Tag: Death
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Opening To Life – A Sermon On Luke 13:31-35
The Second Sunday in Lent – Luke 13:31-35 When was the last time you went to bed thankful and amazed by what the day had given you, something you had not planned or foreseen? Maybe it was a conversation, a chance meeting with someone else, a moment of hope or beauty, a truth or insight Read more
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Life Before Death – An Ash Wednesday Sermon
Maybe Lent and the gospel of Jesus are not primarily about being good, a program for changing from a bad person to a good person, so we can get a future reward. I’ve got nothing against being a good person (whatever that might mean) but I’ve never read where Jesus said, “I came that you… Read more
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The Music Hasn’t Ended, The Key Has Changed – A Funeral Sermon
The music of Gene’s life did not end at his death. Though we might be able to name the day and maybe even the hour of Gene’s death, he never knew that moment. He simply moved from this life to a new life. The music hasn’t ended, the key has changed. And that means we… Read more
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Opening Gates – A Funeral Sermon For A Nonbeliever
What God creates, God loves; and what God loves, God loves everlastingly. I hope that you will hold on to those words. They are the thread that runs through everything we will do here today. They are the thread that runs through everything I will say to you. They are the thread that ran through Read more
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A New Day, A New Life – A Sermon On Mark 10:17-31
Proper 23B – Mark 10:17-31 “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” I wonder what drove the man to Jesus. I wonder what was going on in his life that caused him to run to Jesus, kneel down, and ask his question. What’s the desperation behind his question? What’s his desire? We Read more
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Irreparable Loss
Some losses are irreparable. The time is ruined. The suffering cannot be redeemed. There is no gain from this pain, no view long enough to eventually say, “It was worth it,” nothing that can compensate for what has been taken. And that’s okay. I do not want a salary for my suffering, I want salvation Read more
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What Have You Laid In The Tomb? – A Holy Saturday Sermon On John 19:38-42
“They laid Jesus there,” in the tomb (John 19:42). At one level that’s a literal-historical statement of what happened next. At another level it’s about you and me. We’ve all come to the tomb. We’ve laid in the tomb our family and friends, loves, hopes, dreams, relationships, parts of our selves and our lives. I… Read more
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Struggling With The Cross – A Good Friday Sermon On John 18:1-19:42
Before I talk about Good Friday I want to talk about Bad Friday. That’s the Friday that I struggle with. Don’t you? How are we to make sense of an all powerful, can do anything, kind of God who seemingly chooses to do nothing? That’s the Bad Friday question. Read more
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The Secret To Life – A Sermon On John 12:20-33
Seeing Jesus isn’t a spectator sport. It is a way to be followed, a truth to be embodied, a life to be lived. It’s being a grain of wheat that falls into the ground and dies so that it might bear much fruit. That’s where we see him. It’s the letting go, the emptying, the… Read more
Interrupting the Silence 