Presby-Musings

Today we're going to be launching a brand new sermon series entitled Created For A Purpose: God's Great Plan For Your Life What does it mean to be "created for a purpose?"  In our culture, discovering your purpose is a billions dollar industry.  I did a quick search for the wealthiest self-help gurus in America today and there were at least a dozen who made $15 million or more a year---giving people advice on how to discover their purpose.  Here's a sample of the kind of advice that landed some of these gurus on that list:  Write down your values every six months.  Compare them to the ones you wrote down six months ago.  And... And... create a personal purpose statement.   Passion + Action = A Purposeful Life.   Get out of your personal bubble.  Stretch yourself.   If you want to be be successful.  Do successful things.   I am not making this up.  You can take your pick from a plethora of people who...

As a pastor, one of the questions I get asked the most is, "How do I know what God wants me to do?"  Some people refer to this as a desire to "know the will of God for your life."  Pastor Rick Warren wrote a book some years ago entitled, "The Purpose Driven Life," which was essentially all about discovering God's purpose for you, and pursuing that purpose with all your heart and soul.   If you walk into any Christian book store, you'll discover entire sections dedicated to discovering God's will or purpose for you life.  There are lots of opinions on how to figure out God's will for you, ranging from quiet contemplation to more hands-on approaches in service and mission.   I must admit, I've read more than my fair share of books on the topic in my own efforts to figure all of this out.  And what I've learned over the years and throughout all of my searching is that when it comes to God, I don't know a thing.  Try as I mig...

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--...