2021 December

O Come, All Ye Faithful

O Come, All Ye Faithful

Let’s start off with a quiz. What one word ties all eight of these Christmas carols together? And while the obvious answer (and the best guess) might be one of the words, Christmas, Jesus, Christ, God or O, none of these is the word for which I am looking (sorry). Here are the eight carols: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates It Came Upon the Midnight Clear O Little Town of Bethlehem Angels We Have Heard on High Angels, from the Realms of Glory O Come, All Ye Faithful Okay, I’ll admit it. This was a bad quiz, but sometimes bad quizzes make good points (and I hope that is the situation here). In any case, I was struck by the importance of the word “come” in all of these carols. Take a look: In “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,”

The Unexpected God

The Unexpected God

This sermon is based on Luke 1:46-55. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: Predictable, predictable, predictable—Christmas has become way too predictable. You’re going to run around too much, spend too much and eat too much. There are going to be Christmas cookies (never enough), Christmas carols (just right) and ugly Christmas sweaters (way, way too many). You’re going to watch at least one Christmas movie (“Merry Christmas, you wonderful old Building and Loan!”) and one Christmas special (“Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas means a little bit more.”). And I could go on, but you get the point. Christmas has become predictable, predictable, predictable—which is odd because the first Christmas was anything but predictable. In fact, it was totally unexpected in almost every way (let’s be honest, it was more than that, it was unexpected, unexpected, unexpected). But

The Unexpected Grace

The Unexpected Grace

This Christmas Eve sermon is based on Luke 2:8-15. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: Predictable, predictable, predictable—Christmas has become way too predictable. You’re going to run around too much, spend too much and eat too much. There are going to be Christmas cookies (never enough), Christmas carols (just right) and ugly Christmas sweaters (way, way too many). You’re going to watch at least one Christmas movie (“Merry Christmas, you wonderful old Building and Loan!”) and one Christmas special (“Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas means a little bit more.”). And I could go on, but you get the point. Christmas has become predictable, predictable, predictable—which is odd because the first Christmas was anything but predictable. In fact, it was totally unexpected in almost every way (let’s be honest, it was more than that, it was unexpected, unexpected,

Psalm 98

Psalm 98

It was a mistake. A naval engineer named Richard Jones was trying to make a large meter that would monitor electrical power on naval ships. As he was working with some tension springs, one of them fell to the ground. It bounced weirdly, first on this end and then on the other, almost as if it was trying to walk. It was a mistake; but as a result, the Slinky was born. It was a mistake. Ruth Wakefield was mixing a batch of cookies when she discovered she was out of baker’s chocolate. As a replacement, she broke sweetened chocolate into pieces and added them to the cookie dough. She thought the chocolate would melt and she would soon be snacking on chocolate cookies; but instead, the pieces remained whole. It was a mistake; but as a result, the chocolate chip cookie was born. It was a mistake. An engineer

The Unexpected Incarnation

The Unexpected Incarnation

This sermon is based on John 1:1-18. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: Predictable, predictable, predictable—Christmas has become way too predictable. You’re going to run around too much, spend too much and eat too much. There are going to be Christmas cookies (never enough), Christmas carols (just right) and ugly Christmas sweaters (way, way too many). You’re going to watch at least one Christmas movie (“Merry Christmas, you wonderful old Building and Loan!”) and one Christmas special (“Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas means a little bit more.”). And I could go on, but you get the point. Christmas has become predictable, predictable, predictable—which is odd because the first Christmas was anything but predictable. In fact, it was totally unexpected in almost every way (let’s be honest, it was more than that, it was unexpected, unexpected, unexpected). But

Brightest and Best

Brightest and Best

Let’s play Ranker! Here are ten items. They all describe horrible things that could wake someone up. Rank them from bad (#10) to the very worst (#1): ___ a crying baby ___ an airhorn ___ gun shots ___ the fire alarm ___ kids fighting ___ neighbor mowing their lawn ___ cat coughing up hairballs ___ someone knocking on the front door ___ a neighbor’s car alarm ___ someone vomiting Ranker is a great website, not because they do great journalistic work (because they don’t do anything close to what anyone would call reporting), but because they create controversy. That’s right. Their whole business model is to make statements so that people can fight over it. See, I would argue that a fire alarm is the worst interruption to sleep imaginable, followed closely by someone knocking on the front door. Now, parents, for no good reason whatsoever, would probably argue that

The Unexpected Guests

The Unexpected Guests

This sermon is based on Matthew 2:1-12. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: Predictable, predictable, predictable—Christmas has become way too predictable. You’re going to run around too much, spend too much and eat too much. There are going to be Christmas cookies (never enough), Christmas carols (just right) and ugly Christmas sweaters (way, way too many). You’re going to watch at least one Christmas movie (“Merry Christmas, you wonderful old Building and Loan!”) and one Christmas special (“Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas means a little bit more.”). And I could go on, but you get the point. Christmas has become predictable, predictable, predictable—which is odd because the first Christmas was anything but predictable. In fact, it was totally unexpected in almost every way (let’s be honest, it was more than that, it was unexpected, unexpected, unexpected). But

Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

You’ve seen all of these, but they are still funny. These are actual signs posted in store windows. In a dry cleaner's emporium: "Drop your pants here." On the side of a garbage truck: "We've got what it takes to take what you've got." On a display of 'You are my one and only' Valentine cards’: "Now available in multi-packs" In a Florida maternity ward: "No children allowed" In the offices of a loan company: "Ask about our plans for owning your home." On a New York convalescent home: "For the sick and tired of the Episcopal Church" Every year, we sing the same Christmas carols; and every year, they’re great! In fact, some people look forward to the coming of Christmas just because of the Christmas carols. And why not? Christmas carols fill us with feelings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy (and maybe some anticipation and hope

The Unexpected Parents

The Unexpected Parents

This sermon is based on Matthew 1:18-25. You can also view each week's sermon/worship service on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ncsq_QNvCv61bIwKUpP5A SERIES OVERVIEW: Predictable, predictable, predictable—Christmas has become way too predictable. You’re going to run around too much, spend too much and eat too much. There are going to be Christmas cookies (never enough), Christmas carols (just right) and ugly Christmas sweaters (way, way too many). You’re going to watch at least one Christmas movie (“Merry Christmas, you wonderful old Building and Loan!”) and one Christmas special (“Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas means a little bit more.”). And I could go on, but you get the point. Christmas has become predictable, predictable, predictable—which is odd because the first Christmas was anything but predictable. In fact, it was totally unexpected in almost every way (let’s be honest, it was more than that, it was unexpected, unexpected, unexpected). But

A Faith That Lives in the Bones

A Faith That Lives in the Bones

A visitor to the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum was deeply engrossed in looking at the bones of a rather large dinosaur. After spending close to 45 minutes looking at them, she broke away and, not seeing any of the museum’s curators, went over to the guard. “They’re amazing, aren’t they?” she said, “Do you have any idea how old they are?” The guard thought for a moment and then said, “They’re 103 million, two years and three months old.” “Wow!” said the visitor, “That’s very precise. How can the museum be so sure?” The guard replied, “The museum gave me a tour when I first started working here and they told me the bones were 103 million years old and that was two years and three months ago.” So far, we’ve presented five of the six stages of faith; and we’ve done so with exacting precision. I wish it was