"podcast" Tagged Sermons (Page 28)
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
I’m the kind of person who loves a good plot twist in a book or a tv show or video game or whatever. You think the writer is setting the story to go one way and then BAM we ended up going somewhere else entirely. When it’s done well, well then you’ve got my full attention! Which is ironic because I also have this terrible habit when I’m at home of being like “yep, I know where my husband is going with this conversation about like all the yard work we need to do, I only need to half listen here.” Until suddenly a sentence contains the phrase “with the fire” and it sounds like maybe a question was happening about this fire business and now he has my full attention again and I’m rapidly trying to piece together what led up to this, and…suddenly I’m not really feeling like a fan of plot twists anymore…
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
In today’s gospel, we heard the Pharisees complaining about Jesus’s leadership style. Remember, the Pharisees were religious leaders that had devoted themselves to a literal, conservative, and unchanging view of the Jewish Laws. They worked to follow over 600 Jewish laws, and these laws shaped their understanding of God and the world. From their perspective, they were doing God’s work by following these rules. So, when Jesus started fraternizing with those who didn’t follow these Jewish laws, they did what self-righteous religious people often do, they grumble…
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
The Jesus in today’s gospel is not my favorite. When I first read the text, I thought I should have stayed on sabbatical one more week and given this to Pastor Tom. Nevertheless, Jesus’ discussion of discipleship really struck a chord with me. It made the whole discipleship thing sound scary, intense, and it was off-putting…