The Home of God is Among Mortals

This sermon was originally preached at First Congregational Church in Kalamazoo on November 4, 2018. You can listen here. Revelation 21:1-6 Yesterday would have been my grandfather’s 90th birthday. He died almost 14 years ago—a few months after my wedding, which was the last time I saw him. Bob Ingram was the child of two…

Following Home

This sermon was first preached at the First Congregational Church in Kalamazoo, MI on October 28, 2018. You can listen to the recording here. Mark 10:46-52 When I moved to Vancouver to attend seminary, I began what I assumed would be a long process of finding a church to attend regularly. I did research and…

Biblical Families

Text: Ruth 1:1-17 Preached at the First Congregational Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan on May 13th, 2018. You can listen to the recording here As some of you know, I grew up in Japan where my parents were missionaries with the Presbyterian church. Because we only visited the U.S. about every other year, there were certain developments…

Proclaim! (A Sermon for April 7, 2013)

Sermon text: John 20:11-18 To start us out this morning, I’m going to say a phrase—a phrase that describes an activity—and I want you to visualize it. Ready? “Proclaim the gospel for the salvation of humankind” What picture came to mind for you? How many of you pictured a TV preacher, or someone like Billy…

Family Trees (January 13th, 2013 sermon)

I know some people in this room can trace their genealogy back for centuries. I can’t go back that far in my own family tree—maybe four or five generations, with certainty, although there is a chance that one of my ancestors was on the crew of the pirate Jean Lafitte, in the early 1800s. The…