RoboPreacher

(it takes a long, long time) A sermon on Isaiah's prophecy that came to pass in its speaking Try to remember when you were young . I know! That’s a long time ago for some of you . Isn’t it?!? But try anyway. Ok? Now, do you recall how long it took for Christmas to come? Growing up, we would make those paper chains to count down the days until Christmas. But when you’re little , a day can be an awfully long time! Can’t it? Honestly, I remember going to the same link of the chain multiple times a day ! When you’re a child , the days to Christmas seem to go on and on . It doesn’t stay that way for long, though. Does it? When you’re young, you can’t grow up fast enough. However, you don’t even have to grow up all that much to realize how quickly it passes ! It doesn’t take long to realize it’s really a gift when time lingers . Well, I don’t make paper chains to count down the days until Christmas anymore. But we do light candles. Don’t we? And today , Gaudete Sunday, we m...

the weary world rejoices A sermon on Isaiah 55 : About now , the airwaves are crammed past to their point of bursting . Everywhere you turn, some vendor is hawking their goods. All vowing their wares are that missing ingredient to finally make your life definitely happy, healthy, and handsome.   We’ve all been let down by these empty promises enough times to hear them with suspicion . However , neither are we immune from their claims either. Our longing for something more than what’s peddled in the ads is so deep that we can’t help but give those tired old sales pitches a hearing . And often, even our hard -earned money. Today , though, of all days, God adds a voice to that already crowded marketplace. Numb though we may be becoming to all those propositions out there, God adds one more to the litany. This offer, though , has a different ring to it. This offer, so says God , promises to truly satisfy! This offer is the one to which all our earthly merchandise is ...

but the hurt can't be this much The holy Gospel according to St. Luke the 4th chapter ! Today’s passage begins with so much promise . BUT in the space of a few short verses, it all ends so poorly . And here’s the thing, what sends the folks at Jesus’ home synagogue chasing him out of town is the very same thing that tempts us to try and push Jesus out of our own lives, too. …Jesus is well -received at his home synagogue. Everyone’s amazed at his gracious words. Yet , at the same time, they're also a little put off by them.   The crowd voices their misgivings by asking about Jesus’ parentage . “Is not this Joseph’s son,” they ask. An irony , since we know, he is the son of God .   With that , you begin to see the issue take shape. But only subtly so. This is why the stakes are raised so dramatically with Jesus' little Bible -study… Musing aloud, Jesus predicts the crowd is about to assume they have some sort of special benefits for themselves . After a...

the day-to-day is like a whirlwind A sermon for the third week of Advent on Isaiah 61 It is now the third week of Advent. The season draws short . Christmas approaches .   …Are you ready ? Is the tree up? What about the lights? Have you got all your presents? And are they wrapped? If there was ever a year to assume all this was already done , this would be it. This year folks have been decorating earlier than usual. Amanda and I were no exception. Things have been so gloomy this year, we actually began setting up before Thanksgiving. But what about all the other stuff? The stuff that really matters. Have you made arrangements with your family for Christmas this year?   Saturday Night Live came out with a skit about parents losing it when their adult children told them they wouldn’t be coming home for Christmas. And the satirical newspaper, The Onion, beat them to the punch with the headline, “Mom Completely Understands That Coming To Thanksgiving Is Risky And That You ...