​ Relax, the Lord is Near Pentecost XXIV (O. T. 32); November 8, 2015 Philippians 4:4-9 I'm feeling a little resistant today, both to the stewardship theme and to Paul's instructions. First, the stewardship theme: "free from the uncertainty of riches." Okay, I get it: as long as our basic needs are met, and we trust God to meet our basic needs, the...

​ Rich Toward God All Saints; November 1, 2015 Luke 12:13-21 Once again I paired my theme Scripture with a difficult passage, this time from Ecclesiastes (2:18-23). The Preacher (that's pretty much what "Ecclesiastes" means, "preacher") laments that a person works hard and accumulates money and goods and then dies and leaves them to some idiot who ...

​ "For freedom Christ…" Reformation Sunday; October 25, 2015 Galatians 5:1-6 "For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." Freedom and slavery: these are themes that Paul writes about. In the United States, we talk about freedom a lot, but we have not been very good at agreeing on what we...

​ Sermon Series: Relationships in God's Family The Gift of Friendship World Communion; October 4, 2015 I Samuel 18:1-5 There are some amazing friendships in the Bible. For today's message, I will tell you about two of them, then remind you of what Jesus had to say on the subject. I've said to you before that in the Bible there is a lot more about f...

Sermon Series: Relationships in God's Family The Gift of Work Pentecost XVIII (O. T. 26); September 27, 2015 Ephesians 6:5-9 I put in the Google search-box "Jokes about work" and in a third of a second 147,000,000 results presented themselves. No surprise there, right? Our general attitude about work is that it is a necessary evil, the means to gai...

Sermon Series: Relationships in God's Family The Gift of Marriage Pentecost XVI (O. T. 24); September 13, 2015 Genesis 2:18-25 I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to preach a sermon on marriage. The subject needs a series of its own, not simply one sermon. So, let me start by offending everybody and touching on three difficult bullet po...

​ We Think; We Pray; We Act Pentecost XV (O. T. 23); September 6, 2015 Romans 12:1-2 and Matthew 18:15-20 I did a little web-browsing to see if my hunch was supported by evidence: that decision-making is largely emotional. Apparently it is. Do a little web-browsing yourself and look at the scientific literature: when emotions are impaired, we find ...

​ There is quite a swirl of feelings going on in this room now. There is anger, some focused at particular individuals and some unfocused. There is fear: what will happen now? There is dismay: how could this happen? There is sadness, there is bafflement, there is a sense of betrayal. Some of you feel more than one of these at the same time; all of ...

​ Sometimes a Light Surprises Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost (O. T. 21); August 23, 2015 Psalm 123 This has been quite a week in my world. As a Pastor, I know things about people I wish I didn't have to know. As Stated Clerk of our Presbytery, I know things about churches and pastors I wish I didn't have to know. When I sat down to draft the ser...

Well, we are near to having some real plans to show you. Your Building Task Force will offer a look at our plans on September 13 during adult Sunday School and will also receive your input. It's still a little early for such details as "I think the bathrooms should be green" or "Let's have this sort of tile in the serving area in Fellowship Hall," ...

​ Sermon Series: God and Country Godly Government Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost (O. T. 20); August 16, 2015 II Samuel 23:1-7 Well, it's started: the 2016 horse race. Living this close to Iowa we particularly notice it; has anyone been to meet any candidates across the river in Council Bluffs? The aspect of the race that interests us this morning i...

​ Sermon Series: God and Country Loyalty Pentecost XI (O. T. 19); August 9, 2015 II Samuel 15:13-29 Most of the time it is easy to be both a Christian and a citizen. But sometimes we face a conflict of loyalties between God and country. When we do face that conflict, how do we decide whom to follow? This is a story about loyalty, a dysfunctional fa...

Sermon Series: God and Country Truth to Power Pentecost X (O. T. 18) II Samuel 11:26-12:10 Recently I told you the story of David and Bathsheba; I'll recap in order to refresh your memory. King David had fallen for a beautiful woman named Bathsheba, and he arranged for a tryst with her. When she turned up pregnant, he arranged for her husband to be...

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