Preached FCCW December 1, 2019 Isaiah 40:1-11 and Luke 1:5-17 Zechariah had served God faithfully as a priest in the Temple for all his life. In fact, he and his wife Elizabeth were descended from priestly families whose roots stretched back to the time of Moses and Aaron. Both Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. There was, though, one holy act of service, that had eluded Zechariah.…
Preached FCCW on November 24, 2019 Deuteronomy 26:1-11 and John 6:25-35 Back when the War on Drugs was front page news, there ran a memorable Public Service Ad, where a guy stood in front of a stove with an egg in his hand, saying “This is your brain.” Then he drops the egg into a hot skillet on the stove. The camera zooms in on the egg sizzling in the pan, as the man’s voiceover says “This is your brain…
Preached FCCW, November 17, 2019 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 and Luke 21:5-19 A Boston born and raised comedian named Steve Sweeney is known for his jokes about the pessimistic way New Englanders look at life. Like, if one New Englander says “Isn’t it a beautiful day?” you can count on another one coming back with a remark like, “Well, don’t get too used to it, there won’t be many more like this for a while.” We usually think of Jesus as…
Advent is the most impatient of seasons. We can’t wait to put up the Christmas decorations and then can’t wait to take them back down. We can’t wait for the gift shopping to be over with at the same time that we can’t wait to see what’s waiting for us under the tree. The impatience of Advent is felt, even in church, where we can’t wait to sing the Christmas carols that have been playing in stores and on the…
Thanksgiving falls on November 28th this year, which is the latest it can possibly be, since it is always celebrated on the fourth Thursday of the month. This might seem like a bit of useless trivia, but the truth is that it has important repercussions. For one thing, it means that the Advent Workshop, which usually takes place on the night of the first Sunday after Thanksgiving and prior to Advent, had to be moved to a Saturday night. That’s…
The people who generally make for effective stewards are those who have a vision. Some long-term goal of great meaning provides the best incentive for short-term decisions about how to manage our resources. Whether it is saving for a home, college education for our children or a comfortable retirement, a compelling vision for life which identifies what is of most value to us enables us to invest in that goal instead of sowing in places that will bear little fruit.…
