This Ash Wednesday I am thinking about the Scripture from Genesis 3: 19..”.for you are dust and to dust you shall return.” This reminds me that without the breath or Spirit of God moving in us, we are just like ashes--lifeless and worthless. Without the Spirit of God, we are not what the Army slogan in the 1980’s suggested for us, “Be all you can be”. Without the Spirit of God, we will not receive the fruits of the spirit...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self-control. Oh, we may think that we can manufacture those or discipline those into our lives of our own strength, but the Holy Spirit can do so much more than we can of our own accord. 

Roundabouts are a way of Life…at least in Carmel IN

 

In Carmel, a frequent topic of conversation is roundabouts and certainly most everyone has an opinion. I will admit that I have always looked forward to every new one being completed. I will actually plan my route from here to there thinking about where there are roundabouts.

Archived Posts

The Cars Are Looking for A King

          I don’t have a thing to add to Pastor Jessica’s excellent sermon this last Sunday.  The fable/parable she shared has been one of my favorites for all the lessons she pulled from it in her message.  I was playing around with my friend Chat GPT and after several abortive attempts, we came up with the following modernized version of Judges 9:7-15. 

The Lost Benediction

          Depending on the length of the sermon, I try to add a little something extra in my benedictions.  This week I wrote up a benediction but then realized we’d be singing and waving our umbrellas to some New Orleans jazz.

Change of Focus This Week

       Instead of sharing with you about yesterday’s sermon I’d like to invite you to do some background reading for next Sunday’s “Only Murders in the Bible.”  Seeing that it is All Saints Day this Sunday, we are going to look at the very first Christian martyr, Stephen. 

You Might Be Thinking It’s All About You If…

In working on Sunday’s sermon I asked my computer’s AI if she/he could come up with a few suggestions in answer to the above: "You Might be thinking it’s all about you, if…." 

Prayer Changes Things

Here is a transcript of the prayer I prayed at the end of yesterday’s sermon.