Tag: Crucifixion
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The Snaky Places of Life – A Sermon On Numbers 21:4-9 and John 3:14-21
The serpent that bites and kills and is also the serpent that heals and give life. That doesn’t make sense but what if that’s really how it is? What if the snaky places are not so much places to escape but places from which soul-medicine arises? Can opposites really coincide in that way? Read more
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Good Friday? Really? – A Sermon on Suffering and Death
What is your story of suffering and loss? When was a time you thought your heart couldn’t break anymore than it already had? Who are the loved ones you’ve lost? What is the pain that never goes away? When has your world come to an end? When have you cried in the daytime, but had… Read more
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Crucifying our Programs for Happiness – A Sermon on Matthew 16:21-28
“Do you want to know how I got to be so smart?” That’s the question a friend of mine has recently begun asking me at the end of our conversations. He is not only a friend. He is also, for me, a teacher and mentor. He and I often speak about life, prayer, theology, and… Read more
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Who Holds the Cross of Christ?
Pilate asked Jesus, “Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?” (John 19:10) Pilate thinks he holds the cross of Christ. Jesus knows otherwise. How we see and understand the cross is determined by who we believe holds the cross. In human hands the cross is imposed.… Read more
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Crucifixion, A Love Story – A Sermon for Good Friday; John 18:1-19:42
The collect and readings for Good Friday may be found here. The following sermon is based on John 18:1 – 19:42. I have come to believe that the crucifixion did not kill Jesus. Crucifixion is merely the external force and circumstance of his death. At a deeper level the cross points to the intense relationship… Read more
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Watch for Snakes – A Sermon for Lent 4B; Numbers 21:4-9 and John 3:14-21
The collect and readings for the Fourth Sunday in Lent may be found here. The following sermon is based on Numbers 21:4-9 and John 3:14-21. When I drive to Corpus Christi I usually stop at a little rest area alongside interstate 37 about 85 miles north of Corpus. As you exit the interstate and follow… Read more
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A Sermon for Good Friday, John 18:1-19:42
The collect and readings for Good Friday may be found here. The appointed gospel is John 18:1-19:42. What do you see when you look at the cross? The sin of the world? Suffering, pain, loss? Sorrow, separation, death? To some degree all that is present in the crucifixion. No doubt, all of those things are… Read more
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A Sermon for Tuesday in Holy Week, John 12:20-33
The collect and readings for Tuesday in Holy Week may be found here. The appointed gospel is John 12:20-33. Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went… Read more
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A Good Friday Reflection
“We glory in your cross, O Lord, and praise and glorify your holy resurrection; for by virtue of your cross joy has come to the whole world. May God be merciful to us and bless us, show us the light of his countenance, and come to us. Let your ways be known upon earth,your saving… Read more