Referencing Sermons, spiritual reflections etc
Life & Hope Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25–26 NRSV) The story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, which is found in the Gospel of John (11:1–45), is…
Tested Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” (John 9:16a NRSV) The Season of Lent reminds us that Jesus was tested when he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness and tempted by the devil. But this wasn’t the only time that Jesus was tested. Throughout his ministry Jesus was…
Perseverance And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. (Rom. 5:3–5 NRSV) There are several stories from the Book of Exodus,…
Light and Darkness Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” (John 3:1–2 NRSV) When I was a young…
Spiritual Reflection – Community & Competitiveness Richard Dawkins made a fortune with his 1976 study, The Selfish Gene, which provided some scientific backup for the idea that competitiveness is the key to survival and success. To many in our individualistic culture this proposition seems almost self-evident. In 2011, Martin Nowak advanced a counter proposition. In…
Seeing is Believing And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. (Matt. 17:2 NRSV) In the Hollywood movie of the mid-eighties The Natural, Robert Redford stars as thirty-something baseball player Roy Hobbs, who having not played any form of the game in 16 years, is drafted mid season by the New…
Spiritual Reflection – Christlike When preachers exhort us to be Christlike, we mostly feel frustrated at being asked to do the impossible. It is probably true, as Saint Augustine often said, that whatever Christ was by nature we can become by grace, and yet, for most of us, this represents an impossible ideal. This is…
Spiritual Reflection – Salt “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. (Matthew 5:13 NRSV) While salt has several uses, such as preserving food and de-icing footpaths and roads, its main function is to…
Beatitudes Thirty-eight years ago, in 1971, I heard a sermon that I still remember. The gospel of the day was the Sermon on the Mount and, in particular, the Beatitudes. The point that really stayed in my mind was that the preacher repeated the refrain, “Oh, if only we were hearing these words for the…
Follow Me As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. (Matt. 4:18–20 NRSV) In his book,…