Category Archives: Sermons

God in the Voting Booth

Selected Scripture /25th Sunday after Pentecost / Year “A”/November 6, 2016 Come with me back to 1729. The pastor at Tewksbury Congregational Church likely preached an election day sermon as did our Puritan forebears.  They would speak about the call … Continue reading

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All Our Sorrows, All Our Griefs

Psalm 6 and Selected Scripture I would like to assert a proposition this morning and see if you agree with me. The proposition is this: most of life is loss, and, paradoxically, gain.  When we think of loss we usually … Continue reading

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Dad Duty

Genesis 48: 1-11 and Selected Scripture Sunday, June 19, 2016 Fathers’ Day When I was growing up my grandfather always let his granddaughters to crawl into his lap, but never his grandsons. He told us that he wanted us to … Continue reading

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Follow Me

Youth Sunday Whenever we turn on our computer or TV we see Donald Trump, Hilary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders are asking us to follow me. If we do so we’ll have world peace, better healthcare, high wages, the end of … Continue reading

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The Motherhood of God

Mothers Day, May 8, 2016 Selected Scripture It is a practice in almost all mainline Prot­estant denominations to use what is called “inclusive language” in our hymns, pray­ers, liturgies and sermons.  What do I mean by in­clusive lan­guage?  Namely, that when … Continue reading

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A Way Out of No Way

Luke 24: 1-12     Easter Sunday 2016 I took a trip to CVS this week to peruse the Easter and Passover cards available; it could have just as easily been Walgreen’s or Rite Aid. The cards are, of course, divided … Continue reading

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No More of This

Luke 22: 47-53    Tenebrae 2016 47While he was still speaking, suddenly a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him; 48but Jesus said to him, “Judas, is … Continue reading

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The Community of the Reconciled

Matthew 25: 15-20 Lent 5C  March 13, 2016 The apostle Paul was way ahead of his time when he described the Church as the Body of Christ. While it is a helpful metaphor to describe the Church of Jesus Christ … Continue reading

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Prelude to Forgiveness

Prelude to Forgiveness Third Sunday in Lent 2016 Luke 23: 32-43 I have a colleague and a friend who told me that after the Charleston church massacre he was talking with someone who told him that he thought it was … Continue reading

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The Forgiveness Factor

1 John 1: 1-10 Second Sunday in Lent February 21, 2016 A number of years ago in 1983 a powerful play called The Black Angel by Michael Christopher, explored the thick and thorny problem of human forgiveness. The play was … Continue reading

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