RoboPreacher

it's comin' over me now A sermon for Trinity Sunday on Galatians 5:13-26 Describing the Christian life, Paul says something pretty, well, provocative . He writes, “ Live by the Spirit , I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh . For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh.”   Nothing too surprising thus far. But then Paul goes on to say, “ for these are opposed to each other to PREVENT you from doing what you want .” To prevent you from doing what you want ?!? Can you imagine a tougher sell??? In contrast to those well-meaning sales pitches Christians like us toss around, Paul says Christianity will actually only prevent you from doing what you want! …This really isn’t too far-fetched, though. In fact, even everyday sinner/saints like you and me have experienced this. The truth is, our day-to-day existence is frustrated. The thing, though , is you and I have been baptized into this reality from ear...

to wake me up & come alive Reflecting on the Holy Spirit Paul says in  Galatians 4:1-17 : Today is Pentecost . Oftentimes, we call this day the Church’s birthday. Over the course of last year, though, I’ve come to realize that’s not very helpful. For one thing, the Emmaus encounter in Luke 24 is probably the first gathering of what we call the church. For another, calling Pentecost the birthday of the church tempts us to treat the miracle of this day as a thing of the past . Pentecost is not a bygone event we remember. Pentecost is a miracle we expect . Pentecost is not something that happened somewhere out there, a long time ago. Pentecost is an ever-present happening that is taking place right here and right now among us .   After all, isn’t that what’s going on at this very moment? Isn’t every worship service something of a miracle ? Think about it; with everything else going on, it’s astonishing anyone would bother making time to get to church. Yet, week afte...

the ones i ain't written yet Paul's Epistle to the Galatians, chapter 3, verses 1-9 and 23-29 : Paul’s dealing with Christianity’s original AND perennial problem. And the issue, as you might expect , has to do with willpower . As you probably wouldn’t expect, though, the problem isn’t a lack of willpower. It’s the excessiveness of it!   When it comes to anything , even faith , we always think the motor that’s going to get the whole thing up and running is willpower . As it turns out, though, our efforts are the cold water that puts the fire of the Gospel out every time.   The way it happened for the folks in Galatia was that they were trying to straighten up their lives now that they had found God. And while that may sound well and good, Paul insists their actions were not bearing witness to the Gospel. Instead , they were undermining it. We’re prone think that once we receive a gift, the Gospel included, it’s our job not to blow it. Or, at least, be grateful enough f...

to his knees Paul's epistle to the Galatians 1:13-17; 2:11-21 One of our most basic assumptions also happens to be one of our most cherished tenets of life. So deep -seated is this conviction of ours that it’s even seeped its way into the faith ! In today’s Scripture, though, St. Paul declares good riddance to so much bad theology.   I’m talking about, of course, the assumption that the goal of life is improvement . These days we’re obsessed with optimization and productivity. And it’s not just the professional sphere of our lives we’re trying to life-hack our way through, either! We’re also trying to upgrade our parenting, leisure, mental health, physical health, and even faith-life! Like Dr. Phil, I’m tempted to ask, “ how’s that working out for you?” But seeing as how our compulsion to try and enhance every aspect of our lives is now affecting our children , I don’t think I need to, do I? Whoever heard of burnt-out teenagers?!? But that’s the fruit of all our l...