The Value of People Matthew 5:21-31 For the last five weeks we’ve been talking in worship about the different values of our congregation, what it is we’re doing here these days at Calvary Baptist Church. We try to do some version of that at the beginning of each year, because the lectionary—the three year cycle of passages that a large part of the Christian world reads all together each week—takes us during this time of year through some of the... Read more
The Value of Practice Matthew 5:13-20 A letter, to you: “Calvary is the place where I learned I could be Baptist again. A place that taught me there was an expression of my faith tradition and denomination where I was able to worship authentically. It is a group of people who connected me to tough questions which deepened my faith and experience of community. From a personal development standpoint, it was the place & season in life I grappled with... Read more
The Value of Prophecy Matthew 5:1-12 We continue this morning our series on the Identity, Values, and Mission of our congregation. Around here we usually like to take a few weeks at the beginning of the year to think about who we are together, what it means to be part of this community of faith, and what we’re here to do. It seems like a good way to start off the year—thinking about our own commitments. Over the last two... Read more
The Value of Place Mission, Vision, Values Matthew 4:12-23 Last summer at a conference I was randomly assigned a roommate who turned into a new friend. Stacey is a pastor in upstate New York, but she hails from Minnesota. You can tell she’s from Minnesota because, well, of the way she talks. She also talks about hockey. A lot. This week on her Facebook page she listed 25 things Minnesotans do that other people find weird—including but not limited to:... Read more
I wrote a bit this week about the constant tension in the church between hard core discipleship and watered down Jesus. In the piece (which you can read here), I talked quite a bit about my boot camp teacher Tyrone. Just to prove I wasn’t over exaggerating, I snuck a picture of him today. Before he yelled at me to stop messing around and get back to work. Read more
Here’s a little poem for those of us suffering from New Year’s Resolution Fatigue (I just invented that disorder). It’s from an amazing little book called God Got a Dog, written by Cynthia Rylant with illustrations like the one below, by Marla Franzee. God took a bath With Her clothes on. Her robe, to be specific Why did She do this? She was shy, that’s why. A little self-conscious about Her body. God wasn’t always this way. She used... Read more
Calvary DC Deacon Chair 2014, Rachel Johnson, shared the following meditation during communion with the new 2014 deacon board today. I loved it. “The internalizing of openness to God and concern for neighbors is what it means to be a Christian, rather than simply act like a Christian. That the church can produce this kind of person is a persuasive recommendation for the church. Within the fellowship of the church, we help one another become such Christians. Here we can... Read more
What God Really Thinks of You Matthew 3:13-17 I’m so glad you’re here this morning! Today we begin several weeks of talking about identity, values, and mission of our congregation—this church. If you’re newer to Calvary, these next few weeks will be a great time to listen and think and learn about who this congregation is. But we start the conversation today, on Baptism of Jesus Sunday, with a little more personal exploration, asking who we are—each one of us—as... Read more
So, here’s an experience I had over Christmas, along with a bit of pontificating about whether church can be a place to ask hard questions. Check it out. http://www.abpnews.com/opinion/item/28217-finding-a-place-to-ask-the-tough-questions#.Us8X59JDsuc Read more
And Hear the Angels Sing: Love Matthew 1:18–25 We’ve been listening these last few weeks for the singing of angels, waiting in the darkness of Advent for the coming of the light. We’ve been hearing the prophecies and speaking hope into despair, peace into discord, joy into grief in audacious and counter-cultural ways. This week, begun today with the Sunday of love, as we try our best to speak love into hatred…we’re hearing a story. And it’s not just any... Read more
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