Click to hear this sermon sermon070107

Exodus 17: 8-13; I John 4: 7-21

Click to hear this sermon  sermon070107

In fact, the day of their arrival in Bethlehem, the 12th day of Christmas, is for almost half of the world's Christians the day that they celebrate Christmas.

Now I don't know about you, but for me many of my favorite Christmas cards feature a picture of the wise men traveling by camel through a star lit night, one star dominating the sky, arriving on the crest of the hill overlooking Bethlehem. If any of you have seen the new movie out this year, The Nativity Story, you too have seen this Hallmark greeting card company version of the Epiphany.

Click to hear this sermon  sermon061231

All God's Children Rejoice: The Child in You - Mark 10: 13-16

My Dad makes the best scarecrow,' said the little boy. 'It was so scary, it kept the crows away all summer.' 'Not as good as my Dad,' one-upped his buddy. 'My Dad's scarecrow kept the crows out of his field, and all the neighbors' fields, too.' 'That's nothing',' said the third boy. 'My Dad's scarecrow was so good, the crows brought back all the corn from last year."

Click to hear this sermon  sermon061224

Matthew 1: 18-25

All God's Children Rejoice: The Child of Christmas - Matthew 1: 18-25

I wouldn't call this a Christmas tradition per se, but one of the practices that intrigues me is the act of stealing the Christ-child. I have no idea how prevalent it is, but every year it seems to happen someplace - someone takes the doll, or the figurine, or whatever, out of someone’s outdoor nativity. Last year there were several people who reported to the editor of the local paper that it happened to them. What's with that?

Click to hear this sermon  sermon061217

Last week I talked about the children we know and love - how they bless our lives, and how we have a responsibility both to teach them and to learn from them. Today I would like to talk about the children we don't know - millions and millions of them across the earth - and what they are facing in today's world.

Click to hear this sermon sermon061210

All God's Children Rejoice: The Children We Know - Isaiah 11: 1-10; Mark 9: 33-37

Danny Dutton, an 8 year old in Chula Vista, California, was given a homework assignment - "Explain God." Here is what he wrote:

One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. He doesn't make grown-ups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way, He doesn't have to take up His valuable time teaching them to walk and talk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.