04/01/2024
From One Detective to Another
The actual quote, that I was alluding to in Sunday’s sermon is from Sherlock Holmes. It is: “When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
It makes a lot of sense if you're the epitome of what was an obsessive Victorian faith in empiricism and scientific deduction. But I like Samuel Bar-Spade's version: “When you eliminate the improbable then whatever remains, no matter how impossible it may seem, must be true--or as we assert--must have behind it the power of the living God.”
Ours is not a blind faith. It is a faith based on the testimony of a variety of people who were willing to share their testimony with whoever was willing to listen--to offer that testimony in the face of those who wanted more than anything else to discredit and dismiss them. There is also evidence based on more than just eye-witnesses. There is the evidence of radically altered lives--the broken who have been healed, the lost who have been found, the self-centered who lay down their lives in love, the dead who have been brought back to rich, full, and satisfying life. It might seem absolutely impossible, let alone extremely improbable, but nevertheless all the evidence we have leads to one life-changing truth:
Nothing, not even death, can separate us from the love our God has for us in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
May that truth warm your heart,
May that truth send you on your way,
and May that truth shine forth in all you do,
now and always.
Archived Posts
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!
Not Just for Parents
Our current sermon series is about How To Talk Parent, but it doesn’t require any of us to be parents to appreciate the bits of wisdom OUR parents shared with us growing up.
If Not Higher
Here’s a story I wanted to use when talking about ‘what you do when no one is looking’ yesterday. It’s a wonderful illustration of what Jesus was saying in Matthew 6:1-6—do what you do because of who you want to be, not so that others will take notice and praise you.