RoboPreacher

i wrote it when i was not inflamed one bit Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43: Prayer: Lord, may the words of my lips and the meditations of all our hearts add luster to the shine of our beauty in your eyes. Amen. Intro: Good morning, it is a pleasure to be here with you this today. My name is Ryan Cosgrove and I am a seminary student studying to be an ordained pastor like Erik and Laurie. Part of that training is a year-long internship, and that is what brings me here today. I am the lucky Iowan studying at the Lutheran seminary in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania who got to go to the other side of the United States and intern in beautiful Seattle, and actually live in the apartment you all have. My internship location is split between St. John United and the former Lutheran Public Policy Office. After a recent merger between the Lutheran Public Policy Office and the Washington Association of Churches, we are now the Faith Action Network. It is my work with the Faith Acti...

if i could i would no longer be barren Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23: Prayer: Lord, may the words of my lips and the meditations of all our hearts bear the fruit of your kingdom, be it a hundred, sixty or thirty-fold. Amen . Shall we have a story? I know I’m dying. Well, I’m getting older, at least. My feet are more coarse, yet these dirt paths give me more trouble… My sisters and brothers, though, they support me. And I think I’m okay with dying. Well, who can ever say they are okay with their own death? Still, though, sometimes a peace settles over me. And in those moments, I at least feel okay with the idea that I will die. And in those moments of peace that surpass my understanding or need, I think back over my life… And, it is funny what comes to you; what memories are clear and vivid and what memories just fall away. I remember that day on the beach. I was much younger then, full of getup and ambition; a new tax-collector. My sister dragged me there. There was...

& i know you would touch us with a ten-foot pole, because we're north americans! Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 : Prayer: Lord, may the words of my lips and the meditations of all our hearts be part of your yoke, which you have invited us to take up. Amen Happy Fourth of July! It is that holiday where we celebrate our independence, where we celebrate that story of the United States. Have you noticed, though, that the story of what the United States is has been contested? Take your pick of one of the talking heads we have nationally broadcasted. Many of these figures have a different idea of what, exactly, the story of the United States is. There is, apparently, a lot of competition for the story of the United States. Why? Why is that? Why the confusion? Honestly, I don’t think it is that hard to figure out why there is this confusion about it… A lot of this confusion has to do with the same tensions we have in ourselves. Remember last week? Last we...