Presby-Musings

The countdown begins.   Macy's parade is over, most or all of the Thanksgiving leftovers have been eaten. Can I get a witness on some Turkey sandwiches, church?   Black Friday is all done (thanks be to God).  Although, Cyber Monday is about to happen, and then there will undoubtedly be a host of other special days for shopping, but still...  So the question that so many of us have right now is simply, "Why don't we just get on with it?  Let's go already!  The Christmas decorations have been up in the stores for a month already, it stands to reason that we should just move right along and get right to the heart of the silly season.   More than a few of us are probably wishing that the whole thing was already over.  Perhaps it's too much--all of the shopping, busy-ness, traffic on the streets, commercials, emails advertising, expenses and the like...   I get all of this.  Heck, I even feel the same way to be honest.   A...

Today we are continuing the sermon series that we started last week entitled, "I Like Giving."  During this series, which we'll be working through throughout the month of May we'll be learning what it means to live a generous life--with our finances, time, talent, etc.  As I said last week, the very essence of God is generosity.  Out of the boundless generosity of God flows God's unmeasurable grace and expansive love.  And you and I are made in the image of God--with God's DNA all in us and through us. So it stands to reason that our default, our go-to should be to live generous lives.  But we don't always live generous lives.  In fact, for most of us---even those of us who call ourselves Christians --we do quite the opposite.  This sermon series is going to wrestle with that issue--seeking to demonstrate that there are physical, emotional, mental and spiritual benefits to being generous, and as we will learn today there are also unbelievable...

This week I am preaching the third installment of the three part sermon series, " I Am Second ," which is based on the program by the same name.  You can find out more about I Am Second at www.iamsecond.com.  I Am Second is a program that helps connect people to Jesus in very earthy and messy ways---much like we relate to one another.  It's also bears witness to what can happen in your life when you place Jesus first. What I love about I Am Second is that it uses the real testimonies of people who encountered Jesus and discovered that when they put him first, incredible things happen.  Many of the stories that you find on the I Am Second website are from celebrities and athletes, but there are more than a few from ordinary people with extraordinary testimonies. Our study these past few weeks has taken us to the Gospel accounts of Jesus' life and through some incredible stories of transformation.  In each of the stories that we've studied, people encounte...

This week I am continuing the sermon series, "Cross Training," a series that is focused on the teachings of Jesus .  Our Scripture passage this Sunday comes from Luke 6:27-36 which reads thusly: 27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies , do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in fu...

This Sunday is the First Sunday of Lent, and the beginning of a new sermon series that will take us all the way to Palm Sunday ---a series entitled "Cross Training." The focus of this series is on lessons that we can learn from the life of Jesus that will enable us to endure hardship, have faith during times of trouble and draw closer to Christ in our journey toward ultimate redemption. Sound good? Awesome. Let's roll.  Read this passage of Scripture so we can get started: Luke 6 :17-26 7 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea , from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all. 20 Looking at his disciples, he said: “ Blessed are you...

My first sermon was epic. And when I say "epic," what I really mean is "not epic," but I like to pretend--especially in this moment--that it was epic in the regular sense of the word. But it wasn't. I actually cannot for the life of me remember what I preached.  I didn't write it down anywhere, and there are no recordings that exist of the event. There was a video recording, however, which shall factor into this story momentarily, but that, too, went the way of the dodo at some point.  A fact that I do not lament in the least. When I preached the aforementioned sermon I was filling the pulpit after the departure of my pastor and mentor, who had served the church for 17 years, three of which I was privileged to experience.  He was a kind and intelligent man, who could read in German, Greek probably Hebrew and of course had a command of English that was fairly impressive. He read his sermons from a manuscript, though, anchored behind the pulpit--...

Christmas is over. I just heard the garbage truck drive up to the curb outside my house and make quick work of the huge mound of trash bags I piled there last night---trash bags filled with discarded wrapping paper, boxes and of course the remains of several holiday dinners. I have begun eyeing the boxes and storage containers within which my Christmas decorations will soon be placed for another year.  It's a job I do not relish. Here's a thought that may have crossed your mind once or twice as well:  Maybe we could just keep celebrating Christmas for a while.  Do we really have to rush away from it as quickly as we rushed toward it? What happened to the wonder that we all felt on Christmas Eve? Where's the unexpectedness of the Season of Expectation that we call Advent? Is it really all lost in a pile of decorations waiting to be put away?  A stack of bills that will need to be paid? What if we were called to something different? Hold that thought...