Called Out of Comfort

This sermon was given at First Congregational Church in Kalamazoo on January 27, 2019. You can listen here. Text: Luke 4:16-30 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside still waters. He restoreth my soul. Aren’t there sometimes words or songs…

Truth-tellers (sermon for Sunday, April 28th, 2013)

Sermon text is Acts 11:1-18 When you hear the word “Truth,” what comes to mind? Is it a comforting word—something solid and trust-worthy? Is it attached to longing—something you seek for, or yearn for? Or is it suspicious—something that comes with a whole bunch of questions, like who is claiming to know the truth; what…

Unconditional Love

We’re going to do things a little differently this morning. All through Lent, we’re looking at ways that Jesus teaches us about love, and this parable is huge, and deep, and all about love. It’s about love so big and so tenacious that it’s hard to fathom. So, rather than me standing up here and…

Tuesday, Second Week of Advent

“Parker Palmer once observed that community is the ‘place where the person you least want to live with always lives.’…In the eyes of others, we might be that person…”   After a busy weekend, I am back. And what a devotion to come back to! It is difficult to think of community–real, authentic community–as a…