“Imitate me,” Paul says. What an arrogant thing to say! “Imitate Christ” we can understand. But “Imitate me”? And notice the Christians he is addressing–the Philippians–a fellowship which from all appearances was already committed to Christ and unselfish with its love and resources. In II Corinthians Paul praises them for… Continue reading
There are those who play at being the church, and there are those who pray with utter abandon that perfect prayer of obedient discipleship, “Nevertheless, Thy will be done.” Continue reading
(22 minutes) Around 760 BCE in a small, insignificant village in Judah, a most monumental event occurred. A shepherd was called by God to prophesy in the Northern Kingdom of Israel. This shepherd did not belong to any of the prophetic guilds—in other words, he had no “professional” training. But… Continue reading
(I have included at the end of this sermon the pastoral prayer, communion meditation, and commission that were given during the service when the sermon was delivered.) There are times I think I should go back to school and earn a Ph. D. in patience. But then I realize one… Continue reading
(The following sermon was delivered at our grandson Jeffery’s dedication service.) An honest study of the Scriptures will not provide a lot of specific guidance regarding the rearing of children. And to be honest, some of that guidance is not helpful: “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” “If your… Continue reading
“Amen, I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven.” A well-known saying from Jesus, but what is it about children we are called to embrace for the sake of our salvation? Well, there is the trust children have in their… Continue reading
The background to our passage is the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt. Those descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have suffered the harshness of slavery for centuries. Generation after generation has cried out for freedom. The Hebrews experience despair, agony, humiliation, suffering and, perhaps worst of all, hopelessness. The… Continue reading
Chapter 39 of Genesis comes to us in three parts. The middle part, verses 7-20, tell us of a concrete incident in the life of Joseph. Here we find a slice of life – here we can see the content of life for a Hebrew slave, at least for that… Continue reading
Why was Moses allowed to see the back of God? He saw some of the glory of God – not the face-to-face glory he desired, but the back of God–the hind-parts as the Hebrew puts it. Why? We understand why he was not allowed to see God’s face (he would… Continue reading
[I want to preface our hearing of the Scripture today with some clarifying remarks. As many of you know, the personal name for God in the Hebrew Scriptures is Yahweh. That was the covenantal name revealed to Israel and cherished by God’s people. By the time of Jesus, this name… Continue reading
