04/27/2026
Quotable Outtakes That Didn’t Make the Sermon This Week
“When you try to control everything, you don’t just exhaust yourself—you quietly replace trust in God with trust in you.”
“Being needed can feel good—but it can also become a quiet addiction.”
“Sometimes what looks like care is actually a refusal to release control.”
“If your life only works when you’re in control of everything…
then your life is built on something other than God.”
“Your need to carry everything may actually be keeping others from becoming who God called them to be.”
“If Moses needed help to do God’s work, what makes us think we’re the exception?”
“You were created to be faithful—not to be infinite.
And most of our exhaustion comes from confusing those two.”
“When everything in your life depends on you…
you’ve taken a job that’s already been filled.”
Turns out, ‘Savior of the World’ was never an open position.”
I came across an idea that I expanded on but didn’t use Sunday, but when you think that it all depends on you, it’s important to understand our place relative to God’s place in our lives, in our world.
I liked these analogies:
You’re in the bridal party, but you’re not the groom
You’re in the cast… but you’re not the director.
You’re the clay… not the potter.
You’re one of the sheep…not the shepherd
You’re in the orchestra… you’re not the conductor.
We have a vital role to play at work, at home, and among our neighbors and friends. We just don’t have the pivotal role we sometimes think we do. That should be a relief rather than a struggle. God is in control so we don’t have to be. Thanks be to God!
Archived Posts
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But that Blessing Can Come with a Cost as Well
I’ve enclosed several insights I got while I dug into the scripture from Genesis 12 last Sunday. For you who love Bible background here’s a few thoughts to share:
Back and Forth with Chat GPT
Many of you know that I’ve found a new consultant to bounce my ideas off in regard to preaching. My good buddy Chat GPT and I sometimes disagree—often miscommunicate—but usually come up with some fruitful illustrations.
One More Thing About Becoming Wholly Human
I was talking Sunday about the work of Hare and Woods and their idea of ‘the survival of the friendliest.’ Essentially, they conclude that “our greatest evolutionary advantage wasn't that we could do everything ourselves. It was that we could do things together.”
Here’s a preview of our congregation’s Core Values
In the coming weeks we will be exploring the importance of presence, prayers, gifts, service, witness, and growth in grace. These are at the heart of what we commit to when we join a Wesleyan grace-led church like ours. But we choose to broaden them out and state them in a new way…
The Biblical prayer we don’t know what to do with
Psalm 137 is written by people who have experienced catastrophic loss.
They have been conquered...
Patience and Trust
Sunday, in my benediction (which traditional folks did not hear) I talked about the Marshmallow Test. The original results of that test with children was that those who could delay gratification did better in life than those who could not.
Gandhi and the Sugar
I wasn’t preaching Sunday, Reverend Jackie Chandler was. And she talked about the power of influence you get when you practice what you preach. This famous illustration came to mind. It fits Jackie’s points quite well. Enjoy!