RoboPreacher

yes this time it'll be different  In our reading from Acts we find Paul combining everything that makes him so lovable and taking it to the streets in the name of the Gospel. In fact, today’s story from Acts is just perfect for us as we consider what it means to be church now , at this moment in history. Here’s the cool thing about today’s reading from Acts; the folks Paul is taking the message to, the athenians, these folks aren’t churchgoers who simply haven’t been in to church for a while, they aren’t even former catholics looking for a new church. No, these athenians Paul is preaching to are people who have never been to church at all.  Paul is preaching to “unchurched” people, the same sort of people we’ve been scratching our head over, trying to figure out how to reach… Since, as we all know, Paul does such an excellent job at reaching these people and since this sermon series is all about what Church is, let’s take a few moments to reflect on how Pa...

how it aches to meet the day I can remember one of the first moments I thought, ‘Y eah, I want to be a pastor .’  It was during the summer, after I had decided to minor in religion to discern whether I was being called to the ministry. I spent that summer working at a Lutheran newspaper in the Twin Cities, the Metro-Lutheran . As an intern, I had the distinct privilege of being assigned the stories no one else wanted to write. As it turned out, most of the stories were about congregations that were either growing or closing.  I learned a lot. The particular moment I am thinking of, happened during an interview with a council that was starting a feeding ministry.  The curious thing about this decision, however, was that this congregation’s budget had been cut to the bone as their attendance had shrunk to an unsustainable core.  Closing was a real possibility for this congregation. In fact, it was at the very-same meeting the treasurer re...

what you know is better, is brighter It’s been said we live in a time when the church is well out of fashion… And maybe they’re right.  After all, none of us have to think too hard to recall a headline of some news story of a church scandal, or a time some cranky church member stared down a visitor for sitting in “ their ” pew. Now add those grievances to the common sentiment that you can worship God just as well on the fishing-boat or taking a walk outdoors; and you just about have to grant the point.  The church, our faith, is headed for the dustbin of history… And sadly, the truth is, most of us here have conceded the argument to those who would say we live in a time when the church is a thing of the past.  Honestly, we don’t have much faith in the value of this place or faith in general ourselves… Tragically our misgivings about the faith are put on full display by how we react to Peter’s sermon we hear today in Acts .  When Peter...