A confounding parable about buried treasure and the failure of nerve. Matthew 25: 14-30 The parable of the talents is 2/3 awesome and 1/3 perplexing and even offensive. This perplexity is not from a mistake or flaw in the parable but the goal. You likely missed the point if you read a parable and think it … Continue reading Enter the Joy
Matthew 25:1-13 It's important to check your oil. I was working outside on a recent warm day and realized I needed to check the propane tank. I tapped the barrel and heard a hollow echo, and had a sinking feeling. The gauge was close to zero, and it was a Friday afternoon, so I couldn't … Continue reading Check Your Oil
Matthew 25:1-13 November 8, 2020 Ten bridesmaids wait for the groom so the party may begin. Five women were wise, and five were foolish. It sounds like a metaphor for America after this last election. Half of America is looking at the other half with incomprehension, thinking how utterly foolish and immoral the other side is. I'd like to … Continue reading Check Your Oil
Luke 17:11-19 - Parable of the Ten Lepers You already know how this sermon will end. It must end extolling the virtue of gratitude. No matter what interesting stories, or social research, or exegesis of the biblical setting or Greek word translations, the point is - gratitude is essential to faith. Gratitude is currently … Continue reading What Stops Our Gratitude?
Sermon preached on Matthew 25:31-45 November 25, 2017 It is not hard to tell a sheep from a goat. Sheep are large fluffy ones and goats are smaller with the hipster goatee. You can herd sheep and goats together, because they tend to eat different things. Sheep like the clover near the ground, and goats … Continue reading Separating Sheep and Goats #MeToo #HimToo?
Sermon on the Parable of the Talents Matthew 25:14-30 How you relate to this parable depends on who you relate to among the characters. If you manage people at work or you are a leader, you may relate to the challenge of entrusting other people with responsibility. If two out of three people on … Continue reading Matthew’s Guide to Taking Risks
Preached on July 23, 2017 I learned more about weeds than I ever wanted to know growing up in Iowa. I walked the soybean fields pulling weeds as my summer job from age 13. A wise farmer taught me that all weeds were not the same and could not be destroyed in the same way. … Continue reading Jesus Knows His Weeds
As I open the newspaper this morning, the Greeks are demonstrating and the European Union is under threat of collapse, Congress is debating lifting the debt ceiling to a number higher than the miles to Alpha Centauri, the Russians won’t buy vegetables in Europe due to an E. coli outbreak, and the Supreme Court struck … Continue reading Parables of Hope – July Sermon themes
With all my soul 