Sermons

Many years ago, I worked for a home inspection company in Florida.  I worked for a lovely Brit and my job was to read and sometimes translate his wild, handwritten scrawl on inspection reports— that is, to proof, edit, and type—and to generate a finished copy, which would then be proofread again by our office… [Read More]

There are any number of reasons why this particular passage is challenging for me to preach on today.  First and foremost, it concerns the death of a child.  Part of this passage was read at our son, Obed’s, funeral service by my request.  Every time that I believe myself to be moving beyond grief, a… [Read More]

Friends, when have you had to internally or externally revise your notions of what you understood to be true, or thoughtfully re-examine or reinterpret a preferred history that was taught to you or passed down to you? I suspect that for many of us, the ideas about Christianity, or the tales that we tell each… [Read More]

The Ascension describes a very strange moment in our gospel story. First, Jesus dies…then he is resurrected…then he appears after his death to various people at various times in what is known as resurrection appearances…and then Jesus leaves again—or rather, is lifted up into the Heavens. How does a contemporary mind wrap itself around this… [Read More]

Dear Youth and Those Who Still Seek to Grow, I am writing a letter to you on this day because we have been through an amazing time together, which—among many things—has taught us more about ourselves under pressure and in isolation than we probably wanted to know. I am in awe of the ways in… [Read More]

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts lead us to encounter your presence, God. Be with us all as we seek to hear your word for us today. Amen. As the scriptures and the rhythms of the church year guide us, we move beyond Jesus’ departure from this world…. [Read More]

As a child, I remember the discussion in our community regarding the importance of speaking English as the primary and supposedly necessary language of unity in this country. Those who rejected dual or multi-language signage or directions argued that if we spoke or provided more than one language in schools, hospitals, or retail stores in… [Read More]

How are you? No, really…how has your mental health and well-being fared over the past year?   It would not be unusual if you were to admit that your mental health has suffered from the pandemic and the hardships of the past year.  Fear, isolation, job loss, illness, loss of health care, grief, and general uncertainty… [Read More]

The Christian Reformed Church (CRC) includes just over one thousand congregations across the United States and Canada. About 75 percent of the churches are in the United States; 25 percent are in Canada.[1]  The Christian Reformed Church has established the following as it’s governing policy regarding the use of feminine language for God: “The endorsement… [Read More]