Matthew 5:13-16
Acts 1:1-8

This past week, Gail and I spent 5 days in Sarasota, Florida with her son, Brett, who moved there after Christmas. Sarasota is a wonderful place to visit as there are so many things to do, not the least of which is to hang out on Siesta Keys Beach; voted the # 1 beach in America.

John 11:1-53, I Corinthians 15:12-22

A pastor’s son and his friends were playing in the backyard when they found a dead robin. They decided that the bird should be given a proper burial, so they put him in a Kleenex box, dug a hole and solemnly placed their feathered friend in the ground. Naturally, the minister’s son was chosen to say something appropriate. Remembering what […]

John 13:31-14:1-6
Colossians 1:15-22
We must not consider today’s ‘I am’ saying – ‘I am the way, the truth and the life’ found in John 14:6 apart from its context set for us in the previous chapter. For the beginning of chapter 13 marks a solemn divide in John’s plot. Whereas the first twelve chapters picture the public ministry of Jesus; chapters 13 through […]

John 15:1-17

John 15 is a very deep passage of scripture. An entire sermon series could be preached on this passage, answering questions that I am not going to touch on today, including:

• If we are bearing fruit, why do we have to be pruned? Sounds painful to me.
• What does it mean to be pruned?
• How does the pruning process help us bear more fruit?
• Who […]
  

John 10:11-30

A shepherd was looking after his sheep one day on the side of a deserted road, when suddenly a brand new Porsche screeches to a halt. The driver, a man dressed in an Armani suit, Ray-Ban sunglasses, Rolex wrist-watch, and a Pierre Cardin tie, gets out and asks the shepherd: “If I can tell you how many sheep you have, will you give […]

John 8:12, 31-59; 9:1-7

In Mark Twain’s story, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Tom and Becky Thatcher join some classmates for a game of hide and seek in a cave. But when Tom and Becky wander off the marked path, they get lost. They stumble around in that dark dungeon for several days and slowly lose hope as their flickering candle finally goes out, leaving […]

John 6:22-59
Ephesians 2:4-9

Every time I read John 6, which features Jesus first offering bread to satisfy hunger and then offering the bread of life to satisfy spiritual hunger, I think of Bruce Springsteen’s song, Hungry Heart:

Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack
I went out for […]

Psalm 121
Hebrews 12:1-3

A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they drew. She would occasionally walk around to see each child’s artwork. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.
The girl replied, “I’m drawing God.”
The teacher paused and said, “But no one knows what God looks like.”
Without missing a […]

Psalm 126
Mark 4:21-34

There was a church hymn that was written in 1874 and was still popular in the 1980’s when I first began attending church. The song was written by Knowles Shaw who was inspired by the last couple of verses in Psalm 126 (5-6).

Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy.
They weep as they go to plant their […]

Matthew 5:13-16
II Corinthians 4:1-6

The prophet Isaiah uses light as a metaphor in describing Israel’s mission to the world.

Isaiah 42:6 says, “I the LORD have called unto you in righteousness, and have taken hold of your hand, and submitted you as the people’s covenant, as a light unto the nations.”

Isaiah 49:6 has it, “I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to […]

Ephesians 4:1-16
Speaking of church, Johnny’s mother looked out the window and noticed him “playing church” with their cat. The cat was sitting quietly and he was preaching to it. She smiled and went about her work. A while later she heard loud meowing and hissing and ran back to the window to see Johnny baptizing the cat in a tub of water.