   (…continued) One of the most significant developments in the American church in the last decades has been the increasing use of internet worship. For some, this has become their only church. This is a mistake. While the internet can provide a wonderful supplement to weekly, in-person worship, it can never take its place. […]
2527) Getting to Know Jesus in Worship (b) Read More »
   This website is called “Getting to Know Jesus.” The previous twenty-five meditations (beginning with #2501) focused on who Jesus is, and what it means to get to know him. The next several will be about one of the primary ways we get to know Jesus, which is by being a part of a
2526) Getting to Know Jesus in Worship (a) Read More »
    (…continued) Another reason people say they stay away from church is because church people are so judgmental.  This charge of being judgmental is an interesting one.  If someone says I am judgmental, aren’t they making a judgment about me? Of course, we all have to make judgments about others every day. Parents have to
2393) Reasons to Stay Away From Church (part 2 of 2) Read More »
From a sermon a few years ago.     We are in the middle of a sermon series on the many objections people have to going to church, why they leave the church, and why some return. The series is based on a little booklet that lists ten of these reasons, reasons discovered in a survey
2392) Reasons to Stay Away from Church (part 1 of 2) Read More »
   (…continued) In John 15:13 Jesus said he would die for us, his friends.  What we need most in life is connections, relationships. Jesus tells us here that the most important connection is already taken care of. We are connected to God– if we will allow it.  Remain in me, Jesus pleads.  Don’t say
2386) Stay Connected (2 of 2) Read More »
John 15:1-16a — “(Jesus said), “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in
2385) Stay Connected (1 of 2) Read More »
“Fragile Worshipers” by Richard Beck, at: http://www.experimentaltheology.blogspot.com; posted March 7, 2016 —————————    I used to be a fragile worshiper.    I’d go to church and there would always be something that set me off.  Sometimes it would be a song lyric that I found theologically problematic or overly sentimental.  Sometimes it was something
2135) Are You a ‘Fragile Worshiper?’ Read More »
   (…continued) The second thing that little snippet of a story can do for us is give us an appreciation for the Lord in whom we trust and in his promises for us.  Frank McCourt said of his daughter in grief at her dead grandmother’s side, he said, “She has no religion for this,
1819) Losing Faith (part three of three) Read More »
      (…continued) Frank’s 10 year old daughter Maggie was also at that memorial service, but she was in a more serious mood. And she had some questions for her dad about the whole ordeal. Paraphrasing a bit, this is Frank McCourt’s description of their conversation:    Maggie kneels with me by the casket, looking
1818) Losing Faith (part two of three) Read More »
Easter sermon, April 1, 2018. Â Â Â Â In his best-selling book Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt tells the story of his miserable childhood in the slums of Limerick, Ireland. Â It is the story of a desperately poor family whose life is made even more desperate by the father’s alcoholism. Â Any money he gets his hands on goes
1817) Losing Faith (part one of three) Read More »
