Sermon Archives

August 11, 2013

Refocusing on the Present Moment

I had a friend who was afraid most of the time. When he and I strolled together on the sidewalk, he’d sometimes open up and tell me about all the things he was afraid of. One winter morning when we were out walking, he admitted he was afraid the cold temperatures would kill off all […]

August 4, 2013

Rich, But Not Distracted

Most sermons on this passage in Luke offer the same basic interpretation, more or less. That basic interpretation runs something like this: Be generous with your wealth! Don’t be like the fool in this parable, who one day decided to hoard his bumper crops. But because he died that same night, he never got to […]

July 28, 2013

Praying with What Distracts Us

Praying with What Distracts Us

One day not long ago I sat down to pray for 20 minutes. On this particular day, I sat in my black leather chair in my study at home. First I took a minute or two to slow down and become more aware of God’s presence which is always around us and through us, closer […]

July 21, 2013

Giving It Our Full Attention

Several years ago an American newspaper reporter flew to Paris. After arriving at the airport and collecting his luggage, he found a cab to take him to his hotel. During the ride in the cab, he and the cabbie collectively did six things. The cabbie was driving the cab, of course. But he also had […]

July 14, 2013

Collaborators

The parable of the good Samaritan might be Jesus’ most famous parable. If you interviewed random people on the sidewalks of downtown Goshen and asked them whether they know Jesus’ parable of the alert slaves in Luke 12:35‐40, they’ll probably stammer around a bit, then admit they don’t know that parable. But if you ask […]

July 7, 2013

Citizens of God’s Kingdom

I’ve been thinking about hospitality and citizenship this past week. Monday was Canada Day, the day when Canadians celebrate Canada’s birthday. Thursday was the 4th of July, the day when Americans celebrate their independence. I’ve been following the convention in Phoenix, knowing the youth would be sharing about their experience this morning. The convention theme […]

June 30, 2013

Witnesses to the Truth

Up until June of 2010 there had been 20 perfect games in the recorded history of major league baseball. A perfect game is one in which no runner from the opposing team reaches first base safely. Every opposing batter is retired—27 outs in a row. Up until June of 2010, only twenty pitchers in major […]

June 23, 2013

Gardening with the Enemy

Jeremiah 29 is not a text that I chose. Nor is it what the lectionary prescribes for this morning. This scripture comes to us from Daniel and Brenda Grimes, who won the creation care raffle a couple of months back by getting their energy audit done. Thank you, Brenda and Daniel, for bringing this powerful […]

June 16, 2013

Extravagant Love, Extravagant Mercy

There are some stories we know and there are some stories we do not know. Last fall, I noticed on one of my early morning walks in the neighbourhood, that a particular house had about 6 of those very large garbage cans at the street on garbage day. I was horrified that 1 household would […]

June 9, 2013

Salvation: Therapy, Cure, and Health

What do you do when you come to the end of the rope? Where do you go when the lifeline is failing? Where do you go when you are ill and the doctors have tried everything and nothing seems to work? Where do you go when the medical folks say you are dying? Where do […]

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