RoboPreacher

give out to give in An Ash Wednesday sermon on Jesus' Good Shepherd Sermon : Shortly we will be marked with ashes . Ashes made from the branches we triumphantly waived on Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday, that day we let ourselves dream , if only for a day, that the path to Easter would be an easy one. Tonight, though , we are marked with the ashes of that dream .   But that isn’t the only dream of ours to have gone down in ashes . Is it? There are ashes of other dreams that we are marked by this evening. None of us walk such a cleared path that we don’t come through these doors unmarked by the ashes of dreams that have come to nothing . There are the garden-variety fantasies . Idle dreams of a bigger bank account, a larger home, and a sports car, too. All to go with that winning smile, trim waistline, and, while we’re at it, full head of hair. But then there are the ashes of other dreams. Aren’t there? Dreams that are closer to the heart . Dreams that reveal our deepest ...

rejoice Let’s do something a little different. Let’s skip the gospel, and instead work our way through appointed Psalm for Ash Wednesday, Psalm 51 .   Psalm 51 is the prayer King David wrote after ordering the murder of Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah. It was also one of Martin Luther’s favorite psalms. So to begin, let’s open our hymnals to Psalm 51.   Here’s a little trick, all the psalms are in our hymnal. They’re the first 150 hymns. So, to find Psalm 51, just turn to hymn number 51 in your hymnal. …Got it? Okay. Let’s recite the beginning of Psalm 51 responsively , verses one through six.   I’ll recite the odd verses, and you all respond by reciting the even verses. *READ V.1-6 OF PS.51* Well, this is no psalm for the faint-hearted. Is it? “My sin is ever before me. / Against you ONLY have I sinned ; and done what is evil in your sight; so that you are justified when YOU speak and right in YOUR judgement .” It...

transform my tragedy A sermon for Ash Wednesday on Matthew 18:1-9 Once a year, at least , our scar shows up. …Do you have any scars?   Are they especially visible ?   If they are I bet you’ve gotten comfortable having to explain your scar. Because that’s the thing about scars, isn’t it? They show something we usually like to keep hidden… But once a year, our scar shows up. “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” …If we’re being honest, it’s little uncomfortable . Isn’t it? To have our scar show up . And in such a public place. If nothing else it makes for an intimate evening. Doesn’t it?   …All of us walking around with our scars showing .   I’ve come to learn, too, that intimate is the right word.   It’s not a somber night. Is it? It’s not morose. It’s intimate . All of us seeing   each other for how we really are; scarred . …Sometimes on Christmas Eve I will talk about seeing ea...

so scared of what he would find, he started crying The Holy Gospel according to St. John the 10th chapter! “Remember that you are dust; and to dust you shall return.” With those 11 mere words Lent begins .   Just 11 simple words. Words that say something about you and me that isn’t so simple to hear: That we're dust, and heading inescapably back to dust… So, let me ask; how do those words sound to you? Do these words trouble you? Do they scare you? Do they relieve you?   Do these words surprise you? Or, are you perfectly aware that you’re dust already ? You might even try thinking of how these words have struck you over the years ?   How did they sound the first time you really heard them? And what was that night like? How do they sound to you now, tonight ? Do these words sound more true, or less? More welcome, or less? Really think about this. Take note of what’s going on tonight. Attend to what it’s like to hear these ...

We’re all just a bunch of sinners, free-riding on Jesus Living out the faith is not easy.  In an important way, that’s what Lent is all about. Coming to terms with the challenge of the call to which we have been called (Ephesians 4:1).  The thing is, Christianity isn’t challenging just because it’s hard ; although it is. Christianity is challenging because it doesn’t come naturally to us. The faith is built on all sorts of claims we would never come up with on our own.  For instance, we will begin Lent with a reminder of our mortality.  Now, I don’t know about you, but most of the messages I hear are promises I can live forever. That this or that will help me cheat death. Christianity will have no truck with such lies, though. That’s what’s really challenging about Lent. It isn’t giving up the swears or chocolate; although that may be hard. And it isn’t the call to works of love, either; although those can be difficult too. No, Lent is a chall...