Feeding the 5000

The crowd gathered. It was a big crowd gathered near Jesus.  Or as close as they could get.  The hillside full. Five thousand people, John’s Gospel says. And that’s likely just counting the men. A crowd that could fill the Aud at or beyond capacity. 

On the grass, the people came together. The place...

Sermon Pentecost 6B 

In the book, Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer talks about family camping trips in the Adironacks, to the tallest peak called Mount Marcy or in Algonquin, Tahawus.  Robin recalls how her family taught her the importance leaving the site in good shape. Cleaning up the campsite had the goal of leaving it...

3rd Sunday after Pentecost

  Mark 4: 25-34

 

Today for my sermon, I’ve got a mashup for you of what’s helped me weed through the Gospel parable. It’s about:

A Mustard Seed

Helicopters 

Screen Time

Bouquets

 

A Mustard Seed, Really?

We start with this quaint parable of a mustard seed, the smallest of all...

Come away with me into this sermon time.

 

Whenever I start to write a sermon it’s like going to the well with a bucket. I’ve been to the well before to draw living water, but the bucket needs to refilled often. It’s certain that since the last time I preach on a text the world has changed, and I have changed.  With...

 

Sermon: Fourth Sunday of Easter

Psalm 23, 1 John 3, John 10:11-18

 

The narratives of faith we hear on Good Shepherding Sunday speak to us of being known, being called, and being gathered into one.  We are given a glimpse that life as God intends -  means - that those who don’t experience belonging, are meant to find...

Easter Sunday   

John 20:1-18

 

While it was still dark….

 

The Easter Gospel opens with these words.  

 

While it was still dark, in those brilliant early morning hours when most of the world still slept, Mary gets up and goes to the tomb.

 

While it was still dark…

Even as the sun had not yet...

Fourth Sunday in Lent
Numbers 21:4-9, John 3:14-21

 

I’ve said this before,

God’s word invites us to enter into the story and to become a part.  Yes, there’s a God moment happening again today… unfolding in our midst. Do you want to be a part?  Of course you do. However, your enthusiasm might depend on...

Transfiguration Sunday
Mark 9:2-9

Six days later. 

 

The Gospel opens with these words. Whenever an event is marked by days since - it’s clear something big took place. 

 

We often mark life events in this way. One year ago we entered pandemic life. 

Five years ago, the doctors gave you a cancer free diagnosis. 9...

Epiphany Sermon

Matthew 2:1-12

 

At my previous church in Toronto, there was a small glass tile cross, back lit by the sun behind the altar. There wasn’t anything fancy about the cross, as the church had more of a quaint cottage like feel. It wasn’t ornate stained glass but it let in the light.  As the faithful made their...

Christmas Day Sermon

Isaiah 62:6-12, Psalm 97, Titus 3: 4-7, Luke 2: 1-20 

Introduction

For many of us, Christmas is a time of tradition. Growing up and for the first 30 years of my life, I had the same Christmas traditions each year. I knew what I was doing and who I was doing it with.  Visiting with each side of the family on...