Category: Sermons

Preached at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla on August 31, 2025. Based on Luke 14: 1, 7-14. Recently, Vicki and Lloyd turned me onto a great book called Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes by Kenneth E. Bailey. He was from Bloomington, IL, attended Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and was an ordained PC(USA) pastor. However, he spent…

Preached at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla on August 10, 2025. Based on Luke 12:32-40. Last week, Susan talked about being rich towards God. Today’s passage continues the theme. But here, Luke writes that we are to lay up treasure in heaven, which is just a little bit different. Let’s see if we can figure…

Preached on July 20, 2025, at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla. Based on Colossians 1:11-28. Please note that I say “Paul wrote…” even though many scholars believe that Colossians is not an authentic letter. That is not relevant to my main thesis, though, so I didn’t bring it up. Today’s epistle lesson is a continuation…

Preached on July 6, 2025, at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla. Based on Galatians 6:1-16. Before I get into today’s text, I want to back up and give a little context. Galatians is one of the earliest of Paul’s letters—perhaps his first, perhaps written after Thessalonians. None of Paul’s letters were written to us. They…

Preached at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla on June 15, 2025, Trinity Sunday. Based on John 16:12-15. There’s a YouTube video that I love called, “St. Patrick’s Bad Analogies.” In it, St. Patrick attempts to explain the Trinity to a couple of “simple Irish folk,” who turn out to not be so simple after all.…

Preached at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla on June 1, 2025. Based on John 17:20-26. I’d like to start by situating this passage in the story of Jesus’s life and ministry as related in the Gospel of John. The first half of John’s Gospel is the Book of Signs, in which Jesus performs seven major…

Preached May 18, 2025, at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla. Based on Revelation 21:1-8. I don’t usually preach from Revelation. In fact, I don’t know if I’ve ever preached from Revelation. I’m no fire-and-brimstone preacher. But I take what the lectionary gives me. I could have preached about love from the Gospel of John. I…

Preached on May 11, 2025, at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla. Based on John 10:22-30. This passage opens by putting us in a certain place at a certain time. Jesus is in the Temple, in the portico of Solomon, during the Festival of Dedication. We normally call this holiday something else: Hanukkah. It is also…

Preached at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025. Based on John 20:1-18. I am indebted to Amy Evans whose Substack, “This Prayer Meeting Should Have Been a Fistfight,” introduced me to Jesus Points. I’d like to congratulate you all on earning 100 Jesus Points today. What are Jesus Points, you…

Preached at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla on April 6, 2025, Fifth Sunday in Lent. Based on John 12:1-8. Today is the Fifth Sunday in Lent, so we are nearing the end. Next Sunday is Palm Sunday, then we have Holy Week, and Easter. Our reading today also comes near the end—the end of Jesus’s…