Then We Can Pray (Part 2)

This concludes our series, "If God Is with Us," with Part 2 of last week's sermon, based on Luke 11:1-13. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel during the weeks we cannot meet due to Covid-19 restrictions: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: Let me just say it: of all the times for the angel of the Lord to introduce the name, Immanuel (meaning God with us), to use it to announce to Joseph that Mary’s pregnancy was by the Holy Spirit was the worst. Why? Because from that point on, we have thought that Immanuel was a Christmas name and only properly used during Advent. Now, to be fair, Joseph was in a very difficult time and Israel was mourning in lonely exile there and that whole Caesar Augustus tax decree was extremely bitter (tax time always is), and those are all perfect occasions to remind us

What to Expect While You Are Expecting (to Reopen)

I bet you have the same four categories. There have been movies I could not wait to see; and when I saw them, I was not disappointed.  I can still remember when I was a teen going to see The Three Musketeers and sitting there before the movie saying, “This is going to be great.” And it was. It had a great story. It had great swashbuckling action; and it had great actors with Michael York, Oliver Reed and Raquel Welch. At least, IMDB says York and Reed were in it. I only remember Raquel. The same was true about the first Lord of the Rings movie. We could not wait to see it; and from scene one, we loved it. But the opposite experience has also been true. There have been plenty of movies that I wasn’t expecting to be any good whatsoever, that turned out to be spectacular.

Then We Can Pray

This sermon is based on Luke 11:1-13. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel during the weeks we cannot meet due to Covid-19 restrictions: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: Let me just say it: of all the times for the angel of the Lord to introduce the name, Immanuel (meaning God with us), to use it to announce to Joseph that Mary’s pregnancy was by the Holy Spirit was the worst. Why? Because from that point on, we have thought that Immanuel was a Christmas name and only properly used during Advent. Now, to be fair, Joseph was in a very difficult time and Israel was mourning in lonely exile there and that whole Caesar Augustus tax decree was extremely bitter (tax time always is), and those are all perfect occasions to remind us that God is with us. But somehow, we have lost the connection between

The Subway Voice

The Subway Voice Every time we go to New York City, I am struck by the subway voice. Now, it’s a little more down-home, country-sounding than I would have expected for a major East Coast urban center, but it still works. Basically, the voice has four jobs. It announces the doors are closing. It broadcasts the next stop. It alerts everyone that the train is arriving. And, most importantly, it warns people getting off the train to mind the gap.  See, the NY Transit Authority hates it when its passengers, upon exiting the train, misstep, stumble over the lip of the platform and then face-plant on the tile floor. It’s bad for tourism (although it’s great for dentists).  And so, every time the door opens, the voice calls out for us, please, to remember to “mind the gap.” There’s an awful verse in Philippians 3. After Paul argues that all

Then We Don’t Need to Fear

This sermon is based on Isaiah 43:1-7. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel during the weeks we cannot meet due to Covid-19 restrictions: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: Let me just say it: of all the times for the angel of the Lord to introduce the name, Immanuel (meaning God with us), to use it to announce to Joseph that Mary’s pregnancy was by the Holy Spirit was the worst. Why? Because from that point on, we have thought that Immanuel was a Christmas name and only properly used during Advent. Now, to be fair, Joseph was in a very difficult time and Israel was mourning in lonely exile there and that whole Caesar Augustus tax decree was extremely bitter (tax time always is), and those are all perfect occasions to remind us that God is with us. But somehow, we have lost the connection between

Impossible Questions, Part 7–So, What Is God Saying?

So, What Is God Saying? A year and a half ago, when we were looking for a puppy to fill the hole in our hearts left by Moose’s departure, we felt blocked at every turn. First, we thought no one would allow us to even adopt a puppy (we feared they would think badly of us because of Moose). Then, every dog we were interested in got adopted by some jerk before we could even get to see the dog.  Once we called in the morning and arranged a visit for that evening, but when we called back to say we were coming, we were told the puppy we wanted had been swooped up by someone else that afternoon (probably a Nazi). This happened several times, and we were beginning to wonder if God was with us or against us (Jo said, “with”; I said, “against”). Then we found the

Then How Should We Parent?

This sermon is based on Romans 15:13. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel during the weeks we cannot meet due to Covid-19 restrictions: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: Let me just say it: of all the times for the angel of the Lord to introduce the name, Immanuel (meaning God with us), to use it to announce to Joseph that Mary’s pregnancy was by the Holy Spirit was the worst. Why? Because from that point on, we have thought that Immanuel was a Christmas name and only properly used during Advent. Now, to be fair, Joseph was in a very difficult time and Israel was mourning in lonely exile there and that whole Caesar Augustus tax decree was extremely bitter (tax time always is), and those are all perfect occasions to remind us that God is with us. But somehow, we have lost the connection between

Impossible Questions, Part 6–Is God Out to Get us?

Is God Out to Get Us? Let’s take an inventory of all that’s been happening in my life for the last two months. First, came the pandemic. Then came the leaking garbage disposal that spewed water in our cabinet. That was followed by the broken refrigerator that spewed water on our floor and through our floor. That led to replacing half of the ceiling tiles downstairs. Then the camera that we use to record Sunday mornings (my guess is that you would think that might be an important element of life these days) decided to flip the image on the viewfinder, so everything was upside down (annoying, but not devastating). Then the camera decided to turn off randomly during recording (very annoying and a little devastating). Then, for the last two weeks, the camera has chosen not to turn on until it wants to, sometimes not for hours (both very

Then What Is God’s Story?

This sermon is based on 1 John 4:7-12. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel during the weeks we cannot meet due to Covid-19 restrictions: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: Let me just say it: of all the times for the angel of the Lord to introduce the name, Immanuel (meaning God with us), to use it to announce to Joseph that Mary’s pregnancy was by the Holy Spirit was the worst. Why? Because from that point on, we have thought that Immanuel was a Christmas name and only properly used during Advent. Now, to be fair, Joseph was in a very difficult time and Israel was mourning in lonely exile there and that whole Caesar Augustus tax decree was extremely bitter (tax time always is), and those are all perfect occasions to remind us that God is with us. But somehow, we have lost the connection

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