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Showing posts from January, 2020

Sermon, "Everyday Jesus Spirituality: The Discipline of Saying No," Exodus 20:8-11, Mark 2:27-28

Sermon 1/26/2020 Exodus 20:8-11, Mark 2:27-28 Everyday Jesus Spirituality: The Discipline of Saying No How many of you have read the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder? I have to admit I didn’t love them when I was a child, but I really loved them when I read them as an adult, and so I’ve been excited to finally read Caroline: Little House Revisited by Sarah Miller, which came out a couple of years ago. I’m only part way through, but a scene early on in the book struck me when I was thinking about how we keep Sabbath and preparing for worship today. The Ingalls family - Caroline and Charles Ingalls - and their two daughters, Mary and Laura, are heading west in their covered wagon. Along the way, they encounter lots of terrible weather, and of course, many Sabbath days - many Sundays. And on one day described in the book, those things collide - terrible, storming weather with pouring rain, and a Sabbath day. And so the family - particularly Caroline and

Sermon, "Everyday Jesus Spirituality: The Discipline of Hands-On Labor," Genesis 2:15, Ecclesiastes 2:18-26

Sermon 1/19/2020 Genesis 2:15, Ecclesiastes 2:18-26 Everyday Jesus Spirituality: The Discipline of Hands-On Labor A few years ago, I came across an article on CNN, “Meet Khe Hy, the Oprah for Millennials.” I’m not a huge Oprah fan or anything, and I’m not a millennial - I’m on the tail end of Gen Xer generation. But nonetheless, I was curious. Khe Hy was a successful Wall Street businessperson, but at 35, he quit his job, without a clear plan of what he wanted to do next. The article said that he “looked around his fancy New York office and realized something: More money wasn't making him happier. So many people he knew on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley believed if they could "just make" another $1 million or $10 million or $100 million, they would be set and life would be great.” He started writing an email newsletter called “Rad Reads,” and sent it to his friends. Over time, the newsletter has grown, and he has thousands of subscribers. A lot of the content

Sermon for Baptism of the Lord, Year A, "Everyday Jesus Spirituality: The Discipline of Being Grounded," Matthew 3:1-17

Sermon 1/12/2020 Matthew 3:1-17 Everyday Jesus Spirituality: The Discipline of Being Grounded As I think most of you know, I just returned from a long-planned vacation to Florida, where my family and I visited Disney World and Universal Studios. We had a great time, and after a week of living in one house together, everyone in the family is still speaking to each other, so I count that as a win! Seriously, it was a wonderful trip. I was particularly proud of my mom. Not all of you know this, but she’s a bionic woman. She’s had rotator cuff surgery, and both knees replaced, and twice had her ankle fused, all remnants of her physically demanding nursing career. Before her surgeries, she was walking with a cane, and we feared she was headed for a wheelchair. Things were better after the surgeries, but she still wasn’t great with long-distances. When I first started planning our vacation, I assumed we’d have to rent her a scooter. I knew she’d never be able to do all that walking