Saltier than a Pharisee Intro/The Easy Part – Salt & Light a. Familiar with Different Kinds of Salt in W.MI 1. Table Salt 2. Road Salt 3. Don’t mix up the two! b. Paying Roman Soldiers – “Worth His Salt” c. Not Hiding Our Faith – Bringing Light Into a Dark World 1. Faith 2.…
Read: Genesis 5:1-5 and Matthew 1:1-17. What comes to mind when you hear me say, “Once upon a time?” Do you think of a particular story? Perhaps it’s a fairy tale from your childhood? As a kid I can remember going to the library to hear the librarian read from Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Flea and the Professor,” which as you might know…
What a big day we are celebrating, today. It’s so great to begin our fourth Sunday of Lent with a beautiful baptism and then end it with a marvelous feast. Lent is often a time to fast from the things that keep us away from God. But as I reminded (B.) at Wednesday’s service each Sunday during Lent is considered a mini-Easter; we are given a day…
A man goes to his doctor because he’s been feeling very ill for the last couple of days. The doctor gives him several sets of pills, and lengthy instructions on how to take them. The doctor says; “Take the green pill with two big glasses of water when you get up. An hour later, take the white pill with another glass of…
Let me begin by saying what a joy it is to welcome my mom and dad to our worship service this morning. There’s something to be said about a son preaching and proclaiming to his parents. This isn’t anything new to them. They have sat through many of my sermons before. And as I youngster, I certainly preached and proclaimed all sorts…
While it strays from the traditional lectionary readings I believe Noah’s story is fitting for today’s celebration of Epiphany. If you are unfamiliar with this traditional Christian holiday the best way to describe it is to say it commemorates the Magi arriving in Bethlehem. By definition, the word epiphany means “manifestation” or “revelation.” It comes from the Greek word Epiphania, which means,…
“Lord have mercy on me, was the kneeling drunkards plea. And as he knelt there on the ground, I know that God in heaven looked down.” In 1996, Johnny Cash sang this remake of the Carter Family song, “Kneeling Drunkard’s Plea.” In this song, God hears the cry of a man kneeling at his mother’s grave. For whatever personal reasons, he didn’t…
Readings: Micah 6:6-8; Isaiah 9:2-7 A father was talking with his rather rebellious son one day and said, “Every person who lives in the United States is a privileged person.” The son answered, “I disagree.” And the father replied, “That’s the privilege.” Yesterday marked the 239th year since our Founding Fathers gave us our National…
Readings: Deuteronomy 15:7-11; 2 Corinthians 8:1-15 A little boy wanted $100 so badly that he prayed for it every day for one week but nothing happened. So he decided to write God a letter requesting the $100. When a postal worker received the letter which was simply addressed to GOD, he forwarded it on to his sister who worked in the governors…
Luke 15:11-32 “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” This morning’s question is one that needs to be asked right out of the gate. And I want you to think long and hard on this. Ready? “Are you a sinner?” If you try to deny it, then you are. Perhaps we should rephrase the question to ask, “How good are you at…