Entombment
John 11:1-45 My dad finally came out of the closet not so long ago. I’d been carrying him around for a while. Not shut up in a tomb with a rock in the door like Lazarus, all that remained had …
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Easter: The Prequel
Mark 9:2-10 The disciples did, however, question what this rising from the dead meant. Without a good Lent, there’s not a great Easter. We can have a pretty good Easter without a good Lent but not a great Easter. We …
Continue readingThe Living Poet Takes the Road
I’ve needed this February worship theme of Poetic License in the context of our troubled world. In hard personal or political times we need creativity to help put us back together after the latest news has broken us apart. Art …
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A Cold and Broken Hallelujah
A few years ago I got in a little trouble with a church member for a sermon I preached, entitled, “The Awful Grace of God.” In it, I quoted a little poem written some 2500 years ago by the Greek …
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The Art & Science of Poetic License
Sunday, February 12 was the second week of our new worship theme, “Poetic License.” How are our spirits renewed by the mysteries of creation? Several artists of our congregation shared their experiences in visual arts, music, spoken word, and teaching …
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Ministry: A Balance of Sorts
For Amy Rixx’s Ordination SCRIPTURE: First Corinthians 13: 1-7, 13 – If I speak in the tongues of mortals or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have …
Continue readingFor Such a Time as This
On Sunday, January 29, Andy Bachmann rounds out our theme, “I’ll Fly Away: Stories of Captivity and Release” with the sermon, “For Such a Time as This.” As I have tried to make sense of our world this past week, …
Continue readingOn Not Rolling Like an Anger Ball
Ephesians 4:26-29 It has been a challenging roller coaster week, emotionally and spiritually. Many weeks are like that. It is joyful to be gathered together here to sing, pray, reflect, laugh, and ask each other important questions. In churches around …
Continue readingListening to God/Speaking to Pharaoh
There are many ways to speak to the powers of captivity and chaos. There are many ways to respond with the voices of release. You know the old familiar story of Moses the liberator recounted in the spiritual we sang. …
Continue readingWaiting for the Water to Ripple
Waiting for the Water to Ripple Andy Bachmann John 5:2-9 “Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate, there is a pool, called in Hebrew, “Beth-zatha,” which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids—blind, lame and paralyzed, waiting for the …
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Be Not Afraid
AB: When I first moved to Gainesville from Chicago 13 years ago, the hardest adjustment for me was getting used to the idea that it could be 80 degrees outside and still be Christmas. And I will admit that …
Continue readingThe Adolescent Angst of Emmanuel
Luke 2:41-52 Jesus at Twelve Years “Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom; and when the feast was ended, as …
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