Drew Downs

Make a New Normal

Holy Week

  • Rejecting the Trap

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    6 min read

    The dishonesty behind asking compromises any answer Jesus may have to the question a Homily for Proper 24A  |  Text: Matthew  22:15-22 The Trap This is not a story about taxes. This is a story about a trap that backfires. A trap set to deal with authority. And every time we go near the question of…

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  • Faith In Spite of Death

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    5 min read

    a Sermon for Good Friday Text: John 18:1-19:42 By what authority? There’s a telling moment toward the beginning of Holy Week that explains the drama that is unfolding. A moment that involves a simple enough pair of questions: By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them? Authority.…

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  • Not Alone: Maundy Thursday and the Building of Intimacy

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    5 min read

    a Sermon for Maundy Thursday Text: John 13:1-17, 31b-35 The Cup This year, it was helpful for me to remember that we have developed a different way of marking days from Jesus’s time and place. Then, the day began at dusk. So this, Jesus’s final day, has begun. He gathers His friends for dinner, for…

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  • Speaking: Palm Sunday and the liberation of Jesus

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    5 min read

    a Sermon for Palm Sunday A Text: Matthew 21:1-11 Something to Say What would you say and how would you say it? That was the basis of the writing exercise we did Wednesday night.* Imagine that you have a prime time block on TV on Thursday night; 50 million people are watching, you have a…

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  • You Are the Servant Leader

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    3 min read

    “You’re the pastor” This is the gentle reminder many clergy receive: as if we’ve forgotten. It usually happens when we’ve invited our people into sharing leadership of a ministry. We say “you can do this” and they say “but you’re the pastor”. And for those of us that wear the dog collar, we get reminded…

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  • A Parting Gift

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    5 min read

    a Sermon for Easter 6C Text: John 14:23-29  Jesus the Rambler In the gospel we call John, Jesus is a rambler. Again this week we are in the farewell discourse that runs through chapters 13-16. It is Thursday of Holy Week and Jesus is giving the final teachings. And He seems to have slipped into…

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