Sermon preached at Burke UMC, 12/31/11 & 1/1/12 Text: Isaiah 61:10-62:3 So what do we do now? It’s the post-Christmas letdown. On the one hand, there’s a fairly obvious answer to this question because there’s a deadline for getting your tree down and out to the curb if you want the bulk trash people to pick it up. My family has a little leeway since we use an artificial tree. We like to rebel against the abrupt ending of Christmas,... Read more
2011 was a turbulent year for American evangelical Christian identity. A major lightning rod within our identity crisis was the publication of Rob Bell’s book Love Wins. Under the surface of the fierce debate about heaven and hell that flared up with his book’s publication have been conflicting views about the implications of believing that the Christian gospel is important and beautiful enough to share with everyone, which is one presumption upon which all evangelicals agree. I’m hopeful that the... Read more
God often preaches to me through the text I’m supposed to preach to other people. This week I’ve been wrestling with Isaiah 62:1 where he writes, “For Zion’s sake I will not hold my peace… until her righteousness shines forth like the dawn.” It’s a perfect encapsulation of the zeal of a prophet, which is something I feel called to be and often fail at doing right. (more…) Read more
“I’m Christian, unless you’re gay.” That’s the title of one of the most popular blog posts of 2011. After its posting on the blog Single Dad Laughing this November, it has accumulated 228,000 facebook likes and 7873 comments, including a dozen or so within the last day. Best I can tell, the author Dan Pearce writes from a perspective outside of organized religion. After reading through his post several times and the flood of responses he received, it seems to... Read more
“Peace on Earth, good will to men.” It’s a phrase that’s been uttered by thousands of seven-year old Gabriels throughout the history of Christmas pageants. Several Christmas songs include this phrase in their lyrics. And people argue on the basis of this phrase that Christmas is supposed to be about promoting world peace and showing good will to other people. This is the way that the King James Bible translates what the angels say to the shepherds in Luke 2:14.... Read more
Yesterday, I had to do the devotional for our church staff meeting so I chose Isaiah 9:2-7 which is the Old Testament reading for this final week before Christmas. This is the passage that describes Jesus as the “prince of peace.” We pondered together what it means to understand peace as the agenda for Christmas. (more…) Read more
As our call to worship this Sunday in church, we read Mary’s Magnificat, a prophetic song that she bursts into in Luke 1:46-55 after her cousin Elizabeth confirms that she has the son of God in her womb. Verse 53 made me flinch because I wasn’t sure how people would react. It says, “He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.” This sounds a lot like what political pundits nowadays term “class warfare.”... Read more
Sermon preached at LifeSign, Burke UMC on 12/17/11 Text: Luke 1:26-38 “Mr. Guyton,” she said, “I’m pregnant.” Sadie was one of my best students. I had been impressed enough by her writing in my 10th grade English class that I recommended she join our school newspaper staff, which she did and continued to excel so I promoted her to an editor position and was grooming her to be our next editor-in-chief. The high school where I taught didn’t send many... Read more
Now when [King David] was settled in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent…” But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the LORD: Are you the one to build me a house to... Read more
Chapter 2 in Mike Slaughter’s Christmas is Not Your Birthday is called “Giving up on perfect.” He talks about the way that Christmas has become a time when we put enormous pressure on ourselves to make it the perfect experience. I’ve been a little sheepish to hear all the chit-chat that other people have been making about all the decorations that they’re putting up: the lights, the tree, etc. So let me just come out and say that my family... Read more
Mercy Not Sacrifice
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