Having seen numerous posts on Facebook listing the five reasons a lay person shouldn’t leave their church, I thought it prudent to add that there are at least five reasons (probably more) why the pastor of a church shouldn’t leave. Yes, for those of you sitting in the pews on Sunday morning in Anywhere, USA, know …
5 Bad Reasons for Leaving Your Church – Clergy Edition Continue Reading »
Part IV of the series “Romans: The Road Less Traveled.” Romans 5:1-6:23 I was digging around in my office at home this week (always making room for more books) and I came across my baptismal certificate. I was baptized on September 13, 1964 at the tiny Presbyterian Church in Tunnelton, PA—my grandparents’ church. The elder …
Part III in the series “Romans: The Road Less Traveled.” Romans 3:21-4:25 We continue our road trip through Romans today, and whenever I think of a road trip, the first thing that always comes to mind for me is, “What needs to be packed and how will we pack it?” I’m pretty sure that I …
Part II of the series “Romans: The Road Less Traveled.” Romans 1:18-3:22 I saw an article pop up on Twitter this week that said that the Church of England is trying out a new baptism service that drops all mention of the devil and sin. Among the phrases abandoned are those referring to “the deceit …
First in a series on Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. Romans 1:1-17 In the central Forum of Rome, there once stood a monument, erected by Caesar Augustus around the year 20BC, that marked the center and beginning of all the roads leading to and from Rome. All that’s left of the monument, the Millarium Aureum, …
New Sermon Series Begins Sunday, January 5 In the first century world, it was no exaggeration to say that “all roads lead to Rome.” Rome was the center of the empire, the capital of commerce, and a symbol of power that still echoes in the modern world. One of those who took the road to …
Think Christmas is coming earlier every year? Think again. In fact, we could all use an even earlier Christmas… Isaiah 9:2-7; Titus 2:11-14 Well, it’s finally here. Just a few more hours and it will finally be Christmas. Children will soon be tucked in their beds, visions of Legos and X-Boxes dancing in their heads. …
If Christmas Came Tomorrow: A Sermon for Christmas Eve Continue Reading »
Fourth in an Advent series on Charles Wesley’s “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.” Isaiah 11:1-10; Romans 5:12-21 One of the more interesting and, for me sometimes, inconvenient tasks of the Christmas season is the whole putting up the Christmas tree thing. While I like having a Christmas tree in the house, it’s the whole process …
Third in an Advent series on the theology in Charles Wesley’s “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.” Philippians 2:5-11, John 11:17-27 One of the things about turning 50 is that it causes you to get a little bit nostalgic. One of the birthday presents I got a couple of weeks ago was a little booklet that …
Second in an Advent series on the theology in Charles Wesley’s “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” Colossians 1:15-20; John 1:1-18 About ten years ago, I was preparing a sermon for yet another Christmas Eve, trying to come up with another way to express the mystery of the incarnation: God becoming flesh in Jesus. That’s always the …
On the day Christians celebrate the Feast of Saint Nicholas, a look at the history and hagiography surrounding his life can teach us a lot about what it means to live a Christmas life… Titus 2:11-14 The little seaside town of Demre, in Turkey, isn’t exactly the North Pole. It rarely snows there. Palm trees and …
A Christmas Life: The Real Saint Nicholas Continue Reading »
It’s as certain as candy canes, evergreens, and Starbucks gingerbread lattes every year at this time–it’s the annual squawking about “The War on Christmas.” Certain people are getting into an indignant kerfuffle over the fact that some retailers and even regular people might actually say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.” To wit, I offer …
The War on Christmas: A Festivus for the Rest of Us! Continue Reading »
First in a series on the gospel in Charles Wesley’s famous carol, “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” Luke 2:8-15; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 One of the dilemmas that preachers run into during Advent is which hymns to plan for the congregation to sing during the season. Liturgically speaking, Christmas hymns should be reserved for Christmas, when …
“Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age, I am he, even when you turn gray I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry …
A look at the meaning of Christmas through the lens of Charles Wesley’s famous carol… One of the great parts about the Christmas season is the music of the carols. Some of those carols are old favorites (Silent Night, O Come All Ye Faithful) and some are just for fun (Jingle Bells, We Wish You …