A Teaching Moment
Listen to the 1/29/2012 Sermon
Text: Mark 1: 21-28
Who was your favorite teacher? Was it a kindergarten teacher who made you feel welcome? A grade school teacher who had a special interest in you? A middle school teacher who helped you get through some rough times? A high school teacher who helped you understand a difficult subject? A college, university or graduate teacher who took you to new depths of understanding? Or maybe your favorite teacher didn’t work in a school at all, but was a grandpa who taught you the ways of nature, and lots more when you went hunting or fishing together, or a grandmother who took you special places, or another relative, or a Sunday school teacher who really cared about you, or a scout leader, or a mentor at work who taught you how to do your job. Maybe today you can swap stories with your family about some of your favorite teachers. Or better yet, say thanks to somebody today who has taught you about Jesus Christ and who has helped grow your faith.
More than a Fish Story
Listen to the 1/22/2012 Sermon
Text: Jonah 3:1-10
On July 29, 2007, the Second Best Players made their debut performance with a play called “After the Whale.” We had a lot of fun, and learned something, too, I think, about a gracious God and a grumpy prophet. You can see the grumpy prophet on your bulletin cover. Today, I thought it might be fun to look at this little book again.
Who’s Calling
Listen to the 1/15/2012 Sermon
Text: John 1: 43-51
1 Samuel 3:1-18
Samuel was just a boy in a very dark place, but it didn’t frighten him. This place was a temple to Israel’s God, and he was used to finding his way around in the shadows. Always, before the altar, there burned a lamp to signify God’s eternal presence.
Songs and Sonnets Service
Listen to the 12/04/2011 Sermon
Give God the Best
Listen to the 11/20/2011 Sermon
Text: Matthew 25: 31-46
My first church after seminary was in Oelwein,Iowa. We moved to Oelwein in February, 1968, and 3 months later, on May 15, 4:53 PM, a tornado ripped through the town, right up main street. I remember the exact time, because we were without electricity for about a week, so it was like time had stood still—4:53 by the electric clocks, 24 hours a day. The twister caused such severe damage to the church building that it had to be torn down. I had come to town to preach up a storm, but that was ridiculous.
A Magnificent Diversity
Listen to the 7/31/2011 Sermon
Text: Revelation 7: 9-15
John Stott died this past week at 90 and the “NY Times” did a good obit on him. You probably don’t know this name but a few years ago “Time” magazine named Stott one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Stott was an Anglican minister in England and the author of more than 50 books, selling over 8 million copies. As Scott lay dying, the obit said, family gathered and they listened to Handel’s “Messiah.”
Say What You Know
Listen to the 7/17/2011 Sermon
Text: John 9:13-25
Do you remember the old testimonial times people used to have in church? I remember them in my home church. As a little kid, I loved them and always wished for more. People would be invited to stand up and speak out—testify as to what God has been doing in their lives. For me it was church at its best. I was always eager to hear how God was working in people’s lives. Every story was just fascinating to me—it was church at its very best every time it happened.
Prayer: Offering Everything to God
Listen to the 7/10/2011 Sermon
Text: Romans 12: 9-17
A researcher went around the country to explore why some churches thrive. Why some churches seem full of purpose. Why some churches meet their challenges. Why some churches are vibrant. She found some, of course. And she kept going back to them. Kept talking to them and listening to him. She wanted to get to know each one, not as statistical evidence but as living congregations of hope and ministry. Some of these congregations were in small towns and rural. Some were in large cities. They were each what we would call “mainline” however. That group of churches that once dominated the landscape and enjoyed filling the pews and Sunday School rooms weekly-- but which now are struggling to keep the doors open and the bills paid in many, many, many places.
Healing: A Journey to Wholeness
Text: Acts 3:1-9
“’Look at us’” Peter said to the man who was lame, a man who never once in his life took a single step. Lame was the man from day one of his life. He never once ran with the boys in the games boys play. He never walked a girl home from school. Not a single step did he ever take.
We Practice Hospitality Here
Listen to the 6/19/2011 Sermon
Text: Luke 10:30-37
The parable of the Good Samaritan is probably the best known story in the Bible. Anyone who has spent time in church or Sunday School will have read and discussed this story. And will have heard many sermons preached on it. The term “good Samaritan” is immediately understood even by people who have never opened a Bible. We even name hospitals and clinics, “Good Samaritan.”
Sermon Audio for 5/22, 5/29, 6/5 and 6/12 Sermons
The Sermon Audio Recordings are Available here for
the 5/22 (sermon text below), 5/29 (sermon text below), 6/5 and 6/12 sermons (text unavailable):
May 15th Sermon Audio
May 15th sermon audio available here:
The Highway of the Upright
Text: Proverbs 16:16-24, James 4:13-17
On one occasion my wife and I found ourselves looking up at a road with the name, “Going to the Sun Road.” It’s a fifty mile road at Glacier National Park. It’s a two lane road. It’s a two lane road with no guardrails. And I pretended to be unfazed and unafraid but inside I was terrified, to tell you the truth. It just looked to me like a very dangerous thing to do—go up that road, winding around curves, looking down and knowing that survival required no mistakes. Driving the “Going to the Sun Road” was one of the best things I have ever done. But it was scary all the way. I would not have missed it. But I am not sure I would want to do it again either.
May 1st Sermon audio
May 1st sermon audio available here:
Listen to the 5/1 Sermon
Living a Great Reversal
Listen to the 4/17/2011 Sermon
Text: Psalm 118: 1-4, 15-25; Matt. 21:1-11
Use your imagination a bit. Picture the scene, what it must have been like when the Roman army marched into Jerusalem. Each year a man who went by the name, Pontius Pilate, would enter the city right before Passover to remind the people who had the power and the authority. To remind them that Rome was in charge and could tax them and rule them and execute them on a cross in whatever manner it pleased the Empire. Imagine. Legionaries on splendid horseback. Imagine. Roman standards flying in the wind. Imagine the Roman eagle for all eyes to see. Imagine the sound of clanking armor. Imagine. The sound of stomping feet of the soldiers, the beating of drums. Imagine the proud face of Pilate, his war horse, his splendid chariot. Pilate was full of himself.
The Best Place One Could Ever Be
Text: Psalm 63
How fortunate is the person who knows their true needs. A person can spend years, even a life-time, chasing some idea that promises to make us right—or happy, or fulfilled or secure or something. Only to discover at last a terrible disappointment.
The Words Everyone Can Pray
Listen to the 3/27/2011 Sermon
Sermon series on the Lament Psalms of the Psalter
Text: Psalm 22
The one prayer that unites us all is the one prayed by Jesus on the cross. The words are so familiar and so often felt. All of us here today have prayed this way: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” But please note: when Jesus prayed this psalm, he most certainly had in mind and heart the entire psalm, not only the first verse.
The Prayer Nobody Prays
Listen to the 3/20/2011 Sermon
Sermon series on the Lament Psalms of the Psalter
Text: Psalm 109
There is a verse in the NT that goes like this: “In your anger do not sin” (Eph. 4:26). Someone has said that keeping that counsel is possible—but it is extremely difficult. I suppose that all of us could give a resounding “amen” to that. What is likely is that we will be angry and sin.
Holding On in the Storm
Listen to the 3/13/2011 Sermon
Sermon series on the Lament Psalms of the Psalter
Text: Psalm 13
When my children were small they would occasionally say to us—my wife and me—“Why are you fighting?” That always surprised me when it was voiced because Audrey and I don’t fight. Now we do occasionally have “discussions” – you know, the airing and sharing of views and opinions and ideas and values where she and I are not in the same place. Every relationship is a process of negotiation; a never ending give and take, words and silence, action and waiting, failing and starting again. Fighting is when negotiating has ceased and one person advances their will—or tries to—over another.
The Time Between
Text: Psalm 31: 1-8, 19-24
I have a sister in hospice as most of you have read or heard. She was, until recently, a beautiful woman with striking red hair. On the outside she is no longer beautiful but on the inside she is richer than ever in her life. I have never been more proud of her than in these last several months.
For just over a year I was her pastor as well as brother in a church nearby. She was still strong then and every Sunday night she had me over for dinner and always wanted to talk about the sermon that morning. Her enthusiasm about what was happening in church and in her life made my life sing.