My congregations have been very patient. I have given them many opportunities to demonstrate God’s grace in response to my mediocrity. Or, is this tolerance? Are they the same? The following is a smattering of sermons written and preached over the last several years. A word to the reader — these sermons were written (and remain) in a form suitable for being delivered aloud, not necessarily to be read in print form. I have not edited any of them for publication in print form. So, they are a bit rough around the edges grammatically. Despite this, I hope they help out in some way.
Spring, 2010
Recently I have begun to focus a bit more on Creation Care, which is a churchy way of saying we care about the environment because as Christians we believe that God created our beautiful world (regardless of when, or how long, or how!). This is a sermon I preached on the Sunday after Earth Day 2010. I borrowed the title from our United Methodist Bishops pastoral letter on Renewing God’s Creation, which can be found at http://hopeandaction.org/main/ . Here is my very first Earth Day sermon! [broken link, sorry!]
Mid-August, 2009 – Three-part series on the mystery and grace of Holy Communion
This August, I wrote and delivered a three-part sermon/teaching series on The Mystery And Grace Of Holy Communion: 1) What is a sacrament and where does it come from? 2) What happens during Holy Communion? 3) What is a “means of grace” and why do I want it? If my congregation refrains from tossing hymnals at me, I’ll post them here in the What Makes Us Methodists Different? section below. For a thorough and decidely United Methodist perspective on the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion, please read these two documents carefully prepared by the UMC General Board Of Discipleship: This Holy Mystery.pdf and By Water And The Spirit. pdf . My work for this sermon series draws heavily from these two documents, especially the former.
What Makes Us Methodists Different?
Every now and then someone asks me, “What makes you Methodists different from the rest of us?” It’s hard to answer that question briefly. Sometimes, though, a particular sermon stands out. The following are a set of sermons that, put together, might help to answer the question: “What makes a Methodist different?”
If I Don’t Do It, Who Will? (Preached recently at Brosville, June 2009. This is about how God’s work is not our work. This talks a bit about our emphasis on action, more than words, as evidence of our faith.)
Friends Connected (Preached at my previous appointment in Accomac, Virginia, 2007, for my last sermon there. This is about the Methodist “connection”. That Sunday, Linda sang the Michael W. Smith song, Friends.)
Grace First, Grace Always, Grace Needed (Preached at my previous appointment in Accomac, Virginia, 2007, for one of my last sermons there – a good summary of grace. This builds on the theme I established in a previous sermon Grace First, Grace Always, below.)
Grace First, Grace Always (Preached at my previous apointment in Accomac, Virginia, 2004. This is another good summary about grace, I think.)
The following is a three-part series of sermons delivered at Brosville in August 2009 on H0ly Communion. The first sermon in the series is: The Mystery And Grace Of Holy Communion, Part I: What is a sacrament and where does it come from? The Mystery And Grace Of Holy Communion, Part I (John 6.35-51). The second sermon in the series is The Mystery And Grace Of Holy Communion, Part II: What happens during Holy Communion? The Mystery And Grace Of Holy Communion, Part II (John 6.51-58) . The third sermon in the series is The Mystery And Grace Of Holy Communion, Part III: What is a “means of grace” and why do I want it? The Mystery And Grace Of Holy Communion, Part III (John 6.56-69). For a thorough and decidely United Methodist perspective on the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion, please read the two documents carefully prepared by the UMC General Board Of Discipleship: This Holy Mystery.pdf and By Water And The Spirit. pdf . My work for this sermon series draws heavily from these two documents, especially the former.
Politics, Sort Of…
This is about as political as I get from the pulpit — directly – (preached at Brosville United Methodist Church, Danville, Virginia, November 2, 2008): I’ll Tell You How To Vote On Tuesday. (Note: I believe all preaching should have political implications. However, I am uncomfortable using the pulpit to express party affiliation or preference for a particular candidate. I expect, one would need to listen to only a few of my sermons to reach an indirect conclusion about my political leanings. For better or worse I am first a pastor, then an advocate.)
Congregational Effectiveness
The Five Practices Of A Fruitful Congregation Series, based on Robert Schnase’s book of the same title (http://www.fivepractices.org) , preached at Brosville United Methodist Church for Lent, Danville, Virginia, March 2009:
The First Practice Of A Fruitful Congregation: Risk-Taking Mission And Service
The Second Practice Of A Fruitful Congregation: Radical Hospitality
The Third Practice Of A Fruitful Congregation: Passionate Worship
The Fourth Practice of a Fruitful Congregation: Intentional Faith Development
The Fifth Practice of a Fruitful Congregation – Extravagant Generosity
What Does It Mean To “Be the Church?”
One of my favorite themes – Be The Church — preached in 2007-2008 at Brosville United Methodist Church, Danville, Virginia. While all sermons — in my opinion — ought to somehow challenge us to “be the church”, these are a bit more explicit:
What Does It Mean To Be The Church?
Who Do You Say I Am – The Church Begins
Who Do You Say I Am – The Church Decides
The Church’s Gathering Perspective
The Church’s Forgiving Perspective – Don’t Bother Counting
What Did Jesus Do? (…as far as we know…)
Every now and then I become frustrated by our unwillingess to read thoroughly about Jesus in the Gospels. We settle for our well-worn Sunday School stories rather than doing the harder work of understanding Jesus of Nazareth as recorded for us in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Borrowing from the popular (cultic?) phrase “What would Jesus do?” derived from Charles Sheldon’s book In His Steps, the following sermon series challenges us to consider not what would Jesus do, instead, what did Jesus do (WDJD)? I think this is a better (though harder) place to start. These were preached at Brosville United Methodist Church, Danville, Virginia, during the summer of 2007
