Presby-Musings

Today we are going to be concluding the sermon series that we've been working on for the month of May, a series entitled "I Like Giving."  This series was inspired by the book I Like Giving  which I read a while ago and which I thought would be an excellent conversation partner for a sermon series on what it means to live generously.  For more information about the book and the website that served as the inspiration for this series, you can visit www.ilikegiving.com. The central idea behind this series is simply this: We were created in the image of God--a God who is inherently generous.  It is out of God's inherent generosity that all the attributes of God flow out toward you and I.  God's mercy, love, creativity, redemption all come out of the boundless generosity of God. And, as I said, you and I are created in God's image with God's DNA embedded within us.  So it stands to reason that you and I should inherently be generous, too.   So why...

Today is Easter-- Resurrection Sunday . Today we're going to celebrate--even Presbyterians celebrate on Easter.  We might be the frozen chosen, but at least once a year we thaw out enough to raise the roof. All over the world today Christians will be celebrating Resurrection Sunday.  They'll be celebrating their belief that God became one of us in order to save all of us.  That through Jesus, God entered into the world in human form, and--in the words of the Gospel of John --took up residence in our neighborhood. Jesus preached and taught and did amazing things that gave hope to the downtrodden, marginalized and poor.  This caught the attention of the power brokers of his day:  religious leaders, politicians, military leaders, to name a few.  The worst thing that can happen to those in power, who are not concerned with the greater good, is for the huddled masses to find hope.  So they executed Jesus by crucifying him on a cross.  He was...

I recently read about a new trend that is starting to gain some traction in our culture--it's not a huge, widespread movement by any means, but it's still out there, still happening. It's called sologamy or same-self marriage. Nadine Schweigert, a thirty-six-year-old-woman from Fargo, North Dakota , who was interviewed by Anderson Cooper after marrying herself in front of some forty of her closest friends. “I, Nadine,” she said to herself, “promise to enjoy inhabiting my own life and to relish a lifelong love affair with my beautiful self." Then, in the words of the immortal James Brown, she jumped back and kissed herself. I'm not sure why anyone gathered here today would be surprised by this kind of thing, to be honest.  It's the logical extension of a culture that is immersed in the self.  No one in our culture wants anyone to take credit for whatever success they might enjoy. Seriously, when have you ever heard a brand new CEO of a huge corporat...

This week we we are continuing the sermon series, "Small Things Big Difference," and we're focusing on a very simple yet very important truth:   It's often the small things that no one sees that result in the big things that everyone wants. Sometimes is might feel like it's going to take far too much energy, talent, time, effort to change the things in our lives that we know need changing. You might feel overwhelmed by a dead-end career, a marriage that isn't going well, poor health, struggles with faith... However, what we learned last week is that it doesn't take much to begin the transformations that we long for in life--especially when we feel stuck. I challenged everyone last week to find their one word--the one word that might be speaking into their life.  How many of you did that?  How many of you by show of hands found your one word this week?  For those of you who didn't raise your hand, I have your one word for you:  Procrastination! ...

This week we are beginning a brand new sermon series entitled "Small Things Big Difference."  It's been a long time since I was this excited about a sermon series--at least since the last sermon series! Before we begin, though, I have a question:  Have you ever felt a little stuck?  Like you're in a rut of some kind, and can't seem to find your way out of it?  And maybe you're stuck to the point where you think it's going to take far too much effort to get out of your rut--more effort than you are willing to give. Maybe you've felt stuck when it comes to your health. You know you should lose weight, eat better, get more exercise---but you think about what it will take to get you to where you want to be, and you feel overwhelmed. So you go to Donut King and get that maple bacon donut instead... Yeah, that was a bit close to home.  Perhaps you feel like you are trapped in a dead end job--or you are stuck in a career that leaves you unfulfilled....

This week we are going to be launching a brand new sermon series, a study on the New Testament book of James .  James has always been a challenging book. and wasn't actually included in the canon of the New Testament until at least the second century--even though many early Christian communities were reading and studying it. The great reformer Martin Luther couldn't stand James, and argued for it being excluded from the New Testament because of what he described as too much of an emphasis on works and not enough on grace. But when you read through the book of James--at least when you read through it with a Jesus tinged lens--you get a different picture of this complicated and almost in-your-face letter that was written nearly two thousand years ago to Christians who were facing hardship and persecution. Before we go any further, though, we need to answer the most obvious question that you might be ready to pose at this point: Who was James? James was called many...