Words of Welcome

Romans 8:26-39 On a hot and humid evening this past week, as we watched the Tigers play the Oakland A’s, John Balogh asked me whether I would be preaching a baseball-themed sermon?  Being a lifelong baseball fan,  I couldn’t let a request like that get away, and so I began thinking about how baseball might fit with this morning’s sermon theme.       In Romans 8 Paul poses a question:  “If God is for us, then who can be against us?”   Now, if you’re a Tiger’s fan, could you see God’s hand at work during the game Tuesday evening?  Because they won big, surely God must be on the side of the Tigers!   Of course, not everyone saw things this way, because two members of our group wore caps of the then first place Cleveland Indians.   And while I donned a Tiger’s hat and rooted them on as they played the hapless Oakland A’s, just few weeks earlier I wore a San Francisco Giants cap to the Giants-Tigers game and rooted for my boyhood ...

1 Corinthians 1:10-18 If you go to Beijing, you’ll find the body of Chairman Mao nicely entombed, and if you’re in Moscow, you’ll find Lenin’s body on display, although he’s not as popular as he once was. Back at home, there aren’t any Presidential corpses on display, but depending on your political affiliation, the names FDR and Ronald Reagan may stand out in your pantheon of Great American Heroes. It would seem that many seemingly larger than life figures, both living and dead, get elevated to almost divine status. Today’s living pantheon includes sports heroes, politicians, super models, film stars, media celebrities, and even big time preachers! Although there are those who relish in tearing down society’s idols, often sharing the most intimate details of these “heroes’s” lives in the various tabloids, we seem to enjoy basking in the glow of knowing even just a little bit about these larger than life people. If we get the chance to meet them, we do so with a great deal of shynes...

Acts 9:1-19 Religion is a very personal thing that reaches down to the center of our being. Because it’s often hard to put what we believe into words, telling our faith stories can often be difficult. Not only that, but sometimes we can be intimidated by other people’s much more dramatic conversion stories. Charles Colson has it easy – after all he went from being a notorious political hack who ended up in prison to being a major religious leader. Then there’s St. Paul. Now, he had a story to tell. He started out as a major heresy hunter, breathing down the necks of Christians from Jerusalem to Damascus. That is, until the day Jesus knocked him off his horse and blinded him with a bright light. That’s a story that’s hard to beat. What are you supposed to say if you’ve been a Christian all your life, or even if you came to faith later in life, your story still isn’t as dramatic as Paul’s? Besides, since religion is personal, why can’t I just keep it to myself? 1. Witnes...

1 Corinthians 15:19-26 Easter is here in all its glory! Colorful baskets of eggs and chocolates, along with an Easter bonnet or two, help us celebrate the coming of Spring. These accouterments of our annual Easter celebrations remind us that something even more important is at hand. Our Easter celebration lifts up the victory of life over death, a victory that’s embodied in the resurrection of Jesus. Just as Spring frees nature from the bondage of Winter’s grip, the Resurrection signifies the liberation of human life from the bondage of death. And if we look around we discover that signs of death are all around us. It’s in the news, in our TV shows, and in the movies. Yes, it’s especially prominent in the movies. Although modern medicine may delay death’s call, our culture seems to be fascinated with it, and the more violent death, the more intrigued we become. Consider for a moment the Oscar winning movie The Departed. The title of the movie says it all, for in the end almost everyone...