We continue our series on the Genesis genealogy of Jesus this week with one of the more interesting, entertaining, and compelling stories of the Old Testament. We’ve seen the sin of Adam and Eve, the faithfulness of Noah, the covenant promise to Abraham, and the promised child Isaac. We come now to Jacob. Jacob’s story …
“All in the Family” Part V: Jacob–Wrestling with God (12/10/06 Sermon) Continue Reading »
You heard it here first! I will be leading a 10-day trip to the Holy Land in October of 2007 and you are invited. Details are forthcoming, but I’m excited about this opportunity to explore the places that have meant so much to many Christians, Jews, and Muslims for thousands of years. The tour is …
This Sunday we continue our series on the Genesis genealogy of Jesus with a look at Jacob, who is one of the most compelling figures in the Old Testament. Abraham got the call, Isaac almost got sacrificed, but Jacob is the one who the nation of Israel gets named after. It’s not because he’s got …
We continue our series on the Genesis genealogy of Jesus today with Isaac, who was the son of Abraham and Sarah. Last week we talked about Abraham, the patriarch, who set out on this great journey at God’s invitation—a journey of promise based on land and descendants. Though Abraham and Sarah were both very old …
“All in the Family” Part IV: Isaac–Child of Promise (12/3/06 Sermon) Continue Reading »
NEVER LOSE YOUR CELL PHONE This week has been dominated by the loss and replacement of my cell phone. It was accidentally lost during a foray from the house and the process of getting a replacement is, I believe a Job-ian fete. I discovered the phone missing on Monday morning…looked for it everywhere. As if …
“All in the Family” Part III – Abraham: Father of Nations Genesis 12:1-9 As we continue our series on Jesus’ family of origin in Genesis, let’s review where we’ve been. We’ve talked about Adam and Eve as the first “children,” who tried to grow up too fast and cast off God’s parenting and love—an act …
All in the Family: Part III–Abraham – Father of Nations (11/26/06 Sermon) Continue Reading »
I sit at my desk this evening woozy from a long afternoon of scarfing down turkey, stuffing (always my favorite) and various pies. It was lovely meal and, now being a bit older and more aware, I have been a good boy and haven’t gone back for more. In my hazy trytophan-induced stupor, however, I …
One of the most beloved Bible stories—one that everyone knows even if they’ve never opened a Bible is that of Noah and the Ark. Among the first toys that my children received was a toy Ark with a smiling Fisher Price Noah herding smiling animals into it’s crowded hull. We went around the …
“All in the Family”–Part II: Noah and the Story of Salvation (11/19/06 Sermon) Continue Reading »
Coming up this Sunday we’ll continue our sermon series "All in the Family" with a look at the story of Noah. We’ll go beyond the Fisher Price image of a smiling Noah and smiling animals in an orderly Ark and look deeper at how the story fits in the saga of the human family and …
Last evening I had an unusual opportunity. My friend Steve, who plays bass in our church praise band, told me about a local classic rock cover band that was looking for a rhythm section. He made a phone call, got a set list, and we found ourselves driving to an audition last night. It was …
A couple of years back I was involved in a Clinical Pastoral Education course where one of the exercises was to create a genogram of your family of origin. Now while a genealogy tracks who begat who, a genogram really tracks the relationships and patterns in a family that are passed on from …
11/12/06 Sermon: “All in the Family”–Part I: Adam and Eve, The First Children Continue Reading »
First it was Mel Gibson’s treatment of The Passion…now, this Christmas season, we’ll be seeing the story of the Nativity as a major motion picture. I just watched the movie trailer online and it looks like an interesting window into that old, old story. My friend and editor at Homiletics, Timothy Merrill, writes in his …
One of the challenges I have sometimes in teaching about spiritual things concerns an understanding of time–God’s time vs. our time. I’ve been observing lately how time is measured through the eyes of children as my daughter languishes on a rainy Saturday with "nothing to do." She is usually very active and social, and so …
Due to copyright restrictions, today’s sermon is only available on audio. I wrote part of the sermon for an issue of Homiletics awhile back, which means it has been published and copyrighted. Since I vary and ad-lib on Sunday morning, your best bet is to check out "Grace-onomics" in MP3 on our web site.
Advent is the season where we prepare for the coming of Christ. Every year we return to the familiar story of Jesus’ family and birth—stories of Mary and Joseph, Elizabeth and Zechariah, John the Baptist and the journey to Bethlehem. This year, however, I want to offer a series of sermons that will take us …
“All in the Family” — New Sermon Series to Begin November 12 Continue Reading »