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9 mins read|05/19/19When you are not experiencing this kind of tribulation, the promise of “you will” hardly seems comforting. But when you are in the midst of it—when the pressure of this world is bearing down on you—it is comforting to know it has not caught God unawares.
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8 mins read|05/12/19We also have reasons to grieve, and it should not be hard to think of causes for sorrow in your congregation. But, because of the Resurrection, we do not grieve as those without hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Our joy is a gift here and now, but it will not be complete until Jesus’ return.
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6 mins read|05/05/19Jesus makes two extraordinary claims in this text. One has to do with His relationship to the Father. The other has to do with His relationship to His followers. The preacher on this text would do well to recognize the magnitude of these two claims, and then choose one (or both) to proclaim without apology or reservation.
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9 mins read|04/29/19John records three separate post-resurrection appearances to the disciples. We read about the first two last week. They both centered around the disciple who doubted Jesus. This week his appearance draws our attention to disciple who had denied him.
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9 mins read|04/21/19The second Sunday of Easter (and the entire season of Easter, really) offers the preacher an opportunity to help hearers reflect on the significance of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead for their own lives. Thomas reminds us that there are only two responses to Easter. Either you believe it, confess it, and conform your entire life to it. Or you don’t.
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9 mins read|04/14/19In Luke 24:1-12 we don’t get a carefully constructed theology of the resurrection. The evangelist doesn’t work out all the implications of Easter for our life and faith. He doesn’t offer a logical argument for why we should believe Jesus rose physically from the dead. Instead, he simply describes what happened.
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9 mins read|04/07/19It’s the following that caught my attention this week. It seems especially appropriate to consider this Sunday, for Holy Week is designed to help Christians follow Jesus through his last and consequential days.
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9 mins read|03/31/19What he says in this parable has significance for us today, and needs to be preached. But the application is not direct and therefore should be done carefully.
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12 mins read|03/24/19The Parable of the Prodigal Son is a familiar story. This creates a challenge for the preacher.
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11 mins read|03/17/19We’re tempted to try and connect the dots. Something bad happens to someone and we can’t help but wonder about the cause. Even if we don’t say it out loud, we are tempted to think they must have done something to deserve it. They must be guilty of something. God must be punishing them for something we don’t know about. But Jesus stops this thinking in its tracks.
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10 mins read|03/10/19I don’t think the people of Jerusalem designed to reject God. They didn’t wake up one day and decide that, instead of listening to God, they would make it their mission to kill him. They were deceived. Blinded. Deluded by sin and its author. As a result, they were unable and unwilling to hear the Word of the Lord.
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9 mins read|03/03/19There are two ways to think about what’s happening when someone is tempted. The first is to imagine temptation as enticement toward something bad and wrong. This is probably the more common of the two. But there’s another way of thinking about it. Temptation could also be seen as encouragement away from something good and right.
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