We “church shop” just like we are buying cars. As I said, this doesn’t work well when it comes to finding a faith community, but this is how most people determine which church they are going to join. Continue reading Visit a Ragamuffin Church
At the end of the day, we are enough. Gideon teaches us that we are enough because God is enough. Continue reading Table Talk: It’s Enough
Churches are shrinking, budgets are tightening, people are leaving…we spend time at conferences wondering what we can do to help our congregation grow. We should be asking what God is up to. Continue reading Finding God in the Drive-Thru Lane
Another sermon for this coming Sunday preached in 2005. Matthew 13:1-9,18-23, Romans 8:1-11, Isaiah 55:1-5,10-13 July 10, 2005 Community of Grace Christian Church St. Paul, MN When I was growing up in Michigan, I would always see these commercials on TV that made no sense to me. As most of you know, my hometown in Flint, Michigan, a small city known for its many auto plants. Flint is smack dab in the middle of two important parts of the state. To our south is the Detroit Metro Area, and we get a lot of the Detroit stations as … Continue reading Sermon: “Better Living Through Grace”
My wife Jan and I have been members of First Christian Church of St. Paul for nearly 20 years. We love the congregational focus. We particularly embrace the dedication to the principles of wholeness and inclusiveness of the Disciples of Christ, that welcome everyone to the Communion Table with no exceptions. We have recently rededicated ourselves to mission based activities. Our work with food banks, homeless shelters, and job programs is very important to us. If we are making sandwiches for the homeless, staffing a homeless shelter, packing food for the hungry, or just raising money for local support organizations, … Continue reading We Call Ourselves Disciples
The following is something I wrote on the First Christian website. As some of you know, First-St. Paul is down to a few faithful members. We are starting to venture forth into the community, but it would by helpful if we had a few more people. Share this with your friends. To contact me, go to the bottom of this post. First Christian Church of St. Paul is looking for the curious, the energetic, the adventurous and others who are interested in relaunching this congregation. First Christian is a 132-year old congregation. The congregation is affiliated with the Christian Church … Continue reading Work with a Church Rising from the Ashes in Minnesota
Matthew 21:1-11 and Phillipians 2:5-11 Palm Sunday April 13, 2014 First Christian Church Mahtomedi, MN If you were watching the recently concluded Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, you might have caught a commercial that has gone viral. It’s an ad for Cadillac and features a well-dressed man comparing hard-working, some might say overworked Americans to Europeans that take a large amount of time off. At the end of the commercial, the name walks up to the subject of the commercial, the ELR, Cadillac’s plugin hybrid. If Cadillac wanted to get some attention, it got it in spades. The general feeling … Continue reading Sermon: “When Love Comes to Town”
Genesis 12:1-4 and John 3:1-17 Second Sunday in Lent March 16, 2014 First Christian Church Mahtomedi, MN As a kid, I loved looking at maps. I still do love pouring over a map, but when I was younger, I could spend hours looking at a map. The Rand McNally map of the Interstate Highway System was like the Bible to me. I look and see what interstate went where, what cities it came close to and the like. I don’t have the time I did to look at map so intently, but a map from Triple A still gives me … Continue reading Sermon: “You Pay Your Money and You Take Your Chance”
Matthew 17:1-9 Transfiguration Sunday, Year A March 2, 2014 First Christian Church Mahtomedi, MN I envy those people who can spend periods in prayer or meditating. The reason I am jealous of them is that this is something I can’t do. It might be a result of my Apserger’s diagnosis, but I can’t focus on things for very long. This means that when I’m trying to pray, my mind decides to think about other things. I can go from praying to thinking about what I have to do at work, to where I plan to go on vacation, to wondering … Continue reading Sermon: Everything’s Gonna Be Alright
“I’ve Been A Mess” Matthew 5:1-12, 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 Fourth Sunday of Epiphany February 2, 2014 First Christian Church Mahtomedi, MN It was a Friday afternoon. I was working at a major law firm in the Twin Cities as an assistant. It was not my favorite job and things weren’t going well for me. I didn’t enjoy the job and I wasn’t doing a good enough job for folks. It wasn’t for lack of trying, though. Anyways, I was busy at work trying to get somethings done before Daniel arrived in town for the weekend. I got a call from … Continue reading Sermon: “I’ve Been A Mess”
The Clockwork Pastor 