment in your life, one of those times when you just didn’t know how or if you would get through it. Who was there for you? Picture his or her face. Say their name out loud. Who was it? What was happening Read more
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Into What Then Were You Baptized? – A Sermon on Mark 1:4-11
I remember someone saying to me many years ago, “I’ve had a bad decade. There are things I wish I could re-do. I’d make different choices. So many words I wish I hadn’t said. Relationships that I’d do differently.” It probably doesn’t take a lot of imagination to know what he means. It may not Read more
Interrupting the Silence 