April 28 Sermon

Acts 5:27-32 (John 20:19-31)                                                           Most of us have known someone who at one time lacked confidence in a big way—who grew up in an environment largely responsible for that low self-esteem, believing he or she would never amount to much; or instead, due to a later unfortunate event or series Read more…

Easter Message, 2019

 Easter Message | 2019 I cherish this time of the church year. I cherish the traditions of Holy Week—as well as Easter itself. Last Sunday’s procession, celebrating Jesus entering Jerusalem by holding up the palm branches and declaring him as king. And Maundy Thursday… Remembering his Last Supper.   And the foot-washing Read more…

April 7 Sermon

Luke 12:1-8                   After graduating from seminary, but before receiving a call, moved to a faraway state. During that time, while my grandmother was living in a nursing center—due to a stroke—she had a second one that finally took her life. Being so far away and, at the time, living Read more…

March 31

Luke 15:1-2, 11-32                                                                                            Once, in seminary, a professor asked us students to write down the Bible passage each of us believed best expresses the grace of God. After we handed in our answers, the professor added them up to see whether a particular passage stood out, which is exactly Read more…

March 10 Sermon

Luke 4:1-13 This past year a man by the name of Jay Speights, a minister who lives in Rockville, Maryland, found out something very interesting from the results of a DNA test. He had used the company Ancestry, which, among others, traces the ethnic backgrounds of one’s forebears, including the Read more…

March 3 Sermon

Exodus 34:29-35; 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2; Luke 9:28-36 03/03/19 Here’s a short story I may have mentioned once before. But even if I have, it’s worth retelling. On our wedding day, Deborah and I did not see each other until the beginning of the service. So I didn’t know she would Read more…

February 24 Sermon

Genesis 45:3-11, 15 In last Sunday’s message, I mentioned learning about one of the readings by translating it from Hebrew—in a class with a fairly demanding professor. Today I’m going to focus on a different Old Testament passage, the story of which we students also translated from the original language, although in a Read more…