Tag: sermon
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becoming poor (3/4)
As we start out this morning, I’d like to explore a couple of temptations the preacher faces when dealing with a biblical text. The preacher’s task, of course, is to explore a particular text, and then to share its message with the congregation. The sermon itself can take many different forms – there are many…
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becoming poor (2/4)
I’d like to bring two thoughts together as we begin this morning. The first thought is this: That I don’t really understand poverty. Of course, in an abstract kind of way I understand poverty. I understand that it must be tremendously painful and disabling not to know how you will get your next meal. I’ve…
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becoming poor (in spirit) 1/4
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The question of poverty looms large in both the Old and the New Testament. The question of poverty confronts us in an especially powerful way in the life and teaching of Jesus. And so over the next few weeks we want to…
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come for breakfast…
Our New Testament lesson this morning from John chapter 21 is jam-packed with activity. Full to over-flowing with interesting and even astonishing moments. There is Peter inviting the disciples to go fishing. There is a long night of catching nothing. There is a stranger on the shore telling them to try the other side of…
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recognizing jesus
We don’t know a whole lot about Mary Magdalene. In fact, before we get to the last chapter of Jesus’ story, there is only one clear reference to Mary Magdalene in the gospels. Almost in passing, Luke tells us that once when Jesus was travelling around preaching with his disciples, there was a group of…
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palm sunday lamentation
When we imagine the first Palm Sunday, and when we re-enact it in our worship there is a celebratory waving of palm branches, there are joyful cries of hosanna, there are children dancing with ribbons, Palm Sunday is all of these things. It is joy, it is celebration – it is, in the broadest…
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wrestling with God
When I think of wrestling, I think back to my 9th grade, high school gym class – the year that wrestling was part of the phys ed. curriculum. I had never wrestled before in my life – and when I first walking into that wrestling room with padded floor I was more than a little…
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vintage jesus – silent film
As you probably know, this year’s Academy Award nominations were announced this past Tuesday down in Beverly Hills. The list of nominated films and actors and directors and animators has been everywhere. On the newscasts, in the newspapers, and across the internet there has been response and reaction. Which film was overrated, which actor got…
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vintage Jesus (2)
Last week as we began this short sermon series entitled Vintage Jesus, we spent a bit of time describing this whole fascination with the sensibilities and aesthetics of past decades. There is fairly wide interest in the clothes and jewelry and furniture, and other things from the 1930’s and 40’s up through the 70’s. There…
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vintage jesus
the first in a short sermon series… _______________________________ This past week I visited a little shop over in the Plateau – a shop that has been at the corner of St. Laurent and Duluth for more than 15 years. It’s called Friperie St. Laurent and it’s actually well known in Montreal as a place where…
encrusted words 