RoboPreacher

only at christmas time A sermon on St. Luke's superb Christmas Gospe l: A very Merry Christmas to you all ! You’ve done it. After a month of nonstop shopping, cooking, cleaning, wrapping, mailing, reassembling the family like a stubborn jigsaw puzzle, watching your diet, arranging your schedule like a suitcase two sizes too small , and just generally running hither and yon at a breakneck pace, you’ve finally reached the finish line! Good on ya.   You’ve made it. Take a breath of relief. Savor this moment. At last, there’s nothing more for you to do . Your to-do list is happily done !   And even if everything isn’t done, savor this moment anyway . For one thing, it’s too late ! There’s nothing more you can do now . So you might as well sit back, relax , and enjoy this moment.   We could use the reprieve , too. Couldn’t we? Yes, we're worn out. But the truth is, even the most prepared among us don’t have everything done. No, we all still have more left to do. ...

and his gospel is love A sermon on the Christmas Gospel once more: Each one of us , in our own way, has intuited on some level that this night is a holy night indeed. One way or another, something insists to us that this is a holy night. Regardless of whether we were dragged here or if we did the dragging, the holiness of this night cannot be denied. As for the silence or calm , well, that’s another story. Isn’t it? Nonetheless , I pray you all will know a little of that bright calm and quiet that springs from the blessings Christ comes to bring tonight . And I especially pray this for all you blessed parents out there. But, regardless of whether “all was calm” as you got ready for church, and notwithstanding if tonight will be “silent” or not, either, having arrived , we cannot deny that there’s something particularly holy about this delicate sliver of time. Isn’t there? Now, let it be said holy does not mean magical . And neither does holy mean spiritual or supernatural...

with the dawn of redeeming grace A sermon on the Christmas gospel : A word before our Christmas Scripture. For years now, Luke has out - peached me! Each year, we hear his lovely Christmas gospel. And then, each year, it’s this poor pastor’s lot to try and follow that up! And each year, the best I’ve managed is to flail about in the wake of Luke’s masterful Christmas sermon. This year, though , I’m not going to let that happen. But not because I’ve come up with a better sermon than Luke. No , no one can do that on Christmas Eve! No, Luke’s not going to show me up tonight because I’m not going to let him preach before me! I’m going to exercise a little of my Christian freedom and preach before Luke! And only then will we let Luke preach. That way, he can’t outshine me! Joking aside, this is as it should be. No one can preach like Scripture itself. And tonight, Luke’s the master . He should get the last word. So we’re going to let him have it! For my part, it’s my pray...

in a baby's eye Christmas Eve sermon from  Luke 2:1-20 : There’s a Christmas sermon I’ve always wanted to preach, but never have. And I think this year, of all years, presents the perfect opportunity. So here goes… EVERY Christmas there is an irony .   Christmas is one of those times we can really pack ‘ em in the church. The paradox , though, is Scripture makes it abundantly clear that on Christmas , the church is the last place you want to be on Christmas! All the action is taking place out there! A million miles away from any respectable sanctuary! Here, I’ll show you, pretend this passage is a movie , AND you don’t already know what’s going to happen… The film opens in darkness , and the narrator tells us this is the account of the momentous birth of Jesus, the savior of the world . Next, the narrator tells us this happened during Emperor Augustus’ reign. The camera fades in on the Emperor in all his power and opulence , ordering a worldwide census.   Now, t...