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
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.” & more
There is a challenge when it comes to preaching the Word of God.
Preachers are called to open up and interpret the word—inspired and written down thousands of years ago—and make it relevant to a very different world. On top of that there’s a degree of persuasion that goes along with the process.
What Jessica Really Meant to Say in Her Sermon…
When Jessica or Rick or a guest preacher takes the pulpit it’s hard for me to write a One More Thing Blog. I can’t share with you what didn’t make it into the sermon because I have no idea, not having written or delivered it.
Jesus Keeps On Ruining Funerals!
I didn’t have anything this last week that didn’t end up in the sermon. No catchy illustrations that didn’t make the cut. No theological insights that slowed down the main point. No one can ruin a funeral like Jesus. Told as I saw it and that was it. So I did some quick research and I thought I’d share just a reminder of what Easter is all about.
When I Don’t Get To Give My Benediction
Yesterday’s sermon talked about how we are in the thrall of self-centeredness—caught in a system that rewards those who climb to the top, even when you have to climb on the back of others. I talked about a famous sermon by Dr. Martin Luther King, ....
Some Good Quotes that I Didn’t Get To Last Sunday
I have been working out of Adam Hamilton’s excellent book, Why Did Jesus Have to Die? And when I find something that says what I want to say more succinctly and expressively than I can, I like to quote it...
Good Stuff that Didn’t Make the Cut
I liked what I’d put together below, but ran out of time to share in Sunday’s sermon. Remember we were talking about the Old Adam and the New Adam, Jesus.