September 15, 2024 - The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary Readings

Gracious Lord, forgive the sins of the preacher, that only your Word might be proclaimed and only your Truth be heard. Amen.

            Whoever said “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is both a fool and a liar. The fact of the matter is that bruises fade, but memories remain. How many of us still carry wounds and insecurities from a comment we overheard or something that was said in the heat of the moment? Broken bones heal, but broken confidence or trust is much harder to recover. To be clear, violence is never to be tolerated, whether physical, emotional, or verbal. But to deny the power of words is not only foolish, it is bad theology.

September 8, 2024 - The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary Readings

Thank you, gracious God, for the gift of your love which is making all things well and all things new. Amen.

            We love a good motivational speech, don’t we? Part of what makes a movie powerful is a rousing speech given in a moment of crisis. Braveheart, Remember the Titans, Dead Poets Society, and Independence Day are all memorable movies, even decades later, because of their stirring speeches. Or think about how JFK’s Moonshot, MLK’s Dream, or Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman” are addresses that galvanized a nation around audacious goals. When our backs are against the wall, a mighty speech can give us courage, clarity, and hope.

September 1, 2024 - The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary Readings

Gracious Lord, may your grace always shine through us ☩ in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

            “Do or do not, there is no try,” so says the wise and sage Yoda from Star Wars. In a nutshell, if we had to summarize the entire letter of James, that would be it: do or do not, there is no try. Through the month of September, the epistle readings will take us through this letter. It would be well worth your time this week to read through James – it’s found towards the back of the New Testament, right after the book of Hebrews. It’s five chapters long, so it’s easy to get through in one sitting.

August 25, 2024 - The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary Readings

Gracious God, help us to always be at home in your love. Amen.

            I think we all realize how fortunate we are to be gathered in this gem of a space. As Psalm 96 puts it, “Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” Because of this treasure that has been passed down to us, we are able to, indeed, worship the Triune God surrounded by beauty in a sacred space that is steeped in the holiness of generations of tears, celebrations, and prayers. Built in 1828 and expanded and renovated in 1883, 1909, 2003, and 2015, this building inspires our faith, surrounds us in sacredness, and forms us with beauty. Thanks be to God for this gift and for those who came before us; and we pray that we might be faithful stewards both of this space and the ministries rooted here.

August 18, 2024 - The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary Readings

Help us, O gracious Lord, to behold what we are and become that which we receive: the Body of Christ given for the life of the world. Amen.

            In journalism, one of the rules is “don’t bury the lede.” In other words, to capture attention, get right to the point. Well, the point of this sermon is that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist in a unique and holy way, and this matters deeply. The rest of this sermon will be an exploration of what it means to say that Jesus is present in the Eucharist, why we say this, and what ‘difference this makes.

August 11, 2024 - The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary Readings

Gracious God, help us to learn and grow deeper into your love for us. Amen.

            Malala Yousafzai has an innate and God-given thirst for learning. She grew up in a Taliban-controlled region of Pakistan. These extremists forbid such things as owning a television, playing music, or allowing girls to attend school. Her father is a teacher, and so learning was as natural to her as swimming is to a fish. At age 11, Malala spoke out on behalf of girls and their right to learn. The Taliban tried, and failed, to silence her. But even a bullet to the head couldn’t stop her call for justice. In her acceptance speech as the youngest Nobel Peace Prize recipient ever, she said “Education is one of the blessings of life, and one of its necessities.” Indeed, education is a blessing and a necessity.

August 4, 2024 - The Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary Readings

O God of all Creation, satisfy us with your love which is making all things well. Amen.

            When was the last time you can say that you were satisfied? Maybe after an excellently prepared meal? Completing a project that you’ve been working on for a while? Getting good test results back? Satisfaction is something retailers and businesses want from us – that’s why they ask us to complete satisfaction surveys. They want us to be satisfied because a satisfied customer is likely a repeat customer. And so we are promised that a particular energy drink will satisfy our thirst, or that we’ll find the softness of a shirt to be satisfying, or that we’ll be satisfied with the new gutters with leaf guards. Satisfaction, it seems, is everyone’s goal. After all, that’s why we go on vacation, purchase things, and do things for entertainment.