We started a new sermon series this week that’s looking at the epistle of 1 Peter. As is usually the case with sermon series, there’s usually more that I’d like to get to in a particular sermon but time does not always permit. We kicked off the series this past Sunday (April 24) with a …
Reverent Fear: Thoughts on 1 Peter 1:17-25 Continue Reading »
Our Lenten sermon series “Jesus the Stranger” has been looking at the ways in which various people responded to Jesus as he went about his ministry in first-century Judea. This week we explore the relationship between Jesus and his disciples, the people who were seemingly closest to him, and yet also simultaneously the most clueless …
If you’re of a certain age, the title of this week’s post immediately takes you back to the 1980 Olympics and the “Miracle on Ice.” Al Michaels’ iconic call as the seconds ticked down on the improbable upset of the Soviet hockey team by a bunch of plucky American college kids is arguably the greatest …
Yeah, that title should get your attention… We’re coming to the conclusion of our series on the seven sermons to the seven churches of Revelation and it seems that Jesus has actually saved the worst for last. If we thought things were bad in Sardis, a church that had the “name of being alive” but …
Laodicea and the Kind of Church That Makes Jesus Puke Continue Reading »
If you’ve visited Philadelphia, PA, you know that it’s famous as the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence, the home of the Liberty Bell, and the best cheesesteaks on the planet. It’s also a rival to the city on the other side of the state, which is why Pittsburghers and Philadelphians are often at odds …
Philadelphia: The Church of Brotherly Love Continue Reading »
One of the things drilled into young infantry officers is the ability to instantly analyze a plot of terrain and its tactical strengths and weaknesses. Like most things with the military, that analysis involves an acronym; in this case, it’s a soft-drink sounding one–OCOKA–which addresses the five features to evaluate when looking at any piece …
One of the required series of courses at Asbury Theological Seminary centers on Robert Traina’s method of Inductive Bible Study as a way of breaking down a particular text and mining the author’s original intent. Inductive Bible Study (“IBS” or, as we called it, “EB” for English Bible) involves looking at the original language alongside …
As we continue our sermon series looking at the seven sermons to the churches of Revelation, Jesus’ word to the church at Pergamum stands out as one in which there’s a lot of information packed into a few verses. Understanding some of the context will be helpful as you prepare for this week’s message. Pergamum, …
When Bishop Polycarp of Smyrna was arrested in 155 AD by Roman authorities, the charge levied against him was that he, like the members of his flock, was an “atheist.” They didn’t mean that Polycarp held no faith in God, which is the modern definition of an atheist, but rather that Polycarp held to and …
Smyrna and the Challenge of Christian “Atheism” Continue Reading »
As we dive deeper into our series on the seven churches of Revelation this week, we begin with a look at the church in Ephesus, which is the first major city a messenger would have come to in taking John’s written Revelation from Patmos. Ephesus was the leading city in Asia Minor in the first …
Ah, 2022–the year that things return to some semblance of normal, yes? Well, no. After two years of riding the pandemic roller coaster, it’s pretty clear that things have been permanently altered. As Doc Holliday says to Wyatt Earp at the end of Tombstone, one of my favorite movies of all time: “There is no normal …
One of the normal things that happen in the first weeks of the new year is that people tend to pay more attention to their bodies than at other times of the year. This is the season in which people make new year’s resolutions to lose weight, or eat better, or exercise more. Normally that …
Body Matters: Sermon for the Second Sunday of Epiphany Continue Reading »
Texts: 2 Kings 23:1-3; 1 Peter 1:13-25; John 15:1-8 We have turned the page to a new year…thanks be to God! All of us are looking forward to a better 2021 and will have no problem leaving 2020 in the rearview mirror. We certainly hope and pray that our circumstances will be different, that the …
A Call to Holiness: A Message for Covenant Sunday Continue Reading »
Text: Luke 1:26-38 Hush, little baby, don’t you cry…” Every good mother knows the calming power of a lullaby to help settle a fussy baby. There’s something about a mother’s voice that can bring a sense of peace and help a little one drift into a blessed rest. It turns out that there’s some real …
Magnificat: A Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year B) Continue Reading »
From the series “Walls: A Theology in Blood and Brick.” Nehemiah 11:1-2; Acts 1:1-8 When Hadrian’s Wall was built in the second century AD, it represented the very northern edge of the Roman Empire. The Emperor Hadrian had famously decided to halt the expansion of the empire, which he had believed had been overstretched by …