Sermons on Pentecost (Page 2)

Homesick Eighth Sunday after Pentecost August 4, 2019 Preaching text: Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible. By faith…

Texts I wish never made it into the Lectionary Seventh Sunday after Pentecost July 28, 2019 Hosea 1:2-10 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great…

Listening Sixth Sunday after Pentecost July 21, 2019 Lectionary Texts: Amos 8:1-12 This is what the Lord God showed me– a basket of summer fruit. He said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass them by. The…

We are Anti-Fragile Second Sunday of Advent December 9, 2018 Right now every High School Senior in the United States is being asked the same questions: What are you doing next year? If the answer is further education, the next question is “What college/vocational school do you want to go to?” And then “what do you want to study?” How many of you are doing exactly what you…

We are…Community The First Sunday of Advent December 2, 2018 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, justas we abound in love for you.  I Thessalonians 3.12a Colonel Dede Halfhill stood before her troops at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana at an air force awards ceremony.[1]  At the end of the presentation she asked if…

We are…? The Last Sunday after Pentecost November 25, 2018 If you happen to be wearing a Penn State fan gear out in public you need to be prepared for complete strangers coming up to you and saying in a loud voice “We are” and they will expect you to answer back “Penn State!” If you go to a Penn State football game you will hear the students cheer back and forth “We…

What is there to say? Veterans’ Day Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost November 11, 2018 To be honest, this had been a really hard week to figure out what to preach about.  We are just two weeks past the horrific synagogue massacre, and then this week, another shooting in a nightclub full of young people.  Our hearts are heavy with the sadness of seeing such senseless…

Blind Bartemaus  The Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost  October 28, 2018 When I lived in California in 1992-1993 (when I started Seminary at Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California), I went to visit many beautiful interesting places: The Red Woods, Yosemite National Park, the Sequoias, the Giant Artichoke in Watsonville California, and Forestiere’s…

I Don’t Know The Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost October 21, 2018 One of my favorite stories is about a monastery in Russia.  I may have told you this story before.  But in case you have not heard it, it goes like this:  Every evening at the monastery the monks would sit around a bonfire, and discuss esoteric points of theology or verses in the bible.  And they would…