Text: Isaiah 46:8-13 I’m just going to say it out loud… these have been some difficult weeks we have shared together: The loss and grief we have experienced… The pain in the world in the wake of mass shootings and the crisis of migration and climate… The sense of helplessness about being able to do…
Ordinary Time
Sing! Play! Summer! – Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty
Text: Isaiah 6:1-8 “We keep a troubled vigil at the bedside of the world,” writes Howard Thurman, “Thus we clutch the moment of intimacy in worship when we become momentarily a part of a larger whole, a fleeting strength, which we pit against all the darkness and the dread of our times. We don’t have…
Sing! Play! Summer! – Amazing Grace
Text: Luke 15 I have a fantastic sense of direction. If you drop me in a new place with a map, I can easily get my bearings and find my way. When I think about it, I can’t remember a time that I have ever been lost… at least not while I was navigating! I…
Sing! Play! Summer! – The Old Rugged Cross
Text: 1 Corinthians 1:18-29 A young rabbi found a serious problem in his new congregation. During the Friday service, half the congregation stood for the prayers and half remained seated, and each side insisted that theirs was the true tradition. Nothing the rabbi said or did moved toward solving the impasse. Finally, in desperation, the…
Sing! Play! Summer! – Chainbreaker
Text: Isaiah 58:6-9, Psalm 107:10-16 For the first 20 or so years of my life, I understood salvation as one concrete idea: that Jesus died for my sin on the cross. Substitutionary Atonement is what we call it. Jesus took our place. He was our substitute and paid the price for our sins so we…
Sing! Play! Summer! – Here I Am, Lord
Text: 1 Samuel 3: 1-11 Earlier this spring, we invited everyone at Immanuel to share with us some of your favorite hymns and songs. And this summer, we are going to highlight one of those pieces each week during our series: Sing! Play! Summer! As the pace of activities slows down just a bit, we…
General Conference Reflections #gc2019
I knew that whatever decisions we made or didn’t make during this past week in our General Conference that this Transfiguration text would be appropriate to frame our conversation. You see, in the three synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke – the three that see together – the Transfiguration represents a turning point. Where…
Mystery: Restored!
Text: Job 42:1-6, 10-17 This morning, I want to tell you a story about little Henry. Henry walked to school every morning with his grandpa. And along their way, Grandpa would stop at the neighborhood store for a newspaper and a cup of coffee. At the register, there were bins full of candies and gum…