Sermon Illustration
Exodus 20, Matthew 5.38-48 Christian de Cherge was a French Catholic monk in charge of a Trappist abbey in Algeria. A veteran of the French army, de Cherge grew up in an aristocratic family. After...
View ArticleThe Truth Shall Make You Odd
All Saints Sunday — Proverbs 3, 1 Corinthians 1 In 1971, at a church in Washougal, Washington, Everett Chance preached a remarkable sermon— remarkable, because Everett Chance did not believe in God.*...
View ArticleOn Becoming a Theologian of the Cross
Daniel 3, Philippians 4 A couple of years ago now, my wife, Ali, my mother, and I were sitting shoulder-to-shoulder in the mauve exam room where my oncologist had just handed me the results of my...
View ArticleThe Church is Where We Die to Our Goliaths
Here’s a sermon on 1 Samuel 17.1-11, 32-51 and Revelation 12.7-12 from my intern David King, a student at Haverford College. I remember sitting in Sunday school some years ago and hearing the David and...
View ArticleChristian Politics — A Sermon by Stanley Hauerwas
Christian Politics By Dr. Stanley Hauerwas, Duke University A Sermon for Annandale Methodist Church November 24, 2019 Jeremiah 23: 1-6 Colossians 1: 11-20 Luke 23: 33-43 I do not know about you but I...
View ArticleThe Promise that Gives You Christ
SONY DSC For our services on the second Sunday of Advent, I offered three reflections in tandem with musical offerings by our choirs. Isaiah 11 and John 1 were the scripture texts. It’s Better to...
View ArticleAbstinence: 99.999999% Effective
Matthew 1.18-25 Many Christmases ago, after singing “O Come All Ye Faithful” and “Silent Night” service after service after service and after having a distracted parent spill hot wax on my hand,...
View ArticleTaking God at His Word — Sermon for Children’s Christmas Eve Service
For our Children’s Christmas Eve service, I scripted a series of reflections that some of the children and I delivered together, taking the verses of the carol “The Friendly Beasts” as a guide. I don’t...
View ArticleParadise for the Insane
Christmas Eve — Isaiah 9, John 1 The first time I ever went to church was on a night like tonight; it was a cold and crowded Christmas Eve. My mother made me go. When she said through my bedroom door,...
View ArticleJesus is NOT the Reason for the Season
Matthew 2.1-12 When I first sat down on the plane, I did what anyone would do. I began thumbing through the pages of SkyMall. A Kenny G Muzak cover of Van Morrison’s “Crazy Love”...
View ArticleSalvation by Baptism Alone
This Sunday’s sermon was delivered by my minion, David King. His texts were Exodus 14 and Matthew 3. For someone not even graduated from college yet, he’s a damn good preacher. PRAYER: “Lord Jesus,...
View ArticleWine into Water
Isaiah 62.1-5 and John 2.1–11 “Now standing there were six stone water-jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons…” Six stone jars. Let’s round to the middle,...
View ArticleThe Dead Don’t Make Decisions
Numbers 21, John 3 I realize we’re still getting to know one another, so it may come as a shock to some of you to learn that I tend to be contrary by nature. Case in point: Towards the end of my first...
View ArticleGod-Damned Christians
Matthew 5.1-12, Romans 5.6-10 My son, Gabriel, took this photo in October of 2018 on Opening Night of the comic book movie, Venom. Let’s just say it wasn’t Oscar-worthy. We went to see it, because...
View ArticleMilitant Grace
1 Corinthians 2.1-12, Matthew 10.1-16 The first clergy meeting I ever had, I made the mistake of attending. I was a first-year student in Seminary. I had just begun pastoring a small congregation when...
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