RoboPreacher

then you can begin / to come up slow like a desert rose A sermon on the real ending of Easter : Alleluia! Christ is risen! * Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!  Yes, indeed , Christ is risen. Alleluia! Do you remember the first time you ever said this greeting? Or at least the first time you were conscious of doing so? For me , I don’t think it was until I was in college . So, for all I know, today is your first memory of making this venerable Easter salutation. No matter what, though, we all have some Easter memory. Don’t we? So, let’s take a moment to recall one. And start thinking, too, because I’m going to ask us to share . This is something we do from time to time. I like it because it gets you all engaged . So, like I said, start thinking about your answer. What’s an Easter memory you have? And keep it simple ; just go with whatever comes to mind.   To give you some time to think, I’ll go first. And while I talk, think about your answer. I know you think about o...

well, i remember that everyday, i get a little bit closer / to you A sermon on Jesus' sermon to end all sermons : Well, Jesus certainly got our attention with that one. Didn’t he? With this passage, Jesus strikes upon something we’re all deeply invested in: time . And Jesus strikes at the heart of the matter, too. Time, says Christ, is winding down . Now, on one hand, we all already know this. Don’t we? We’ve all felt the passage of time. We can all tell that time inexorably goes in one direction only . We’ve all had that uncanny experience of noticing the slippage of time in real -time! On the other hand, though , we don’t believe it. Do we? At least we don’t live like we believe it, not really. We all carry on as if time doesn’t have our number. We all live as if the present will continue indefinitely .   Of course, it goes without saying that it never does. And I’m not just talking about the certainty of change , either. I’m talking about the inevitable conclusion ...

so you can see what happens next: you won't believe how good it can get A sermon on Jesus' radicalizing of theology : We chose the name Unity because it was what God has done among us . Isn’t it? God took both our congregations and made us one out of them. God did this through collaboration . And God did this through combustion , too.   But, through it all , God was with us. God was walking alongside us. God was leading us. God was uniting us. We also chose the name Unity because it’s our hope and prayer that God would continue to work unity among us, too. Isn’t it? As far as God has carried us, we all know there is still more unifying to be done. There are bonds to deepen . AND there are new friendships to form, too. Aren’t there? Plus , there’s the ardent desire that God wouldn’t just unite us with one another . We all long for this unity to grow . Don’t we? The church is not a self-satisfied, exclusive social club. Is it? No, the church, if it is true to its ince...