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With: Jesus, shepherds, and feeling alone
a Homily for Easter 4A Text: John 10:1-10 Alone When I left for college, I was pretty conflicted. In one sense, I was confident and believed in myself. In another, I felt unprepared and was worried that everyone was smarter than I am. I did well in school and had no reason to doubt…
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Walk, Talk, Stop: the road to Emmaus and the Christian experience
a Homily for Easter 3A Text: Luke 24:13-35 The Walk and Talk When Aaron Sorkin’s show, The West Wing debuted in 1999, it pioneered a technique dubbed “The Walk and Talk”. Shows before The West Wing featured plenty of walking and plenty of talking and even plenty of people walking while talking. But no show…
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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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Unbinding: emptying the tomb
a Sermon for Lent 5A Text: John 11:1-45 Preventing Death Our story is almost over. Jesus is nearing Jerusalem. And in one final, glorious act, Jesus reveals the very thing He has come to do. A big show of great, inhuman power, in which the whole purpose of the mission is revealed. For us to…
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Leaving the Cave: seeing, believing, and true power
a Sermon for Lent 4A Text: John 9:1-41 Plato’s Cave In Plato’s Republic, the philosopher introduces a strange scenario in which a prisoner is trapped in a cave. The prisoner knows nothing of the world as we know it. He’s stuck in one place, staring straight ahead for a long, long time. Behind him is…
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From Night to Day: reconciling, faith, and the Kingdom walk
a Homily for Lent 3A Text: John 4:5-42 The Story Our scene turns from Nicodemus, who seeks Jesus at night to an unnamed woman who stumbles upon him in the middle of the day. I think we are supposed to juxtapose these contrasting characters from chapters 3 and 4. Night/Day. Man/Woman. Named/Nameless. Leader/Commoner. Insider/Outsider. Hebrew/Samaritan.…