Sermon: Let (it) Go

“Let (it) Go- Leaving Behind what We Don’t Need”

(May 21, 2017) Sometimes, too much change, even good change, like leaving behind oppression in Egypt, or like God conquering death in Jesus Christ, can throw us off balance. It can be hard to let go of the past, no matter what that past is like. Gently, we offer to God those things that we need to let go, like the empty shell of a chrysalis, so that we are ready to journey on. (Exodus 16:1-3, 9-12; John 21:1-14)

Sermon: Unwrap & Unfold- Unbound

“Unwrap & Unfold- Unbound”

(May 14, 2017) An emerging butterfly– or human child– is strengthened by the process of breaking free. Much as we might wish we could save our children from hardship, and much as God might wish to save us, God’s children, from hardship, the struggle is part of what strengthens us so that we will one day be able to soar. Unlike moths and butterflies, we do not struggle alone. Like Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, we are surrounded by a community that struggles with us, and that aids us in the unbinding. (John 11:1-44)

 

I tried and failed to show this video clip from ABC’s show “Lost”. I described it instead, but the illustration goes faster if you have the option to watch it.

Sermon: Stir- Wake me Up

“Stir- Wake me Up”

(May 7, 2017) A brief reflection on a day when we celebrated camping Sunday still offers time to ask– when and where and how to we begin to awaken to God’s new thing? Are you falling asleep just as the story gets interesting, or are you beginning to awaken? (John 10:1-10; Matthew 28:8-20)

Sermon: Open – Into the Light

“Open- Into the Light”

(April 30, 2017) What does it mean to open to God’s transformation in our lives– not to be open (a state of being), but to open (a verb)? As the disciples struggle to imagine what the death and resurrection of Jesus could mean, Jesus himself comes to journey with hem, opening scripture, opening their eyes, and opening their hearts. Do you see the little crack through which the light gets in? (Genesis 17:1-7, 15-27; Luke 24:13-35)