Category: FPC Rolla

Preached on February 8, 2026, Fifth Sunday After Epiphany, at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla. Based on Isaiah 58:1-12. We’re in Isaiah again today, but a different section of it. Isaiah’s 66 chapters can be broken down into three parts, chapters 1-39, 40-55, and 56-66. There is some dispute about the division, but there is…

Preached on the Third Sunday After Epiphany, January 25, 2026, to First Presbyterian Church of Rolla. We worshipped on Zoom due to inclement weather. Based on Isaiah 9:1-7. It has been a little while, so let me remind you that I’m planning to march through the Old Testament lessons this year. I was talking to…

Homily for December 24, 2025, at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla. Based on Luke 2:1-20. This is the time of year when people travel great distances to visit the people that they love. In today’s world, do we really have to travel? Most of us carry around a little device that enables us to communicate…

Preached at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla on December 21, 2025, Fourth Sunday of Advent. Based on Isaiah 7:10-16. Let me start by reviewing where we are and what we’re doing. I’m working through the Old Testament texts this year, and in Advent, that means Isaiah. Isaiah was one of the major prophets. He lived…

Preached at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla on December 7, 2025, the Second Sunday of Advent. Based on Isaiah 11:1-10. Before we get into today’s text, let’s review a few things I said last week. Isaiah was a prophet in the 8th century BCE, the same time as Micah, Amos, and Hosea. The Assyrians were…

Preached on November 30, 2025, First Sunday of Advent, at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla. Based on Isaiah 2:1-5. Today, we start a new liturgical year with the first Sunday of Advent. My plan this year is to delve into the Hebrew Bible readings. We’ll see how it goes. Lots of preachers pull out the…

Sermon on November 9, 2025, Twenty-Second Sunday After Pentecost. Based on Luke 20:27-38. With apologies to the United Church of Christ, who have used this title as their motto for many years. Before we seriously discuss today’s lesson, I’d like to take a quick tour through Israelite history. We often think of the ancient Israelites…

Sermon on October 5, 2025, 17th Sunday After Pentecost. Based on Luke 17:5-10. During this part of the year, the lectionary marches through the Gospel of Luke. I like that. You get a different sense of the Gospels when you read them straight through, rather than picking out a verse or short passage. Today’s lesson…

Preached at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla on September 28, 2025. Based on Luke 16:19-31. Consider the scene in A Christmas Carol when Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the ghost of Jacob Marley. Marley says to him, “I wear the chain I forged in life. I made it, link by link, and of my own…

Preached on September 14, 2025, at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla. Based on Luke 15:1-10. Chapter 15 of Luke’s Gospel could perhaps be titled the Book of the Lost. We have a trilogy of parables. First, there is the parable of the Lost Sheep. Then there is the parable of the Lost Coin. I read…