Canoeing the Mountains (7/30/17)

Romans 8:26-39; Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

Charles Marion Russel, Corps of Discovery Meet Chinooks on the Lower Columbia, October 1805 

The title of my sermon comes from a book that I’m reading, Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory. The guiding metaphor for this book is the Lewis and Clark expedition. Lewis and Clark were looking for a water route to the Pacific Ocean. They paddled canoes upstream along the Missouri River. When they got to the Rocky Mountains, they found that they were not equipped for the rest of their journey. Read on, to find out how this relates to Jesus' parables about the kingdom of heaven.

The Fields of the Lord

The Fields of the Lord (7/23/17)

Isaiah 44:6-8; Matthew13:24-30, 36-43

Albin Egger-Lienz, Sower and the Devil

On Sunday, July 23rd, we examined the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds. In my previous sermon, I used a word from the pulpit that I really shouldn't have used. In this sermon, I owned up to my mistake.

Of Seeds and Sowers

Of Seeds and Sowers (7/16/17)

Genesis 25:19-34; Matthew13:1-9, 18-23

 JESUS MAFA, The Parable of the Sower

On Sunday, July 16th, we examined the Parable of the Sower in the Gospel of Matthew. We examined this parable in light of Jesus' teachings in Matthew 25:31-46, and we considered our inability to tell which soil is fertile and which is not.

Yokes and Burdens

Yokes and Burdens (7/9/17)

Matthew11:16-19, 25-30

El Greco, Saint John the Baptist 

On Sunday, July 9th, our Gospel reading included two sections from the Gospel of Matthew. The first part of this passage is a little bit cryptic; when we read it out of context, its meaning isn’t clear. And then the Lectionary skips over a few verses and the lesson concludes with a very comforting thought: Jesus says, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” We like this Jesus; he’s not so confusing.