encrusted words

Tag: sermon

  • a real conversation — jesus and the ‘woman at the well’

    In many ways this seems like a simple story. It’s a familiar story, and it all feels so straightforward: Jesus is travelling with is disciples. He stops at a well to drink and meets a woman. They have a conversation about living water. Eventually she comes to believe he’s the messiah. Straightforward. Most of us…

  • temptation and love – a conversation with Jesus

    When I hear again the story of your temptation, Jesus – when I read about those 40 days you spent out in the wilderness, there is one question that comes to my mind. Only one question, Jesus. It’s a question I can phrase in lots of different ways – it’s a question I can express…

  • thinking prayer with forgiveness

    Over the past weeks we have been explored the possibility and reality of forgiveness. Among other things, we talked about the unconditional forgiveness of God – this forgiveness that undergirds our whole spiritual life – that God persists in loving us and seeking us and walking with us even when we continually fail. We talked…

  • forgiveness (and repentance?)

    Forgiveness is always a challenging topic to talk about or preach about. At one level forgiveness is a challenging topic because when we talk about forgiveness we are talking about our very personal and sometimes painful experiences. Beyond the personal nature of the topic, forgiveness is also challenging subject because in our culture there is…

  • sabbath keeping: Kierkegaard’s contribution

    In Presbyterian circles, when the idea of Sabbath observance comes up, you inevitably come up against the Presbyterian myth of the Sabbath. It goes like this: When I was a child we went to church on Sunday morning, and then again on Sunday evenings, and the rest of the day you had to rest. You…

  • Forgiveness as Letting Go

    In the first half of this sermon I have closely followed Anthony Bash’s discussion of forgiveness as letting go in Just Forgiveness. ________________ Just let it go. How many times have you heard those words in your life? How many times have you perhaps spoken those words to someone you know. Just let it go.…

  • Unconditional Forgiveness!?

    In this sermon I have largely followed the interpretation of Exodus 32-34 that is offered by Donald Gowan in his book The Bible on Forgiveness. _______________ How long do you keep trying? How many times do you go back to a relationship? Perhaps you’ve had meaningful years together. You’ve grown together in love and care.…

  • Spend Less – Getting Christmas Right

    As we continue to make our way through the season of Advent, and as we approach the celebration of Christmas, we are sticking with the four themes of our Advent Conspiracy. In this season we are invited (or even commanded) to do the following: Worship Fully       Spend Less        Give…

  • Creating a world with our words #sermon #proverbs

    God spoke – and the dome of the sky was there in all its glorious blue. God spoke – and moving, shifting, heaving waters came together in the sea. God spoke – and the Baobab tree, wild grasses, flowering bushes were planted. God spoke – and in the night’s sky there was the Orion nebula,…

  • putting anger in its place #sermon

    So we are back to the Proverbs this morning – which means we are back to the nitty-gritty of life – we are back dealing with the everyday realities of our lives, and our relationships, and our character, and our work. And since are back to the things of daily life, the fact that we…