Sermons
Sermons preached in a context, but written for people of all sorts and conditions.
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It is not so among you
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8 min read
Jesus shares with them what the Kingdom of GOD is like, GOD’s Great Economy, not so they have something to look forward to later, but so that they would live in it now. Right here. On the road to Jerusalem. The Great Sort has already begun Proper 24B | Mark 10:35-45 The Approach Before we…
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What the Kingdom doesn’t look like
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7 min read
Simply getting rid of our stuff isn’t the action Jesus is calling for. Not exactly. Though it is certainly much closer than “GOD wants you to be rich.” Love and inheritance Proper 23B | Mark 10:17-31 A mind-blowing teaching We have arrived in Judea. Days ago we’ve predicted the Passion and watched Jesus transfigured on…
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Possessing the Kingdom
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7 min read
He’s not mincing words. The Kingdom belongs to them. Not the disciples. Not the Pharisees. Not the Romans. The children. We need to hear these words. How our focus on law and politics misses the real revelation Proper 22B | Mark 10:2-16 The Long Walk is Almost Over The walk from Caesarea Philippi to Jerusalem is…
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Embody faith
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7 min read
We must read this in the context of Jesus teaching about the children. About the poor, the disadvantaged, the disempowered, those stripped of full humanity and equality in the world. The physical, living faith of following Jesus Proper 21B | Mark 9:38-50 Following Jesus The big theme of the last two weeks continues: identity. Jesus’s…
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Learning Love
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9 min read
It seems that they don’t want the world that Jesus is offering: the upside down economy of GOD’s divine fellowship of faith. They want to rule. Following Jesus into a different understanding of love Proper 20B | Mark 9:30-37 Returning to the Passion We remember from last week that Jesus and the disciples had gone…
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Getting behind Jesus
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9 min read
This is the first movement in the turning point, the turning away from the early life of Jesus and toward his destiny. The turning away from safety and toward the danger of the cross. The turning away from home and toward Jerusalem. Jesus turns toward Jerusalem before his followers are ready Proper 19B | Mark…