Sermons from July 2021
Your Inner Hammock
My car needs cleaning. Not so much the outside but the inside. I have been transporting stuff that I haven’t figured out where to put and also my golf clubs because then they’re there when I need them. Then I dropped a bag of Indian snacks that I was busy snacking on, and all those little yellow bits fell between the seats, And then just the other day I had to pick up a microwave from Best Buy. I thought…
Hold the Vision
Ephesians 2:11-22Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 Today we see two different pictures of the followers of Jesus. In the Gospel we heard how the apostles gathered around Jesus and told him how their mission trips had gone. You may remember that a couple of weeks ago we heard Jesus sending them out two by two without any extra provisions or clothing. Now they’re back, excited about their experiences. This is very immediate and personal, and then all the people are rushing about…
Responding to the Needs of the Moment
Luke 14:27-33 I have heard tell of a spiritual master who cultivates bonsai trees. He has many pots of miniature trees and he tends each one carefully, adjusting its branches, pruning a little here and holding up a bit there. And every one of his bonsai trees represents one of his disciples, and as he is forming the tree so he is forming the disciple. St. Benedict was big on formation – the process whereby we move from the sinful…
A Prophet In Their Own Home
Ezekiel 2:1-52 Corinthians 12:2-10Mark 6:1-13 “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” That is a saying that resonates from my childhood – I can’t be sure but I think my mother quoted it when she was feeling under-appreciated. But I doubt that she actually saw herself as a prophet. We tend to think of prophets as those who utter prophecy, and prophecy as saying what will happen in…