RoboPreacher

how'd you do it A sermon on the rivalry between Jacob and Esau, and Jacob's dream of the ladder: Genesis 27 & 28 After a day he'd just a well forget; Jacob considers all the consequences. For everything, all he has left is a rock for his pillow. He’s so tired of it all, it doesn’t take long for him to fall dead asleep. Ever had a day like that? …I know I have… You know the saying, “there are two kinds of people; those who have it made , and the rest of us who have to make it .” Well, Jacob spent his entire life planted firmly in the latter camp.   Jacob just missed being first out of the gate, being the first born with all the rights and privileges that come with it, by seconds. And from that moment on, Esau, not Jacob, was the one who lived the charmed life.   Esau was the brother everyone couldn't help but notice . He was a natural. A hard worker. The kind of guy who played, and started , in three sports. The kind of guy who was on t...

i bring them to the light for you  (it's only right) A sermon on the "binding of Isaac," Genesis 22:1-14 : It isn’t until Abraham and the child promised to him in his old age, Isaac, begin making their way up the mountain, that the tension in today’s scripture really starts… But, wouldn’t you agree that we never make it to the altar of the Lord until after a considerable journey?   Maybe it’s the journey up mountain of everything you have to do at work. Or, the mountain of navigating family life. The mountain of newspaper headlines. The mountain of yet another unexpected call and everything that comes with it.   The mountain of laying a loved one to rest, and the life we must now forge… It's true whether we admit it or not; we only come to this altar after a journey… That was certainly the case for Abraham that day.   That day he found himself on a wild and windy mountain. That day the trail led to a terrible fork in the road. Where...

any other, any other way Sermon on the Creation Story in Genesis 1 This is so nerdy, but it’s a true story… During my senior year of college I did an independent study on justification and the way other theologians deal with this surprising thing God has done in Jesus Christ. I was trying to get my mind around Reinhold Niebuhr. But to keep justification front and center, I was also reading Gerhard Forde’s book, “Justification by Faith; a Matter of Death and Life.”   The semester was getting on, and I was in the library late, reading Forde’s section dealing with the battle of the wills between human freedom and God’s election.   And he made the point; if we’re so darn free, how come no matter what our knee jerk reaction is that we’re the free ones.   And he went on, adding; for our so called freedom, we always windup doing what we can to maintain our own control rather than the real freedom God has given us in Jesus Christ.   And reading t...

standing in the breach We’re about to begin another trip through the Bible. This is our second year with the Narrative Lectionary; and I’ve really enjoyed it.   I love that we start at the beginning and work our way through. That the passages are longer. That there is only one passage to focus on. That we get to spend time with some great parts of the Bible that are often overlooked or given short shrift. But one of my favorite things is, the way working from beginning to end helps us draw connections. How you can see the way the stories in the Old Testament continue and build on one another.   How you can see what it means to say Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promises. Because Jesus didn’t just come out of nowhere. Jesus came from the story that began in Genesis and ends in Revelation. And Jesus is the one who completes these stories. Sadly, I think that’s hard for us to connect with these days.   Because we live with a lot of broken promises, ...

like it always has Sermon on Communion, from the Last Supper in Mark : At Grand View, every senior has to take this final seminar. In it, the school does everything it can, to prepare students for life after the academy.   You have to go to a toastmasters meeting. Social events until you get five business cards from potential employers. Mock interviews that are taped, and then replayed in front of class. Informational meetings about student loans, and the impossibility of getting out of them…   Of all that, though, for me the most intimidating part was the sessions on etiquette … I’m from a small town, and we’re all pretty much the same . And while I learned the basics: wash your hands, wipe your face, say please, and don’t forget to say thank you afterward; that was about the extent of it.   It wasn’t until college that I learned there was a proper way to eat soup. That there is particular fork to use for the salad.   It wasn’t keepi...