Isaiah 43:1-7 Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 The powerful words of the prophet, Isaiah, spoken so long ago to a people in exile, are ones I have carried close to my heart for more than half my life. At least in part, I expect this is so because of how they first came to me. (To read …
Tag: Luke
Making Room: Experiencing God’s Wonders
Luke 2:1-20 I would offer now a story of ‘making room’ — one where God is working God’s wonders again and again. And again. A few years back, Dean, a long faithful member of our congregation who was then in his late 90’s, gave us his house. He no longer had need of it as …
Mary and Hannah and a Woman in the County Jail
Luke 1:39-55 I find myself wondering at Mary now… wondering how it is that she came to be so articulate, so poetic, so very wise at such a young age. While there is much we cannot know about this young woman who was chosen for a life she could not have imagined, from what we …
One Sermon
Luke 3:7-18 Many years ago my mentor and friend, Pastor Antti Lepisto, told me that we all have ‘one sermon’ which we just keep preaching over and over again. I know he meant that in terms of what comes from the pulpit week after week, but these days I am wondering if it is even …
In the Wilderness With John…
Luke 3:1-6 As is always the case, it is ours to consider John for two weeks again this Advent season. Next week we will receive the direct words of his preaching as the one who is clearly ‘preparing the way’ for ‘the one more powerful whose thongs of his sandals he knows himself unworthy to …
Stand Up!
Luke 21:25-36 I have long loved this little invitation in Luke’s Gospel for the way in which it stand at odds with all one might expect. In the wake of signs and distress and confusion. In the midst of the experience of people fainting in fear and forboding. In a time when the very powers …
Also Witnesses: Living in the Power of Forgiveness
Luke 24:36b-48 Not long ago I saw first hand how forgiveness can make all the difference. The sort of forgiveness which is the very heart of Jesus’ sending words for the disciples and for all of us today. But first, pause with me in the story itself… For it is so that we find ourselves …
Walking to Bethlehem
Luke 2:1-20 Somehow I had a spare moment earlier in December, and decided to try to get a head start on my Christmas Sermon. At least for me, this is one of the most difficult sermons to preach in any given year. Emotions run high. The crowds tend to be larger than usual — expanded …
Encountering Jesus On the Way
Luke 24:13-35 She leaned in close and took my pendant in her hand.”Whose fingerprint is this?” She asked. “It’s not,” I replied. “It”s a labyrinth.” “Oh,” she said. “I had a friend whose sister died. She wore her fingerprint on a pendant around her neck.” So no, it’s not a fingerprint that I’ve worn for …
Re-Telling the Story…
Luke 2:1-20 It seemed like a good idea at the time — if not altogether original. It has been my practice for many years to ‘build the creche’ with the children during the children’s sermon during Advent. One week we add the animals. The next week the angels join them. Pretty soon Mary and Joseph …