RoboPreacher

i'll make things right A sermon on Revelation 6 & 7 : Today’s scripture addresses something we all have a vested interest in. Something we’ve all got. And something we all want to know what to do about. I’m talking about, of course, ordeals . Ordeals.   Now, the first thing about ordeals is that none of them happen  outside  the Lamb's scroll. And that’s a whole sermon right there. Isn’t it?!? Those ordeals that seem God forsaken are actually God blessed ! They’re blessed because they’re in the scroll that Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, opens by his pierced hands! At the moment, though , it doesn’t feel like our ordeals are blessed. Does it? At the moment, it feels like our ordeals are going to tear anything loose that isn’t bolted down. God’s favor included. Now, John does tell us there is something, or someone actually, who isn’t affected by all those ordeals. It’s a great multitude. A crowd so large no one can count them—an assembly of individuals from ev...

she crashed into the easter mass with her hair done up in broken glass Second Sermon from the Revelation Sermon-Series, Chapters 6 & 7 One of my favorite bands is The Hold Steady. They’re from the New York, rock-revival scene of the early aughts.  Really, it’s not the best scene to be identified with . But, these guys originally hail from the midwest, and they’re Catholic to boot. So they’re a cool amalgamation, midwestern Christians, trying to make a go of it in New York, with rock 'n roll of all things!  And the only way they could pull that off was by knowing a thing or two about what Paul called the scandal of the cross. The one-way street of grace. Their songs are chock-full of characters who aren’t looking for grace, only to end up tripping over it; because God planted it square in the middle of their lives.  One of The Hold Steady’s best albums, is the concept album that broke them through to a larger audience, “Separation Sunday.” It...