RoboPreacher

in a different way A sermon on the beginning of Paul's Galatian epistle : You don’t have to be a Bible scholar to realize that St. Paul isn’t happy with the folks at Faith Lutheran in Galatia. After a brief introduction containing his credentials and succinct greeting praising the liberating work of God in Christ Jesus, Paul turns his attention to the Galatians. And he doesn’t beat around the bush with them, either. “I am astonished ,” St. Paul says. And before you can wonder if he’s astonished in a good way, he lets you know what’s got him so flabbergasted. “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ…,” Paul says.   What’s got St. Paul, a man whose nearly seen it all before, so taken aback, is that he’s never met such a group of fast turncoats before! “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting ,” breathes Paul. And do you know what the Galatians have gone and done that has provoked St. Paul’s ire so? Well, they wen...

to his knees Paul's epistle to the Galatians 1:13-17; 2:11-21 One of our most basic assumptions also happens to be one of our most cherished tenets of life. So deep -seated is this conviction of ours that it’s even seeped its way into the faith ! In today’s Scripture, though, St. Paul declares good riddance to so much bad theology.   I’m talking about, of course, the assumption that the goal of life is improvement . These days we’re obsessed with optimization and productivity. And it’s not just the professional sphere of our lives we’re trying to life-hack our way through, either! We’re also trying to upgrade our parenting, leisure, mental health, physical health, and even faith-life! Like Dr. Phil, I’m tempted to ask, “ how’s that working out for you?” But seeing as how our compulsion to try and enhance every aspect of our lives is now affecting our children , I don’t think I need to, do I? Whoever heard of burnt-out teenagers?!? But that’s the fruit of all our l...

be my love A sermon from Paul's Letter to the Galatians: Have you ever tried to change some big part of your life? (Now be honest) And how’d that go? (Anyone have any stories they want to share?) No? Lately , every morning, I find myself praying to be more joyful and less judgmental.  And I have to pray, because nothing else seems to be working … And I bet you know what I mean … I began college studying journalism. It was a fluke. I was an okay writer and a better reader, so I had potential. And it turns out, I had ambition , too… So it made a good enough of match. At Kirkwood, I became an editor and wrote a bunch. We even managed to win some Iowa College Media Association awards. Beating out four-year colleges. The kind I would end up transferring to; like Grand View … I transferred there with a big enough of a head. I had managed a paper that won more awards, written some good stories too, and even interned at a daily newspaper. So when I cam...

with common grace A sermon from conclusion to Galatians : “May I never boast of anything … Except the cross…” You’ve got to watch out for those exceptions. The proverbial catch , as it were. There’s always at least one… “May I never boast of anything ,” declares Paul. “ Except the cross,” he adds. Almost as an afterthought…. It’s quite the thing to say.  Not because boasting in something like the cross, a legal tool to inflict punishment, humiliation and torture would have been outrageous to the ears of any self respecting Galatian. That would have been like putting a guillotine on a family crest! No, what’s truly remarkable about Paul’s refusal to boast in anything except the cross, is the exception he’s making form himself. The exception… And you’ve got to watch out for them, those exception clauses… This letter we’ve spent the last five weeks in, Paul has been telling the folks at First Lutheran in Galatia that now they must learn to look...

i feel a change in me A Sermon from Galatians : “For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.” Easier said than done there, Paul… For as strange of a correspondence as this letter to the Galatians is, today it manages to get even stranger. It goes to eleven , as it were. “For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence.” Pardon me? Do not use my freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence? Than what, pray tell, shall we use our freedom for, Paul? This freedom Paul speaks of, if it even is a freedom, is most certainly one that is not apparent to us. We all know that freedom is for our self. If you want to indulge yourself, fine. Freedom is to be sued to pursue our desires. The only time we’ve ever thought of not using this freedom, is when one’s freedom threatens to impinge upon another’s. Otherwise, we all know that...