We Cannot Always Live in Comfort

Sermon | November 14, 2021

I should begin by noting that today is the first time I have been invited to deliver the homily at a main service. There appears to be a paucity of preachers, so your Chancellor’s name finally came up. If any of you are newcomers, please come back next week, and things will get better. When

Ambiguity Capacity as a Kingdom of God Experience

Sermon | November 7, 2021

I’m reading a book right now called Nonsense by Jamie Holmes, and in it he makes a claim that grabbed my attention. He wrote: “As uncertainties add up in the world around us, they accelerate our desire for certainty.” When I read this, I was reminded of a sermon I preached on Easter day 2014:

What is Ruth All About?

Sermon | October 31, 2021

We heard, in today’s Old Testament lesson, the beginning of the Book of Ruth. The scene was set, the characters were introduced; the three women in the story lost their husbands; Naomi pleaded with her two daughters-in-law to stay in Moab and find themselves new husbands in their own country while she returned to the

Priscilla and “What Can I Do for You?”

Sermon | October 24, 2021

I was on a Zoom call the other day with our Sunday school teachers and as I listened to their vision and energy and passion for our children and the message of Jesus Christ, I couldn’t help but think of my very early days here at Epiphany. When I came, we had no Sunday school

The Good News

Sermon | October 17, 2021

Good morning Christians, seekers, and friends! I have been thinking this week about that old question, “What do you want to hear first… the GOOD news or the BAD news?” We’ve probably all heard this question in one context or another. Do you have a personal preference? Good news first; then bad news? Or is

Getting to the Heart of the Matter

Sermon | September 12, 2021

I’ve been hearing lately about conversations people have had with family members and good friends who refused to get vaccinated. (disqualify people who are immune-compromised) These conversations are exasperating! Nothing they say inspires their loved one to change their mind. Nothing works. It is crazy making. This is life and death, and there are not

Thoughts and Prayers and…

Sermon | September 5, 2021

Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims. Our thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved. Our thoughts and prayers are with the hungry. Our thoughts and prayers are with the homeless. “Thoughts and prayers”: a very common phrase these days. We hear about thoughts and prayers for Haiti; thoughts and prayers for Black Lives

Sermon on James

Sermon | August 29, 2021

I am sad to say this will be my last Sunday with you before my wife and I get our house ready to go on the market and we make our move to Florida a permanent one. I am happy to say, however, that for this last sermon one of the assigned readings is the

Ambassadors in Chains

Sermon | August 22, 2021

Today we find the apostle Paul in very unfortunate circumstances. He is in a Roman jail with a death sentence hanging over his head. He is literally in chains, and there is a date set for his execution. It had been his calling to carry the message of Christianity throughout the world. That was his

Category: Kingdom of God