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Trusting Us: A Simple Act of Faith
a Homily for Easter 2A Text: John 20:19-31 Again, Thomas At one level, this is a simple story. Each year, the Second Sunday of Easter, we receive Thomas, the Twin. This is Easter. And Each year, we gather on that Easter and each year, Thomas misses it. A week later, like that fateful day 2000 years…
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An Easter Sermon
a Homily for Easter Text: John 20:1-18 The Recap I know that many of you were unable to attend the many parts of Holy Week and so missed the opportunity to know what we are actually celebrating this morning. So here’s a brief recap. On Sunday, Jesus, surrounded by a great crowd, arrives in Jerusalem.…
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Jesus’s Prayer for Unity
a Sermon for Easter 7C Text: John 17:20-26 Listen to the Audio here: Jesus’s Prayer for Unity A hopeless prayer If you are ever self-conscious about praying in public, don’t be. Just remember how the writers of the gospel we call John portray Jesus: The glory that you have given me I have given them,…
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Why I’m preaching Easter 7 (and nothing else)
This week there are no doubt many preachers trying to figure out how to deal with Sunday. It is the Seventh Sunday of Easter. It also happens to be two other things: the Sunday after the Ascension and Mother’s Day. To the church, it is Easter 7. This isn’t to say that people in church…
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What I Might Have Preached
Since I was on vacation, I didn’t preach this morning. The gospel reading was John 20:19-31, known to many as the Doubting Thomas passage. There are a ton of ways to preach this one, particularly if you aren’t wedded to the idea that Thomas is an unbelieving jackass. Here are a few thoughts that struck…
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With Us
a Sermon for the Great Vigil of Easter C Text: Luke 24:1-12 Our Bible study group that started last fall has slowly been working its way through Genesis. For many of us, it has been a pretty eye-opening experience. We are currently wrestling with Jacob and his return home. I admitted to the group that…
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Overcoming Death
We all love Easter. Particularly after a tough Lent. This year’s felt heavy. Each year, I struggle with the scope of the great story arc that we deal with in Holy Week–with the rise and fall of Jesus of Nazareth. Then the fall and rise of the Christ. I have always taken this as the…
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Holy Saturday
The Detroit Zoo hosted an Easter festivity today. It wasn’t Easter, of course, but Holy Saturday. I went along anyway. The boy loves birds and wouldn’t stop chasing the peacocks. Then we visited the polar bear exhibit, which was really cool. We went under the water and got a close up of a seal! On…