Sermon: Pentecost

Since the burning bush, God has been manifest by fire. In Pentecost, God sets us, the Church on fire - and this has ramifications for how we live as individuals and as Christian community.

Sermon: The Seventh Sunday of Easter

This is the recording of the sermon I preached on the 7th Sunday of Easter at St. Mark's.

We had some funky issues with the audio this week - including my mic dying halfway through the sermon. Sorry.

Pictured: The Sinking of the Ville du Havre.

Book Review: Fasting

I saw this book in a bookstore about a month ago, and the very thought of it intrigued me enough. . . that a month later I bought it, and I've just about devoured it. (. . . an odd choice of words to use with a book on fasting. . . )

McKnight contends that fasting is a response that faithful people make to a grievous sacred moment. Interesting. . .

Of course he makes it plain that since the 1700's (if not earlier) fasting has become a long lost art in western Christianity. The question that has haunted me throughout my reading of the book though is: do we respond to any grievous sacred moments anymore? How often to we recognize that we're taking part in something sacred, much less grievous?

And, if we were graced with such realization - and we succumbed to living in the shadow of the realization of such moments, might we not observe a fast?

Good book. An even better practice.

I recommend both.

Sermon: The Ordination of Fred and Dave to the Priesthood

This is the recording of the sermon I gave at St. Peter's Lonaconing on May 9th, 2009 on the occasion of the ordination of Fred and Dave to the priesthood.

Sermon: The Sixth Sunday of Easter

Sermon: The Sixth Sunday of Easter.

Jesus called us his friends - but his understanding of friendship far transcends our typical, modern, Facebook/ MySpace understanding. As friends of Jesus we are asked to give our lives to him, as he did for us.

Questions to go deeper:

1) When you think of yourself as a friend of Jesus, what thoughts or feelings are brought up?

2) How can we not only be better friends with Jesus, but also be better friends with each other?

This sermon was aided by "Jesus as Friend in the Gospel of John," by The Rev. Dr. Gail R. O'Day in Interpretation 58 no 2 April 2004, p 144-157. Dr. O'Day was my preaching professor at The Candler School of Theology at Emory University.

Sermon: The Fifth Sunday of Easter

Sermon: The Fifth Sunday of Easter

In the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch we find two models of faith - both different, and both necessary for fruitful faithfulness and spiritual growth.

Sermon: The Fourth Sunday of Easter

Sermon: The Fourth Sunday of Easter, and on the occasion of my first Sunday at St. Mark's!

What a great day!

May Jesus our shepherd watch over us in the pastures and the valleys, and lead us closer to Him.