February 2023: Radical Discipleship: Our Calling Radical discipleship. Is this something good? The word radical has mostly negative connotations these days. These days, “radical” has mostly political undertones, and to be labeled a “radical” is usually not a good thing. With it, we associate words such as revolutionary, extremist, insurgent, rebellious, and militant. In this sense, few of us see being a radical as a good thing. But radical has another meaning: relating to the fundamental nature of something;…
January 2023: My Pastoral Life in Review: That Was Then, This Is Now At the end of every calendar year, it’s not uncommon to review the ups and downs and the ins and outs of the previous twelve months. TV shows will recall the year’s top stores; radio stations will review the year’s biggest hits; pop-culture magazines will highlight the celebrities died; and Spotify users will be told which songs in their library they listened to the most. All…
Does it bother you when you see the word “Christmas” written out as “Xmas”? If so, you’re not alone. Around Christmas each year, there are some who openly decry the use of the abbreviation Xmas as a kind of blasphemy against Christianity, arguing that it “Xs Christ out of Christmas.” In response to the modern debates about the public display of manger scenes and substituting “Merry Christmas” with “Happy Holidays,” many have become sensitive to anything that smacks of…
A Life of Worship and a Life of Hospitality (2/4) Scriptures: Matthew 4:18-22 and Romans 12:1-2, 9-18 Other sermons in this series #1: The Three Committments of a Disciple #3: A life of Opening to Jesus & Obeying Jesus #4: A Life of Service & Generosity Through the years, different films have set out to present the story of Jesus. These films include: Of course, for the stage there were Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell. A more recent adaptation…
The Three Commitments of a Disciple (1/4) Scripture: Matthew 4:18-22 Other sermons in this series #2: A Life of Worship & Hospitality #3: A life of Opening to Jesus & Obeying Jesus #4: A Life of Service & Generosity Our Saturday morning Men’s Bible study is studying the Gospel of John. Yesterday, we read John’s version of Jesus calling his first four disciples. As John present it, none of them knew Jesus prior to their accepting Jesus’ invitation to…
Our Side of Baptism (2/2) Note: this video also includes the Wesley Covenant Renewal portion of the worship service. This link to the hardcopy of this service is also the bottom of the page. Scripture: Psalm 50 and John 15:1-8 Other sermons in this series #1: God’s Side of Baptism You might have heard that the someone in Maine has the winning ticket for Friday’s $1.35 billion Mega Millions jackpot drawing. But he or she is not yet a…
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