Gossip
I’d preached on the Ten Commandments or the Ten Words before (I know, who would have guessed). In that sermon I focused a bit more on off shoots of false witness such as hypocrisy and gossip. Here’s one of my favorite illustrations regarding spreading falsehoods about others.
Thankfulness is the Mother of Nearly All Good Things
Of all places, I came across a quote from the Roman Senator, Cicero, on the business website, Forbes.com. He said, back in Julius Caesar’s time, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.” That was the gist of what Bishop Trimble said to us from the pulpit. ‘Thank you’ is not only a beautiful prayer, it is the well spring from which love, grace, and Christian living flow.
A Little Forgiveness Goes a Long Way
I thought this week I'd just share, once again, what I used for the benediction in Sunday's worship. I had several requests for the quote that is included within it.
Here it is…
God’s Top 10 Life Hacks
This coming Sunday we will start a new sermon series, God’s Top 10 Life Hacks. We are going to look at the most important rules for living in Western history—The Ten Commandments. Rather than thinking of them as onerous commands, we will try and understand these instructions from God’s perspective.
Archived Posts
The Perfect Church
There is an old joke about the perfect church. We talked just a little about the perfect pastor, but turnabout is fair play. It goes like this:
The Clothes You Wear
Sunday I talked about Joshua the High Priest having his filthy clothing replaced by a cleaned and beautiful garments. I also used the illustration of a boy becomes a dragon—who ‘wears’ dragon scales—and is stripped of those scales in order to be restored to a boy. In fact, I could have done the whole sermon around all the clothing imagery in scripture.
What just missed the cut for Sunday’s Sermon
Naaman’s servants may actually become one of the hidden gems of the sermon. They say, essentially: “If the prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it.”
One of the Longest Benedictions I Ran Out of Time to Share
Maybe you know the story of how Joseph and Mary accidentally left Jesus at the gas station on their way home from Jerusalem. Well, not the gas station bathroom in Jesus’ case. Joe and Mary are far down the road before they realize Jesus isn’t with them...
So many quips and quotes...
So little time to preach
I wonder what Mary and Martha’s phones might look like:
* Martha = the open browser with 27 tabs
* Mary = the single window that matters
* Psalm 46 = God saying, “Close the tabs.”