If you are wondering today, if you have questions for God today, if you are not certain today, Jacob’s story may be your story.
Sermon, October 2, 2016: Increase our faith, God!
Mother Teresa was an Albanian woman who early in her life devoted herself to service as a Roman Catholic nun and lived most of her life in India. The letters she wrote during her lifetime show that Mother Teresa struggled with wide and deep doubts about the existence of God, the love of God, the grace of God.
Sermon, 8/14/2016: God’s word burns like fire and breaks a rock in pieces like a hammer
Sermon: Maundy Thursday, 2016
About nine months ago, someone in our community sat in my office, and we talked about life. This was not an unusual situation.… I spend a lot of time talking with you who are part of the Grace community about life, about illness and death, about unemployment and vocation, about school and relationships, about questions you have about God and the world. So, when I sat with this particular person in my office to discuss life, it was not unusual. What was unusual was that, after talking about her own life, this person turned to me and asked me questions about me and about my life, the kind of questions I would normally ask other people, questions that revealed she really had been listening to me.
Sermon: March 20, 2016
These days, we can’t get away from politics.
I don’t own a TV, but even I can’t get away from the political ads and political news...Facebook and other social media, NPR, the front page of the paper. Everywhere, we hear about Donald Trump and Ted Cruz and John Kasich, Hilary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Everywhere, we hear about issues like health care and foreign policy, education and climate change. Everywhere, we hear about political math, the changing demographics of voters, and superdelegates. These days, we can’t get away from politics so much so that even today’s gospel is political…but in a way far removed from—and I do apologize if I offend—the absolute ridiculousness of current US politics.
Sermon: March 13, 2016
Sermon: March 6, 2016
In Luke chapter 15, Jesus shares a series of lost and found parables. Sheep are lost and found. Coins are lost and found. Sons are lost and found. Jesus shares these parables because 1) tax collectors and sinners gathered around him and 2) the scribes and Pharisees were grumbling. What they were grumbling amongst themselves was: This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.
Sermon: February 28, 2016
You know, more often than not, it’s really hard to deal with bad news, sometimes, a lot of times, we’re just left wondering “Why?”
“Why did this horrible thing happened?” “Why is the world so broken?” “How can people be so messed up?”
In this week’s gospel, Jesus is faced with one of these situations.
Sermon: February 14, 2016
Evil is real.
We, of course, know this to be true because we have seen evil touch our lives—in the form of apathy, in the form of hatred, in the form of violence and abuse, in the form of greed, in the form of systems that cement racism, sexism, poverty. Evil is real. I think we need to be careful when we talk about evil, though.
Sermon: Ash Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Sermon: February 7, 2016
Sermon: January 24, 2016
Sermon: January 17, 2016
Sermon: January 10, 2016
Sermon: December 24, 2015
The angel announced to the shepherds good news of great joy, the birth of our savior Jesus, but the angel’s good news began with: do not be afraid. Where we are right now, today, we might be afraid. But what we celebrate on Christmas is God’s Love born into our world. Jesus is Love incarnate, and perfect Love casts out fear.
Sermon: November 29, 2015
Advent is the time when we rejoice that God delivers on God’s promises, that in the midst of heartbreak and devastation, that from violence and broken relationships, from death and despair, justice and righteousness, salvation and safety surely spring up. So, we really can trust in God, let go of our fear, and live with hope.