Isaiah 7:1-16 Immanuel. God with us. Immanuel! Who is wild enough to speak such a word out loud?! God is with us! Who is bold enough to make such a claim? Immanuel, this is the word that the Prophet Isaiah spoke, and it is a word that we are still speaking today. In the acoustically … Continue reading A Sign for Faith in Times of Fear →

Isaiah 33:8-10, 35:1-10 Parts: Bongo Drum (da) Piano (d-f-d-c-f-c-b-c-g-f-f-f-a-f) Reader 1 Reader 2 Pastor [Prayer of Illumination] (Silence 20 Seconds) (da-da-da-DA) Reader 1:  Look, the valiant heroes cry aloud in the streets; (da-da-da-DA)                         Reader 2: the envoys of peace weep bitterly. (da-da-da-DA)             Reader 1: The highways are deserted, (DA-DA-DA)                         Reader … Continue reading Active Listening / Active Waiting →

Isaiah 11:1-10 We are in the season of Advent. A season of waiting. Of hoping. Of longing. This is my first season of Advent while serving a congregation as Pastor. So I am reflecting quite a bit about what this waiting should look like? How should it feel? We just finished a sermon series about … Continue reading The Impossible Possibility of New Life →

Then Moses wrote down this law, and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.Moses commanded them: “Every seventh year, in the scheduled year of cancelling debts, during the festival of booths,when all Israel comes to appear … Continue reading The Law, a Song, and a Blessing →

Deuteronomy 30:11-20 This Sunday was Chaplain Sunday, a time to remember and support the work of chaplains in their ministries of care and presence. The sermon was presented as a verbatim, a learning tool used in CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) to help chaplains intentionally reflect on a visit with a patient with a group of … Continue reading Moses: Great Leader, Good Chaplain? →

Deuteronomy 14:22-23 Discussion Questions:  What is a tithe? Where should tithes go? What should happen to the tithes? What is the purpose or function of a tithe? I have been serving as Interim Pastor of Loop Church since January, I have been preaching and teaching for nine-months now, and not once have I talked about tithing. Worship … Continue reading Tithing Together, Tied Together →

Deuteronomy 10:12-22 Gonna start this sermon with a little grammar lesson. There is nothing like a bit of grammar to get you going on a Sunday morning. How many of you know what an imperative is? If I said, our passage this morning begins with and ends with four imperatives, how many of you would … Continue reading The Power of an Imperative →

Deuteronomy 8 Discussion Question #1: When have you forgotten God? Discussion Question #2: How do you remember God? My Mother is an amazing cook. Her skills are not limited to the Kitchen, She is also an amazing educator, scholar, and artist, but she can do things in the kitchen that very few others can do. … Continue reading Life Between Two Tables →

Deuteronomy 6:1-9 “Kenji will you love Brianna?” “Brianna will you love Kenji?” These were the questions that the Episcopal Priest asked my friends Bri and Kenji at their wedding ceremony last week. During his rather long-winded sermon the priest mused about this particular word choice found in the Book of Common Prayer. The question being … Continue reading The Will to Love →

Deuteronomy 4:1-14 I want to start this morning by doing just a little bit of teaching. I want to introduce us to and explore the two audiences of this book, Deuteronomy.  The first audience of the book is the literary Audience, the audience who is inside the text. In the book of Deuteronomy the literary … Continue reading Making a Nation Great (Again?) →