December 2017

  • Love Grows Love

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    The prologue to John (John 1:1-18) is the Christmas gospel. It reveals how shallow our view of Christmas is. That deep down, we must realize our love is more than practical and theological ideas about God and the nature of Jesus. It’s in every aspect of creation and our very humanity. The Incarnation of Jesus…

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  • Top Posts from 2017

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    As 2017 draws to a close, here are my most viewed posts of the year! You might be surprised! Most Viewed Posts in 2017: 1. 9 Keys to Engaging Youth In Church My annual top performer returns to the top spot! This is not a surprise. It’s my stickiest post and by far the most shared. And…

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  • Why Stephen?

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    In our crass consumer culture we get the Feast of St. Stephen which reminds us giving comes with sacrifice and love comes with challenge. [Audio to come soon] The question we’ve all asked at some point, even if that point was a short time ago when you walked in here is this: why do we…

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  • High-Tops

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    When someone speaks of their desire to put the Christ back into Christmas, I like to ask which part of Christ is missing: the revolutionary or sacrificial? The Christmas Story is told in the stories of giving shoes and coins Christmas III  | John 1:1-14 Several years ago, when my daughter was very young she…

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  • In the Dark

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    Like our Celtic ancestors, we gather in the dark, in our greatest darkness to be present to the light–because this is how light is best known. Christmas II  | Luke 2:(1-7) 8-20 Tonight we gather like our Celtic ancestors did long, long ago. On the third day after the winter solstice, they’d gather for the…

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  • From the Darkness Comes a Great Light

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    In the sharing the Christmas story, we’re invited to begin with what we’d avoid. We begin in darkness so we can see how bright the light is. preparing the whole story Christmas I  | Luke 2:1-14(15-20) Tonight we gather at the setting sun like our Celtic ancestors did long, long ago. They would gather at…

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  • Magnifying God

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    There’s a way we turn Mary into a stock character for the plot rather than the key to understanding who Jesus is supposed to be for us. How Mary helps us better see what God is doing Advent 4B  | Luke 1:26-38 This morning I remind you that it isn’t yet Christmas! The sun has…

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  • The Last Jedi – The Age of the Force

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    ‘The Last Jedi’ is both a radical departure and totally orthodox Star Wars movie. And if we’re honest with ourselves, it reveals what we always wanted. [There are Spoilers. Of course. But mild. So proceed with caution.] When I was 5, I wanted to be a Jedi. Jeff was Luke Skywalker for Halloween that year…

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