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 […]
March 27, 2016 Easter Sunday Luke 24:1-12 Carlyle Marnie was a Baptist preacher of some prominence in the 1950’s, 60’s, and 70’s. I came across an interesting story about him related to a resurrection sermon that he preached in some large church in the south. I have no idea what he said, but evidently the […]
March 20, 2016 Luke 19:29-40 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.” These are the Palm Sunday words from Luke. They sound familiar, but they are slightly different than the words you will find in the other three gospels. They all say, “Blessed is the ONE who comes in […]
March 13, 2016 John 12:1-8 Isaiah 43:16-21 Psalm 126 Philippians 3:4b-14 It strikes me as the perfect scene for a savior who simply won’t stand to be boxed in by human expectations, controlled by convention, or colored by predictability. What happens next in the Gospel of John is Palm Sunday; in other words, this dinner […]
Feb. 28, 2016 Isaiah 55:1-9 Luke 13:1-9 I have found a number of really good and inspired quotes that speak thoughtfully about the obvious, but still challenging themes of scripture. I would like to share those quotes along with my thoughts on them. And, then I’ll add a bit on a theme that none of […]
Feb. 7, 2016 Ex. 34:29-35 Luke 9:28-43a I thought I would share the following account with you. The man says, “I remember the night, and almost the very spot on the hilltop, where my soul opened out, as it were, into the Infinite, and there was a rushing together of the two worlds, the inner […]
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 […]