Category: Sermons

Preached at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla on July 17, 2022. Based on Colossians 1:15-29. This is pretty close to a statement of faith for me. It encapsulates the essence of my beliefs, which are also reflected in Romans 8:38-39. After I wrote this sermon, I read an article by Keith Giles that is also…

Preached at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla on July 3, 2022. Based on Luke 10:1-11, 16-20. Read from NRSV, but Bible Gateway has NRSVue. In the last session meeting, we were talking about editing the MIF and someone, probably Susan, said, “As long as you don’t add anything about handling snakes.” I said, “Obviously you…

Preached at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla on Trinity Sunday, June 12, 2022. Based on Romans 5:1-5 and John 16:12-15. On this Trinity Sunday, I am going to thoroughly explain the complete theological principle of the Trinity in a way that everyone understands. Oh, sorry, I left out a word in that sentence. I am…

Preached at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla. Based on Acts 2:1-11, Romans 8:14-17, and John 14:8-17, 25-27. In Genesis, we read about God interacting directly with certain individuals. Then in Exodus, God speaks with Moses and, through him, creates the nation of Israel. God must have thought their work was done, that they had set…

Preached at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla. Based on Acts 11:1-18 and John 13:31-35. The Old Testament book of Leviticus lays out a number of laws about cleanness and uncleanness. Certain foods are proscribed, like pork and shellfish. There are rules about how you butcher animals. There are rules about leprosy, which was kind of…

Preached at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla on May 1, 2022. Based on Acts 9:1-20 and John 21:1-19. I’d like to start back in the Old Testament, in the early days of Israel as a nation. They had been slaves in Egypt whom God freed. After Moses died, Joshua led them in their conquest of…

Preached at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla on April 3, 2022, the Fifth Sunday in Lent. Based on Philippians 3:4b-14; John 12:1-8. A month or two ago, I was told a story by a pastor in our presbytery. To make a long story short, the basic point was that each preacher basically has one sermon.…

Preached at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla on the Second Sunday in Lent. Based on Luke 13:31-35. Today, we encounter one of the passages that reveals and celebrates the female nature of the divine. In the beginning, God created all people, male and female, in the image of God. So that must mean that God…