Jesus Archives - Page 4 of 12

Pentecost: A Common Language

Sermon | May 23, 2021

I’m just gonna say it because I know everyone is thinking it: The whole argument that “We’re not drunk” is not a good argument in favor of the presence of the Holy Spirit, particularly if the reason for not being drunk is that it’s 9 o’clock in the morning. It is as if Peter is

Grace of God

Sermon | May 9, 2021

Good morning Christians, Seekers, and Friends: We live in a bubble of grace. While we may not always recognize it, each and every cell in our body—each and every hair on our head is not only surrounded by, but made of, God. Will you do me a favor? For just a minute will you close

Miracles Growing!

Sermon | May 2, 2021

Good morning Christians, seekers, and friends! How are you? Isn’t this time of year just glorious in Seattle? As a quick look at my bulletin letter will show, I am obsessed with Seattle’s flowering trees and plants lately. Their blooms, fragrance, and abundant beauty in our wonderful city overwhelms me. I get a similar feeling

Why We Need the Body of Christ

Sermon | April 25, 2021

Last Sunday we talked about moral blindness. We talked about how moral blindness causes us to have moral blind spots, like driving blind spots, except for our spiritual life, in ways that inhibit our relationships. We defined moral blindness as: an unconscious barrier produced externally from ourselves, that inhibits us from seeing our actions clearly,

Higher Love

Sermon | April 11, 2021

Good morning Christians, seekers, and friends: So, a friend thought it would be funny if I were to begin my sermon today that old joke “A priest, a rabbi, and minister walk into a bar….” And she assured me that if I did so, she would laugh out loud. So, I thought, what the heck?

Hallelujah!

Sermon | April 3, 2021

As we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ tonight, the word that marks this moment is hallelujah. It means praise God, which is sort of odd to say praise God as a way of praising God. The truth is hallelujah is a rather untranslatable word: it is more a guttural affirmation; a mysterious proclamation; a

Jesus’ New Commandment

Sermon | April 1, 2021

Good evening Christians, seekers, and friends, I wonder what it would be like for someone who doesn’t really know much about Christianity to come into the Church tonight. At this point, a little over eighty percent of the American populace knows that Easter celebrates Resurrection but what, exactly, this means to those of us who

Sewing Community Together by Faith

Sermon | March 28, 2021

We have a very familiar story today in the Gospel of Mark. It is the story of Jesus riding victoriously into Jerusalem; people spread their cloaks on the street, they lay palm branches on the ground, and wave them over their heads. They cry out: “Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is the one that comes

Pilgrimages From Home

Sermon | March 21, 2021

Not long before the pandemic began last year, some fantastic Epiphanites loaned me three books before we knew what would unfold during these intervening 12 months. “A year later, these three books (kept in Ziploc bags as I do since I worked in a bookstore where we could read any book for free as long

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