January 6, 2019 - Epiphany

Lectionary Readings

In the name of Christ who shines the light of grace upon the darkness of our lives. Amen.

            How do you handle conflict? There’s a conflict style assessment that scores you on your preferences for avoidance, accommodation, forcefulness, compromise, and collaboration. And, if you like, you can find a summary of your type that corresponds with an animal – a turtle, teddy bear, shark, fox, or owl. I’m an owl, and rarely ever a turtle. It’s not that any of these conflict styles are right or wrong, rather these sorts of assessments just name your default response to conflict. So how do you handle conflict? Do you run from it or right into it? Are you willing to compromise, or is winning all that matters to you? While it can be difficult and unhelpful to try to name someone else’s personality, it’s pretty safe to say that King Herod was a shark.

December 30, 2018 - Christmas 1C

Collect, Old Tesament, and Psalm; Epistle and Gospel

In the name of God ☩ Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

            Don’t you just hate it when you lose something? You can’t remember where you put your keys or an important document. It’s even worse when you can’t find someone you love. Several weeks ago, one of our dogs got out of the yard and was missing for a few hours. It was scary. I drove around the neighborhood calling his name to no avail. But then he showed up at our front door a few hours later. And he didn’t know he was lost, he just thought he was having an adventure. And that’s the thing about being lost, it all depends on your perspective. Often people who are lost don’t think they are lost. But when you can’t find them, the sense of panic can be overwhelming.

December 25, 2018 - Christmas Day

Lectionary Readings

In the name of the One who is, and was, and is to come. Amen.

            Merry Christmas! The Christmas morning Eucharist is one of the holiest there is and the Christmas morning sermon is one that I always enjoy preparing. For one, I know that you all want to be here. No one gets dragged to the Christmas morning Eucharist, they get dragged to Midnight Mass. There is something special about gathering in the Lord’s name to celebrate the Eucharist on this the most foundational of days in our faith when we celebrate the glory and grandeur of the Incarnation. And the Gospel text that we have this morning from John is one of the richest in all of Scripture and theology. It’s always a treat to sit down with commentaries for a few hours and dig into these iconic verses. So indeed, it is a joy to be here with you all this morning.

December 24, 2018 - Christmas Eve

Lectionary Readings

Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors ☩ in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

            What a joy it is to be here with you on this holy night. There is something special about this night. Something beckons us out of our warm homes and pajamas and calls us through the darkened streets to make our way to gather with friends and strangers to recall the birth of Jesus. Maybe it’s a deep sense of faith that brings you here, perhaps it’s nostalgia, or it could be something in your soul that tells you that you might find here tonight that thing you’ve been searching for. Whatever it is, there is no denying the power of this night which fills us with wonder and stirs us to sing praises to God.

December 23, 2018 - Advent 4C

Lectionary Readings

God our redeemer, who prepared the Blessed Virgin Mary to be the mother of your Son: grant that, as she looked for his coming as our savior, so we may be ready to greet him when he comes again as our judge ☩ in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

            “Jingle Bells,” “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” “White Christmas” – we’ve heard these songs dozens of times over the past weeks. But there is one song that we haven’t heard this season, and, no, I’m not speaking of “Dominic the Christmas Donkey,” which is a fun song. The song to put on our lips and carry with us in our hearts is Mary’s song which we heard this morning.

December 16, 2018 - Advent 3C

Lectionary Readings

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us ☩ in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

            Once you’ve been through Advent a few times, you’ll start to notice the pattern. On the First Sunday of Advent, the focus is apocalyptic, with Jesus speaking of the end of all things. The Fourth Sunday of Advent focuses on Mary as the God-bearer. Which leaves us with Sundays two and three and their focus on John the Baptist’s prophetic ministry and call to repentance.

December 9, 2018 - Advent 2C

Lectionary Readings

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people and set them free ☩ in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

            You may have noticed that this morning’s psalm does not come from the Book of Psalms, but rather from Luke. A psalm is a hymn to God found in Scripture, and this passage from Luke certainly fits that definition. This particular psalm is known as the “Benedictus” because that is the Latin translation of the first word “blessed,” and historically, that is how psalms are named.