Monthly Archives: November 2014
Illumine Hope Isaiah 64:1-12 November 29, 2014 I used to work right in the very middle of Washington, DC’s Chinatown. Every year, toward the end of January on a Sunday, then, there was a huge Chinese New Year celebration. Perhaps you’ve attended one: streets closed down for parades, food stands crowd the sidewalks, fireworks and drumming punctuate the air, children sitting on their parents’ shoulders struggle to get a glimpse of the… Read More
November 25, 2014 Dear Church Family, The judgment is in, there will be no trial for the officer who shot and killed unarmed eighteen-year-old Michael Brown. The streets of Ferguson erupted with the flames of anger moments after the news broke. This is a recurring nightmare of violence from which our nation cannot seem to awaken. Our hearts are broken and we are filled with anger at a system that is profoundly… Read More
Living Generously: Time and Talents Matthew 25:14-30 We continue our consideration today of the invitation to live generously, with all we have and all we are. We know that a generosity of spirit, possessions, our lives even, is fundamental to the work of following Jesus in the world, as he is the one who came to show us the lavish generosity of God as a model for our relationships with each other…. Read More
Last Sunday I stood at the front of the church, as I do most weeks, to welcome the community to worship. After I finished my remarks, I made my way to my seat on the side of the chancel to await the beginning of the opening hymn. The organ began to play and I stood with the congregation to sing the opening hymn: Baptized in one confession, One church in all the earth…. Read More
Living Generously: Relationships Matthew 23:1-12 Every Lent I try to take on some practice or give up something, the sacrifice of which might help me think about God a little more. Perhaps some of you try to do this as well. Over the years the practice has become, for me, an exercise in failure. For example, there was the Lent I tried to give up Diet Coke, which lasted only one week;… Read More
Talk with the Preacher 