Weeds and Wheat

This sermon was first preached for the July 19, 2020 online worship service at Kalamazoo First Congregational Church. The full worship playlist can be viewed here. The sermon text is Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43.

Erupt

There is a stone in my chest again and this time it burns red magma behind my ribcage. Grief I know as a sinking of stone to silty marsh bottom in my gut But this is not grief. This glows. It is my love for women and love I have accepted from men. It is…

Meeting God in the Real World

Preached at First Congregational Church in Kalamazoo on July 18, 2018. Text: Mark 6:14-29 My spouse and I began dating almost 15 years ago. We were young! But we were pretty solidly embedded in an evangelical Christian culture that discouraged casual dating and put some pressure on young adults to figure out quickly whether or…

Alive–For What? (A Sermon for Easter, 2013)

This week I watched a video where a well-known young-adult novelist, John Green, made the case that most of us—most people—live our lives in a kind of functional nihilism. Now, I’ll admit, I had to go look up nihilism to be sure I understood what he was talking about—my philosopher husband wasn’t home to consult….

Thursday, First Week of Advent

“…as we come to God with our hurts–honestly, not superficially–something life changing can begin slowly to happen….true gratitude embraces all of life: the good and the bad, the joyful and the painful, the holy and the not-so-holy.” I have funerals on the brain this week, so I will share a funeral story from my own…

Who tells your story?

When I was in college I volunteered with our campus alternative gifts fair. If you’ve never been to one of these before, the idea is that instead of giving another tie, or pair of holiday socks to a family member who doesn’t really need it, you can make a donation in their name to an…