September 2014

  • Can a tire swing not be made from a tire?

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    My daughter and I went to a park in Marquette, Michigan last week. Wood play scape, swings, everything. I was drawn to this blue tire swing. When I got there, I discovered it isn’t a tire swing. It is a round swing of molded plastic that looks like a tire swing. But it can’t be.…

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  • We Labor Together

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    Fairness in the Kingdom is not about your wealth, but our health a Homily for Proper 20 A  |  Text: Matthew 20:1-16 GOD’s way doesn’t seem fair It seems fitting that we would spend my last few weeks here dealing with what holy community looks like to Jesus. It is almost as if He’s trying to tell us something. I…

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  • Forgiving GOD

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    how our understanding of forgiveness is too small a Homily for Proper 19A  |  Text: Matthew 18:21-35   The volume of forgiveness When Peter asks about forgiveness, about the volume of forgiveness, it triggers a cascade of central teachings to our faith. Teachings that are the foundation of everything. On the surface, it is a simple enough…

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  • How to Not Be a Stumbling Block

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    A re-imagined sermon for those that have missed church recently After calming the storm, Jesus and the disciples come to shore, bombarded by people looking for healing. It is from here that Jesus takes his disciples aside and asks them who they think he is. Peter’s declaration: “Messiah!” is followed by his fear for Jesus’s…

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  • Childproofing Church

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    Order, stumbling blocks, and what real Christian community looks like a Homily for  Proper 18 A  |  Text: Matthew 18:15-20   what we mean by sin When Jesus speaks to the disciples in this passage, He speaks of sin against each other. This isn’t so much fault-finding, which we all do so easily, but sin-naming.…

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