Today is Epiphany, the day the church marks the journey of the Magi to find Jesus. Every year in worship, we choose star words to follow, reflect on, ponder in the coming. year. January 2020 seems like another lifetime somehow, but the word I drew last year was “overflowing”. It’s not an unknown word to…
An Epiphany sermon preached Jan 3, 2021 at Calvary Presbyterian Church in San Francisco, California. Matthew 2:1-12 Isaiah 60:1-6 Today we are celebrating Epiphany. This is an ancient Christian celebration, dating at least as far back as the 300’s. Epiphany is one of my favorite days in the year of church life. This word comes…
A sermon preached at Calvary Presbyterian Church in San Francisco, CA Dec 24. 2020 Isaiah 9:2-7 Luke 2:1-20 I’ve been on the lookout for a Christmas card a friend received many years ago. And I haven’t been able to find it. It has a grown up Jesus walking into the house, with an open door…
A sermon preached at Calvary Presbyterian Church in San Francisco, California December 13, 2020 Luke 1:26-55 The story of Jesus didn’t begin in the halls of power, or among the rich and famous. This story began when an angel of the Lord went to an unwed teenaged girl in the backwater town of Nazareth and…
A sermon preached at Calvary Presbyterian Church in San Francisco, California Nov 29, 2020 Psalm 126 Mark 13:24-37 Our passage from Mark’s Gospel is referred to as an “apocalypse” text. People tend to think of movies like “Mad Max” when they think of apocalypse. End of the world stuff. The Walking Dead. Left Behind books.…
A sermon preached at Calvary Presbyterian Church in San Francisco, CA November 15, 2020 Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18 How did your parents discipline you? Was it different than how you raised your own kids, or how you saw your friends disciplining their kids? I don’t recall facing discipline a lot as a child. It’s possible I’m…
A sermon preached at Calvary Presbyterian Church in San Francisco. November 1, 2020 Matthew 5:1-16 There is a scene in a Monty Python movie about Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Apparently it was difficult for the characters to hear what Jesus was saying. Big crowd, no sound system. I’ll likely always think of it when…
A sermon preached at Calvary Presbyterian Church in San Francisco, California. October 25, 2020 Matthew 25:31-46 I’ve got this great image of ALL THE NATIONS gathered together in a gym as Jesus begins dividing them into 2 teams. “I need Libya and France over here on my right, please. And Great Britain and Iran on…
A sermon preached at Calvary Presbyterian Church in San Francisco, CA October 11, 2020 Matthew 25:1-13 We are beginning our stewardship campaign today, and for the next three weeks, we’ll hear the parables from Matthew 25. Last month, the session voted to become a Matthew 25 congregation, a Presbyterian-wide effort to live into the story…
A sermon preached at Calvary Presbyterian Church in San Francisco, CA September 13, 2020 Romans 14:1-12 Matthew 18:15-35 (The worship service begins after 15 minutes of announcements slides) Matthew’s gospel was written to a congregation of Jews and gentiles. When Jesus was walking around town, talking to his disciples and followers, there wouldn’t have been…
Glass Overflowing 