Sermons by Rev. Jason S. Glombicki (Page 50)

If I had to describe 2018 with one word, I’d use “unexpected.” Back on New Year’s Eve, I did not expect that we’d have a flood in the church basement. When that famous ball dropped in New York City, I did not imagine Puerto Ricans would still be without power today. When midnight struck, I hadn’t pondered that high school students would take a lead in gun control legislation. So far, it’s been a year filled with surprises. In today’s reading from John, we have an opportunity to explore God’s presence in the midst of the unexpected…

Today’s gospel reading has, arguably, the most recognizable verse in the Bible. On a long car trip, I usually see it posted on a billboard. At sports games, I see it on a poster. In confirmation class, I had to memorize it. It’s the infamous John 3:16. And, while today’s translation from the New Revised Standard Version was decent, I want to offer you an alternative translation from the original Greek. It goes like this, “For this is the way God loved the cosmos: to give the Only Begotten One, that whoever believes may not die, but have eternal life.”…

       Here we are again in the wilderness of Lent, and here we are again after another deadly school shooting. Many of you know I was the chaplain for the closest pediatric trauma center following the Newtown school shooting. And, so, each time a school shooting happens, a wave of memories emerges. With this far too frequent wave, I often hear attempts to make sense of a senseless tragedy. Most recently we heard the story of an orphaned, loner, teen who was expelled from school with a mental illness that drove him to commit a heinous massacre…