Peace On Earth
(A sermon for Matthew 1:18-25 Presented at Christ Christ, Bordentown, NJ, December 21, 2025) I begin today’s sermon with a quote from Oswald Chambers and his book, “My Utmost for His Highest” __in which he says, “Every time you venture out in the life of faith, you will find something in your common-sense circumstances that…
Continue readingWho’s The Biggest Sinner?
(A sermon for Luke 15:1-10 Presented at Christ Christ, Bordentown, NJ, Sept. 13-14, 2025) The parables that we heard today from Luke Chapter 15, Verses 1 through 10, are the “prequels” to the more famous parable in Verse 11_The parable of the Prodigal Son in which the return of the self-serving son is celebrated by…
Continue readingTake A Giant Step with God
(A sermon for Luke 9:51-62 Presented at Christ Christ, Bordentown, NJ, June 28-29, 2025) Dealing with change is an unusual thing, wouldn’t you say? We can voluntarily change some things. Other times, change occurs without our consent. In both cases, we can have either a happy or not-happy emotional reaction to the change. For example,…
Continue readingJesus Is Always There
(A sermon for John 14:23-29 Presented at Christ Christ, Bordentown, NJ, May 24-25, 2025) A few chapters prior to today’s Gospel, Jesus during the Last Supper tells his apostles that he’s leaving them. It is sad news for them being told that “Where I’m going, you cannot come.” I imagine this had to hurt. It…
Continue readingJesus & His 40 Day Fast
(A sermon for Luke 4:1-13 Presented at Christ Christ, Bordentown, NJ, March 8-9, 2025) So Jesus is led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness where He fasts for forty days and endures Satan’s temptations. Upon his return, Luke tells us that Satan tempts Jesus three more times. One, for Jesus to turn a stone…
Continue readingGod Doesn’t Let Anyone Go
(A sermon for Luke 5:1-11 Presented at Christ Christ, Bordentown, NJ, February 8-9, 2025) Recently someone who I’ve known for a long time, surprisingly revealed to me that they didn’t believe in God anymore and they had a very unfavorable view of Christians. From my past experiences with this person, I knew better than to…
Continue readingFaith and the Wizard of Oz
(A sermon for Luke 21:25-31 Presented at Christ Christ, Bordentown, NJ, Nov. 30-Dec. 1, 2024) For the past several years now, I have had the pleasure of working in different ministries in this church, whether that was serving at the altar, or through our adult education sessions, or preaching to this congregation. I’ve worked closely…
Continue readingSpiritual Friendships
A sermon for Mark 10:2-9 Presented at Christ Christ, Bordentown, NJ, Oct 5-6, 2024) The best words I ever heard at anyone’s wedding was when I heard the priest tell the about-to-be married couple that there will be difficult times ahead, and that you will feel this friendship strained at times. And when this happens,…
Continue readingWhat Has God Shown You?
(A sermon for Mark 6:45-52 Presented at Christ Christ, Bordentown, NJ, July 27-28, 2024) Four Sundays ago, we heard the Gospel story of how Jesus revived the daughter of the synagogue leader and said the comforting words, “do not fear, just believe.” Since then, we’ve heard about Jesus commissioning his twelve disciples which led to…
Continue reading‘It’ll be OK’ is actually the truth
(A sermon for Mark 5:22-24 Presented at Christ Christ, Bordentown, NJ, June 29-30, 2024) In today’s Gospel, Jesus deals with a couple of things that happens to us all. The first is that he has to deal with someone else’s pain _ in this case, a father whose child is near death. The second is…
Continue readingI Need a Miracle Every Day
(A sermon for John 20:19-31 Presented at Christ Christ, Bordentown, NJ, April 6-7, 2024) If you were fortunate to join us a couple of weeks ago during our Gospel & Coffee series, you would’ve heard how we started our discussion about how Jesus couldn’t preach in his hometown and how 40 minutes later into that…
Continue readingDon’t Stop Your Quest
(A sermon for Mark 8:31-38 Presented at Christ Christ, Bordentown, NJ, February 24-25, 2024) I feel lucky today because I get to tell a sermon about one of my favorite questions asked in the Gospels, “For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” And also because the…
Continue readingThe Source of Evil
(A sermon for Mark 1:21-28 Presented at Christ Christ, Bordentown, NJ, January 27-28, 2024) If I ask, “Who ya gonna call”? _most, if not all of you just thought _ “Ghostbusters” _ those guys who fought off demons such as that nutty Zuul, and Gozer the Gozerian who turns himself into a giant destructive Stay-Puft…
Continue readingDid I Dream That?
(A sermon for Mark 1:1-8 Presented at Christ Church, Bordentown NJ, December 9-10, 2023.) I used to have a recurring dream in which I would find myself feeling stressed and frustrated_ because today was my college final exam. In that dream, I desperately searched for the classroom that I had never bothered to learn where…
Continue readingThere Must Be Some Misunderstanding
(A sermon for Matthew 18: 21-35 Presented at Christ Church, Bordentown NJ, September 16-17, 2023.) How many of you have ever been mad at God? At some point in time in your life, you probably couldn’t help but think “Thanks a lot, God.” or “I can’t believe God let that happen”. It’s not surprising. From…
Continue readingPlanting the Good Seed
A sermon for Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43 Presented at Christ Church, Bordentown NJ, July 22-23, 2023. Someone that inspires me to be a better person and a better Christian is the Lutheran Pastor, Nadia Bolz-Weber. She writes and preaches a lot about grace, faith, the idiosyncrasies of humans, as well as her own recovery from…
Continue readingSheep In the Midst of Wolves
A sermon for Matthew 10:16-33 Presented at Christ Church, Bordentown NJ, June 24-25, 2023. Last Sunday’s Gospel from Matthew tells us that Jesus reached a point in his ministry in which he needs to begin delegating. So Jesus gives his twelve apostles instructions to spread the Good News that the kingdom of heaven has come…
Continue readingThe Way of Love
A sermon for John 15:1-8 Presented at Christ Church, Bordentown NJ, May, 13-14, 2023. On the Episcopal Church’s website, there is a truly inspiring video from Michael Curry, our Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, in which he discusses the Way of Love. Curry states in the introduction that, “In the first century Jesus of…
Continue readingBlind Eye
A sermon for John 9:1-38 Presented at Christ Church, Bordentown NJ, March 18 & 19, 2023. I was at the Pittsburgh Airport many years ago, waiting at a gate for my plane when I noticed Ray Charles (the renowned singer who lost his eyesight at the age of 7) at the adjoining gate. Even though…
Continue readingForget Balance and Embrace Grace*
The events from the past two months have been remarkably out of the ordinary. Before Thanksgiving, I got COVID (after dodging any cold or flu for 2 and a half years). After Thanksgiving, my spouse got COVID. A week later, he gets another respiratory virus. Our Christmas schedule was overly busy. Right before the New…
Continue readingA Funny Thing Happened on the Way To Becoming A Christian
Recently a colleague, decades younger than me who identifies as part of the LGBTQ community as I do, asked, “Do you always have to keep coming out?” Thinking quickly back over my life, the answer was, “yes”. No one knows your sexual orientation unless they know you. It can’t be seen by the naked eye.…
Continue readingThe Lord Moves Us In Mysterious Ways
A sermon for Matthew 3:1-12: Presented at Christ Church, Bordentown NJ, December 3 & 4, 2022. In today’s Gospel about John the Baptist, a lot of emphasis has typically been placed on repentance. And rightly so. The year when this happens is approximately 30 AD and the last recorded prophecies in the Bible were written…
Continue readingCarry That Weight
A sermon for Proper 18: Year C (1979) I have a confession to make. Or in other words, I have a dislike that I need to come out about and be very honest with this congregation here present. I do not like the genre of modern Christian music. Sorry. But I just can’t connect with…
Continue readingParty Gone Out Of Bounds
A sermon for Proper 17: Year C (1979) Most mornings when I’m available, I take an hour long walk through the town. It’s a good healthy walk that gets most of my 10,000 steps in for the day. It’s also relatively rote which allows me to just be centered. Occasionally I’ll be amazed by seeing…
Continue readingIt’s The System
A sermon for Proper 16: Year C (1979) Smoking is bad for your health. Pretty much, everyone knows this and agrees. Thus, I’m guessing it’ll be tough to find someone who will counter with a competitive _ “Yeah but it’s not as bad as [fill in the blank with anything you can think of].” ……
Continue readingNo Sugar Tonight
A sermon for Proper 15: Year C (1979) I look to the publication, “Forward Day By Day” almost everyday for daily scripture reading and inspiration, and some historical information as well. It’s full of different prayers _ for the World, for the Church, for your family, for the sick, for giving thanks and from the…
Continue readingGo-Bag of Faith
A sermon for Proper 14: Year C (1979) “You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.” Gee, that sounds ominous and somewhat unnerving. It reminds me of the 1970’s TV Show, Welcome Back Kotter and one of Horshack’s famous lines (besides “Oohh Oohh Oohh”), “When you least…
Continue readingWho Owns Who?
Sermon for Proper 13: Year C (1979) scriptures: Today’s Epistle, Gospel and Psalm reminded me of a quote that I think about frequently, “The things you own end up owning you.” This quote comes from Chuck Palahniuk’s book “Fight Club” which was made into movie with Ed Norton and Brad Pitt. In the book, this…
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Wired For Faith 