Preaching
Sermons, homilies, meditations, and reflections on the art of preaching.
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Finding Proof in Baptism
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4 min read
a Sermon for Easter Text: Mark 16:1-8 This is the tough Easter gospel. The gospel we know as mark is the only one without joyous celebration and is perhaps a strange note to cast on a celebratory morning like this. These three women, Mary, Mary, and Salome come to the tomb expecting to prepare Jesus…
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The Unsatisfactory Ending
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5 min read
a Sermon for the Great Vigil of Easter Text: Mark 16:1-8 The Down Ending This may seem strange to you, but this gospel reading is by far my favorite text in Scripture. I absolutely love it. Let’s read the last two verses again: But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead…
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Abuse of the Cross
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5 min read
a Sermon for Good Friday Text: John 18:1-19:42 Reading the Passion narrative from the gospel we know as John provides the postmodern hearer with two challenges (besides the obvious, of course): dealing with John’s use of the phrase “The Jews” and the need to repent for the cross. The writers of John use the phrase…
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Common Humanity
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3 min read
a homily for Good Friday Text: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” [This was my reflection for Word 4 in our eccumenical Good Friday service using the last 7 words format.] Perhaps no line in scripture is more troubling than this. It is the single audible cry in Mark (and Matthew): “My…
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Jesus’s Last Teaching
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4 min read
a Sermon for Maundy Thursday Text: John 13:1-17, 31b-35 There are many interesting parts of the story we tell of Maundy Thursday, but much of it we actually save for tomorrow, Good Friday. Our tradition focuses on two important acts: The Passover Meal The Footwashing The Passover. We heard in our Hebrew reading from Exodus…
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Come to the Light
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1 min read
Is John 3 about salvation, or something more? And is it a sufficient description of Christian faith?