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Category Archives: sermon preparation
A prayer for the preacher when words fail
January 9, 2021 Beyond Jordan, the baptizer cried repentance, preaching to snakes, devouring locusts, razing the wilderness with his words, confronting kings and drowning sins. At his neck, the knowledge of his own humility, the prickling of glory about to … Continue reading
Posted in current events, poetry, prayer, sermon preparation
Tagged John the Baptist, preaching, the baptism of Jesus, Word of God
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Preaching Pentecost
More than 100,000 people have died in the US of COVID-19.
Nearly 360,000 people have died from the disease worldwide. Close to 6 million cases have been confirmed overall.
George Floyd died after saying, “I can’t breathe,” as a police officer knelt on his neck in Minneapolis on Memorial Day. Continue reading
Posted in current events, Holy Days, lectionary reflection, poetry, prayer, sermon preparation
Tagged COVID-19, George Floyd, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Minneapolis, Pentecost
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Light speaks
light whispers, flushed and fevered,
smouldering out of sight to
the point of conflagration. Continue reading
Posted in Holy Days, lectionary reflection, poetry, sermon, sermon preparation
Tagged Isaiah 49:6, light, Martin Luther King Jr, Year A Epiphany 2
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To move mountains
When she was old and fading –
her gray hair paling,
her skin thinning and softening –
my grandmother painted watercolours. Continue reading
Posted in lectionary reflection, poetry, sermon preparation, story
Tagged Bob Ross, dementia, faith, imagination, Luke 17:5, mustard seed, Year C Proper 22
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Fridays are for mortality
The choice of incarnation, an island carved out of immortality, implies that God is not immune to hard weeks. Continue reading
Posted in prayer, sermon preparation
Tagged birdsong, death, grief, immortality, Trinity Sunday
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The stones would shout
If these walls could speak, they would sing of the sun’s light seeping into sandstone, warming the night when Love comes calling … Continue reading
Posted in Holy Days, lectionary reflection, poetry, prayer, sermon preparation
Tagged Palm Sunday
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Refreshment Sunday: Going over Jordan
For Christians, when God says, “I have rolled away your disgrace,” can it help but bring to mind the rolling away of the stone from the tomb that is to come in a few short weeks, the hope beyond Good Friday? Continue reading
Posted in sermon, sermon preparation
Tagged Jordan River, Joshua, Laetare Sunday, Lent, Refreshment Sunday
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A baptism
In Galilee, a root gripped my foot,
the tree of life inverted, submerged … Continue reading
Conjuring Esther
Esther has become difficult to read. Her story makes me angry and afraid. We read it like a fairytale. But like so many fairytales, it teems with themes of horror dressed up in satin and silk. Continue reading
Posted in current events, lectionary reflection, sermon preparation, story
Tagged #ChurchToo, #metoo, Esther, sex trafficking
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