June 19, 2016 1 Kings 19:1-15a Luke 8:26-39 Have you been watching Game of Thrones? It seems that maybe the Hound is ready to take the disorienting and daring plunge of accepting new possibilities for his life. The “Hound” is the nickname of the ruthless guard for the now deceased and utterly detestable child king, […]

June 5, 2016 Galatians 1:11-24 It is really hard to understand what Paul is so upset about in his letter to the Galatians when all we get is a little piece of scripture to read. And, I think it is even harder to understand what he is getting at in today’s pericope if we have […]

May 15, 2016 Acts 2:1-21 John 14:8-17, 25-27 Pentectost Confirmation Sunday “I believe God exists beyond anything we could imagine, watching over us all. He is not beyond our world in a two-dimensional, linear sense.  He is not even beyond in a three dimensional sense, or in a sense of time.  He is somehow, someway, […]

May 8, 2016 Acts 1:1-11 Luke 24:44-53 As these 50 days of the Easter season approach their conclusion with next week’s Pentecost Sunday, the Sunday prior, according to the liturgical calendar, is always a celebration of the Ascension, this moment of Christ’s final, post-resurrection departing. We read the story twice this morning, presumably from the […]

April 24, 2016 Acts 11:1-18 I first came across Tony Campolo when I was in seminary. A Phd student who is now a big shot professor at Duke was leading a study group at the church we both attended, and she was using a video series that Campolo had produced.  I had never heard of […]

April 17, 2016 Rev. 7:9-17 Timothy B. Hare   The Little League season has begun again! It’s always an exciting time of year.  In part I like it because it’s fun to watch Charley discover new talents, to watch him play with a team, to watch him learn the game.  In part, I like little […]

Jan. 17, 2016 John 2:1-11 1 Cor. 12:1-11 I’ve read, in just one commentary, that according to the ancient prophecies (and proclaimed by Amos and Joel in the OT,) “the abundance of good wine is an eschatological symbol.” We’ve discussed that word, “eschatological” before.  It means, “referring to the end times,” the end times whose […]

Jan. 10, 2015 Isaiah 43:1-7 Luke 3:15-17, 21-22   Tiki Barber, the former running back of the New York Giants, was on the radio the other day defending comments that he made about the now retired (or resigned?) coach of the Giants, Tom Coughlin. Tiki said his comments were taken completely out of context by […]

Luke 2:1-20 Christmas Happens Every year as Christmas comes around I’m reminded of a story I once read in a preaching journal early in my ministry. On the surface it had nothing to do with Christmas.  It was about the author’s experience of witnessing the launching of the space shuttle.  He was in Florida, and […]

Luke 3:7-18 “No on wants to be chastised by John the Baptist this close to Christmas. No preacher wants to read this text when preparing for his third Advent sermon. No parishioner wants to be challenged by John’s words as she sits in the pew enveloped in thoughts of final Christmas preparations and purchases.”[1] That’s […]