The Value of a Good Name

September 6, 2009 ?Proper 17 Proverbs 22:1-2,8-9,22-23 Here is an idea so quaint and antiquated that it actually makes sense: Your name is valuable. Don't run out and try to sell it on eBay. It may not have that sort of worth. Instead, the value of your name is in direct proportion to your character.

Benefits from the Bible

August 30, 2009? Proper 17 James 1:17-27 Bibles are everywhere. You can find them in grocery stores, bookstores, motel rooms. Every year the Bible outsells every major bestseller. In America we are glutted with the Word of God on the airways, radio, TV, books, magazines. Yet millions of people still miss the benefit from the Bible.

Crossing the Line

?August 23, 2009 Proper 16 John 6:56-69 On Sunday, members of a house church in a city of the old Soviet Union arrived inconspicuously in small groups throughout the day so as not to arouse the suspicion of the KGB informers. By dusk they were all safely inside, windows closed and doors locked. They began singing a hymn quietly but with deep emotion. Suddenly, the door was pushed open and in walked two soldiers with automatic weapons, loaded and ready to fire. One shouted, "All right-everybody line up against the wall. If you wish to renounce your commitment to Jesus Christ, leave now!"

Doing God’s Will

?August 16, 2009 Proper 15 Ephesians 5:15-20 Everyone wants to know God's will. What if God has already given you His will? Many people get hung up on the 5-10 percent of God's will they do not know-like where to go to school, whom to marry, which job to take-which theologians refer to as the specific will of God. Sometimes, we forget about the 90-95 percent of God's will that we already know. (It is recorded in black and white in the Bible.) Theologians refer to this as God's general will because it applies to all believers.

God Is in the Gate

August 9, 2009 ?Proper 14 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33 Drugs almost killed the young father of the 10-year-old girl, but he escaped from that lifestyle; and by the time his daughter was in high school, he was completely free-or so he thought. He recognized the signs and tried to stop her; but when his daughter was a sophomore, filled with beautiful potential, an overdose took her life. He felt the tortuous grief of losing a child, the helpless frustration of watching the habit that led to her death and heavy pain of regret for the example he set for her. He had been freed from drugs, but she had been enslaved. Why didn't he die instead of her? Why was he forgiven and given life when hers was taken?

When You See the Crumbs

?August 2, 2009 Proper 13 2 Samuel 11:26-12:1-13 The cookies seemed to disappear more quickly than they should. The mother suspected that her 5-year-old was developing skills that would serve him well in FBI covert ops. She asked him if he was taking cookies when he shouldn't. He shrugged his shoulders and didn't answer.

The Perilous Pursuit

July 26, 2009 ?Proper 12 2 Samuel 11:1-15 Playing catch is a universal game. It only requires two or more people and something to throw. When I was 10 years old, my neighborhood's preferred item was a baseball. We seemed to lose most of them and never seemed to have more than one; so when the well-worn tan ball with red stitching went down the sewer opening, we had to go after it. Charlie's dad had a crowbar to pry open the cast iron lid, and Chris volunteered to go down into the ankle-deep stagnant water, past spider webs and slime.

Whose Plan Is It Anyway?

July 19, 2009 ?Proper 11 2 Samuel 7:1-14a Have you ever conceived a plan that you thought was perfect, only to find out that no one wanted to do it? Were you crushed? Did you become discouraged or depressed? What went wrong? What do you do now?

Count Your Many Blessings

July 12, 2009 ?Proper 10 Ephesians 1:3-14 What do you do when problems keep you awake at night? Toss and turn? Take a pill? From that grand old hymn by Johnson Oatman to the ballad popularized by Bing Crosby, the best advice I've found is to count your many blessings, naming them one by one. Paul did exactly that when he wrote to the church at Ephesus. Consider with him all the ways God has blessed believers.

Wonder-Working Power

July 5, 2009 ?Proper 9 Mark 6:1-13 Preaching before my home church was intimidating. I saw the faces of Sunday School teachers whose classes I had disrupted, friends who knew me in high school and family members who had wiped my nose and other body parts as a child. While they encouraged their preacher boy, the message seemed to lack the power experienced in other venues.