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Sermon: Something Fishy
“Something Fishy” (Jan 26, 2014) Some things are harder than they might seem at first (like keeping goldfish alive–whyyyy?). Perhaps it sounds easy to “make disciples” or share faith or live the...
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Sermon: Blessed are the Cheese-Makers?
“Blessed are the Cheese-Makers?” (February 2, 2014) When we read the list of blessings in the Gospels (“beatitudes,” as they are often called), we can read them both as reminders of whom God loves, and...
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Sermon: Is it Safe?
“Is it Safe?” (March 3, 2014, Transfiguration Sunday) The encounter with God is not always safe or comfortable; it leaves us changed. Are we ready to be transformed, or are we still asking that God be...
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Sermon: Bread of Life
“Bread of Life” (March 9, 2014) This Lent, we are looking at different names for Jesus. Today’s story invites us to imagine what it means to be fed and nourished by Christ, the Bread of Life. What...
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Sermon: The Way
“The Way” (March 16, 2014) Another name we call Jesus is “The Way,” but rather than a term that describes a singular path one can travel, the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus makes clear that...
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Sermon: Living Water
“Living Water” (March 23, 2014) At the well, Jesus encounters a powerful theologian in the form of a Samaritan woman, and their conversation looks at the literal and spiritual needs for water. This day...
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Sermon: Light of the World
“Light of the World” (March 30, 2014) As Jesus restores vision to a person born without sight, he turns the conversation from the literal to the spiritual, and from harm to healing. Where do we need...
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Sermon: “King of Kings”
“King of Kings” (April 13, 2014) Jesus rides into Jerusalem as a king, but not the sort of king anyone was expecting. When we fail to live up to the expectations of others– or when they fail to live up...
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Sermon: Empty Tomb; So What?
“Empty Tomb; So What?” (April 20, 2014, Easter Sunday) Easter brings us to the the greatest miracle and mystery of the Christian faith, but what’s it all about? What happens *after* the empty tomb to...
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Sermon: Redeeming Thomas
“Redeeming Thomas” (April 27, 2014) We call the disciple Thomas “Doubting Thomas,” but maybe we’ve given him an unfair hearing. Elsewhere in the Gospel, Thomas exhibits great faith, and we might...
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Sermon: On the Road
“On the Road” (May 4, 2014) Finally, the risen Jesus makes his first appearance in the Gospel of Luke, and it’s not at a tomb, in a safe upper room, or on the beach where the disciples first saw him;...
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Sermon: My Other Brother
“My Other Brother” (May 11. 2014) The story we call “the Prodigal Son” leaves more questions about the older sibling than the younger, and tells us not only about God’s grace, but about our common...
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Sermon: Martha: Steward
“Martha: Steward” (May 18, 2014) When Jesus visits the home of Martha and Mary, we hear a story that reinforces our tendency to divide people spiritually between the contemplative and the active. Can...
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Sermon: Through Faith
“Through Faith” (5/25/14) By popular request, I reflect on the interplay between the law and grace: can we see the law as part of grace– not a fence that keeps us in (or out), but a trellis that helps...
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Sermon: What You Make of It
“What You Make of It” (June 1, 2014) We pause to “check our privilege” and remember where we have an advantage. The question is not how privileged are we, as if this somehow makes us better or worse...
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Sermon: You Want me to… What?
“You Want me to… What?” (June 15, 2014) What is God calling us to do– each of us individually and the people of Trinity UMC as a whole? How do we figure out that answer? How do we leave our fear behind...
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Sermon: Defying Gravity
“Defying Gravity” (June 22, 2014) Sometimes it seems like churches just shouldn’t work– kind of like it seems that bumblebees shouldn’t be able to fly. Yet despite the struggles and challenges, against...
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Sermon: Meet Rebekah
“Meet Rebekah” (July 6, 2014) The biblical matriarch Rebekah is a person to be admired for her compassion and faith and tenderness– and also a complex individual who bends rules and suffers loss. In...
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Sermon: 1,000 Ways that Won’t Work
“1,000 Ways that Won’t Work” (July 13, 2014) The “Sower” accepts a certain rate of failure when it comes to sowing seed and gathering a harvest. Like Thomas Edison in his quest to invent a home-use...
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Sermon: All Mixed Up
nightshade flowers, photo by Len Harris lenharris.blogspot.com “All Mixed Up” (July 20, 2014) Just like the nightshade vine and the black raspberry that both grow in my back yard, sometimes the beauty...
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