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Showing posts from May, 2016

Sermon for Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year C, "Finding Easter: Made Well," John 5:1-9

Sermon 5/1/16 John 5:1-9 Finding Easter: Made Well     In my clergy group this year, we read a book called Rising Strong , by Brene Brown. You might have heard of it, because it seems like it has been all over talk shows and news articles in the past few months. When we started reading it and our group, I really didn't think I was going to like it. But I found myself coming back to certain things over and over again. One of the things Brown talks about is the stories that we tell ourselves when we don't know what is really happening in this situation. She says we see something taking place, and we don't know why, so our mind just fills in the blanks. This is natural, but many times our assumptions are very wrong! And then when we act on our wrong assumptions, things go rather badly for us! Brown encourages people to write an actual or a metaphorical first draft when we encounter situations where the stories we are telling ourselves about someone or something are tr

Sermon for Fifth Sunday after Easter, Year C, "Finding Easter: Table Manners," Acts 11:1-18

Sermon 4/24/16 Acts 11:1-18 Finding Easter: Table Manners Rev. Richard Game writes, “I learned a little bit about behavioral conditioning from our Golden Retriever, Bailey.  And so I beg your indulgence of another sermon story about a family pet.  Bailey is as lovely and true and kind as any best friend a family could ever have.  An indoor/outdoor dog, Bailey spends most of her time on a porch we enclosed for her.  Bailey's palace we call it. From this porch perch Bailey presides over all the goings-on in our wooded back yard.  She also enjoys the freedom to slip through a doggie door whenever it suits her fancy, to chase a squirrel or answer nature's call.  But there are bounds to Bailey's realm.  Bailey is not allowed outside of the backyard.  For beyond the backyard are the suburban perils of the street, getting lost, and the dreaded dogcatcher. Now Anne and I could have built a traditional fence, but that would have ruined the wooded feel of our grounds, both f