Sermons

I’m old enough now that there have been fully fourteen presidential inaugurations in my lifetime (although I don’t remember them all). Come Wednesday, that number will be fifteen.

Luke 3:1-22 If you read my newsletter column this month, you know I’m not in the habit of making New Year’s resolutions.  I don’t think most of them get kept very far into the new year—at least that’s been the case for me when I have made them.  And most […]

Have you ever had your mouth washed out with soap? I’m pretty sure parents nowadays would be horrified at the thought of doing such a thing, but years ago it was definitely done when a kid said something they shouldn’t—especially if they used “adult language,” which of course is a euphemism for language even adults probably ought to avoid whenever possible.

Luke 2:21-38 In Phyllis Tickle’s multi-volume work for daily prayers, The Divine Hours, one of the final prayers for each night is the one traditionally called in Latin the Nunc Dimittis. It comes from today’s reading. In the first two chapters of Luke’s Gospel, we have the origin of three […]

It was Christmas Eve morning several years ago, pretty relaxed and casual. I was in my study, getting ready to start on a sermon for the following Sunday. As I drank my first cup of coffee and tried to pry my eyes open, I thought I’d check my e-mail and Facebook quick, just to see if there was anything there that needed my attention.

Whatever advertising agency or agencies the insurance company Geico has used over the years, I hope they were well-compensated for their work. Whether they feature the cavemen, or the gecko, or another character or theme, Geico’s commercials have tended to be quite funny and memorable.

No one here would be surprised to know that I’m a “foodie.” That’s a colloquial word that encompasses two fancier terms: gourmand—someone who takes great pleasure in eating good food—and gourmet—someone who enjoys cooking and is pretty skilled at it.

The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) officially became a denomination in 1968. I’m not sure[1] what prompted the desire in the 1960s to formalize our structure with a constitution and by-laws (what we call the Design), but it was a process that involved a lot of discussion and prayer, and at least a certain amount of conflict.

Not too long after I started attending the church where, later, Mike and I got married and I did my seminary internship, the congregation decided to join forces with First Christian in Portland to co-sponsor a refugee couple from Haiti. Their names were Jean and Atemise; he was in his mid-20s and she was 19, and they were expecting their first child.

Jeremiah 36:1-12a, 13-16, 19-28; 31:31-34

When I was growing up, the radio at our house was pretty much on from the time my folks got up until the soaps came on the television at 11:30 in the morning. Then after the soaps were over, it came back on until time for the TV evening news. And when I got older, I would turn it on in my room after supper, and listen until bedtime.

When I was growing up, the radio at our house was pretty much on from the time my folks got up until the soaps came on the television at 11:30 in the morning. Then after the soaps were over, it came back on until time for the TV evening news. And when I got older, I would turn it on in my room after supper, and listen until bedtime.