An audio file of the sermon from October 30 is available at this link. The Scripture readings are Genesis 23:1-20 and Romans 5:1-11. “Both Sarah and Abraham lived long enough to see the hope God gave them at the outset be fulfilled. There had been many missteps along the way, but still at the end … [Read more…]
An audio file of the sermon from October 23 is available at this link. The Scripture readings are Genesis 22:1-19 and Hebrews 11:17-19. “At the last possible moment, when Abraham has raised the knife, finally God’s messenger stops it. The Dutch artist Rembrandt thought long and hard about how to paint this moment, because … [Read more…]
An audio file of the sermon from October 9 is available here. The Scripture readings are Genesis 18:16-33 and Matthew 6:5-13. Abraham prays with a sense of reverence for God. In our culture, we tend to equate a casual, chatty approach to God with reverence. I’m not so sure, though. In his little book Lament … [Read more…]
An audio recording of the sermon from October 2 is available at this link. The Scripture readings for the day are Genesis 18:1-15 and Genesis 21:1-7. A PDF file of the worship bulletin for the day is available here. “Sarah’s laughter resonates across the ages as vividly as any sound in Scripture. How you hear … [Read more…]
Audio of the sermon from September 25 is at this link. The Scripture readings are Genesis 17 and Galatians 3:1-9. A PDF file of the worship bulletin for the day is here. “‘Walk before me and be blameless.’ Some translations say, “Be perfect.” But the meaning here is not “be sinless.” It’s more like, “Walk … [Read more…]
Audio of the sermon from September 18 is here. A PDF file of the worship bulletin is here. The Scripture readings for the day are Genesis 16 and Romans 8:18-30. An excerpt from the sermon: “People sometimes say, “All the world’s religions teach the same ethics.” And that isn’t true, but more importantly it’s beside … [Read more…]
An audio recording of the sermon from September 11 is here. The Scripture readings are Genesis 15:1-21 and Matthew 11:1-6. “Like many others with the responsibility of preaching on that day, I found on Sunday, September 16, 2001 that it wasn’t necessary to depart from the original plan in order to be given something to … [Read more…]
An audio recording of the sermon for August 28 is here. The worship bulletin (PDF) is here. The Scripture readings are Genesis 13 and Philippians 2:1-11. “The most striking thing to me in all of this story is this business of looking and seeing, and its relationship to faith. Lot chose by looking, by sight, … [Read more…]
Audio of the sermon from August 21 is here. The worship bulletin is here. The Scripture readings are Genesis 11:27-12:9 and Hebrews 11:8-12. “It isn’t because Abram is such an admirable person that he receives this call and promise. He does quite a few profoundly un-admirable things. We aren’t told in the Bible about … [Read more…]
Audio of the sermon for August 14, 2016 is here. “Some days and years and centuries are better than others, and some are worse. At times it seems hopeless, and reasons for cynicism pile up. Some people rush to judgement, and conclude that it means history has no direction at all, that it isn’t moving … [Read more…]
