RoboPreacher

in the shadow of the cross A sermon from the 13th chapter of Luke : In the Gospel we hear as some folks with an obsessions with morbid headlines come up to Jesus. “Did you hear about that story, ‘18 struck down in when madman Pilate sent soldiers into the temple?’” In reply Jesus doesn’t offer any explanations, or even words of comfort. Instead, he talks about something we don’t expect given the question hanging in the air. Repentance . Repent. And let’s be honest, these days, the word repent has a decidedly negative connotation… Well, this Lent I haven’t had the heart to lay it on too thick…  Because I don’t have to be the one to tell you how broken things are. Do I? We all know that already …  Which is why I’ve been thinking a lot of about how this life Jesus calls us to isn’t a another thing to do, a way to be more religious. How Jesus calls us to a lite that’s fully human . How, at it’s heart, that’s what Lent is all about. Reclaiming the ...

yes this time it'll be different  In our reading from Acts we find Paul combining everything that makes him so lovable and taking it to the streets in the name of the Gospel. In fact, today’s story from Acts is just perfect for us as we consider what it means to be church now , at this moment in history. Here’s the cool thing about today’s reading from Acts; the folks Paul is taking the message to, the athenians, these folks aren’t churchgoers who simply haven’t been in to church for a while, they aren’t even former catholics looking for a new church. No, these athenians Paul is preaching to are people who have never been to church at all.  Paul is preaching to “unchurched” people, the same sort of people we’ve been scratching our head over, trying to figure out how to reach… Since, as we all know, Paul does such an excellent job at reaching these people and since this sermon series is all about what Church is, let’s take a few moments to reflect on how Pa...