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The wedding is the red herring
a Sermon for Proper 23A Text: Matthew 22:1-14 Give it up for weddings Raise your hand if you like weddings. All those happy people, the good food, a pervasive spirit of hope. Everybody dressed in their finest. The two, whose binding together we gather to support and cheer have never looked so beautiful and powerful. …
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Without moderation
You’ve no doubt heard this encouragement: everything in moderation. This is especially attractive in the church, where the every “thing” in question is likely to be that assorted list of “sins” that you just can’t help yourself with. That list has tough stuff on it, but also seemingly small things: alcohol smoking dancing (which…
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4 keys to engaging children in church
At a lecture in Atlanta recently, the Rev. Sam Portaro, author of Brightest and Best points out that “Children are actually written into Scripture.” They weren’t supposed to be seen. They were property. But Jesus spoke to them, healed them, accepted their donations, and told His disciples to be like them. We never take that last…
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Christianity, the state, and the rising urge to kill someone
Over the last week or so, some really good Christians have written about the death penalty from a Christian perspective. It has been in the public consciousness for the last few weeks. I gave my own response recently. But in the responses, a curious thing happened. There was what has to be this moment of…
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Don’t like change? You’ll love this!
[I have written several pieces on change and encourage you to find links to them here.] There is something startling about a Christian that doesn’t like change. We have come to see our faith traditions as monolithic and unchanging. We look back through our lives and we such static behavior coming from Christianity. We are used to…
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Forgiveness and 9/11
This morning I was at the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration in Rome, Georgia. What a day to make one’s first appearance as supply! But they were gracious and welcoming and I think we made some good worship! Of course, preaching on such a day as this, it is impossible (or possible, but cowardly) to…
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We actually like change
It is funny when you are in an organization that hears the word “change” and breaks out into metaphorical hives, because the response is predictable. We hear the same chorus: “Why change anything, we’re doing fine.” “We’re not the church of what’s happenin’ now.”* “There’s so much change in the world, I want church to…