A Place to Dwell

A sermon preached at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Boise, Idaho. June 16, 2019 Psalm 113 We will be spending a few weeks in the psalms. And today’s psalm seems pretty straightforward. It’s a psalm of praise. Praise the Lord! It’s right there in the first sentence. As servants of the Lord, our praise is eternal.…

In All Things

A sermon preached at Southminster Presbyterian Church June 8, 2019 Romans 8: 14-39 Acts 2: 1-4 Our passage from Romans tonight is one of my favorite passages in scripture, but it’s not what we usually hear on Pentecost. We also heard the more traditional story from Acts 2, where the Holy Spirit came upon people…

Stop the Bans

Georgia, Ohio, Missouri, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi have recently enacted draconian legislation, intended to remove a woman’s right to make her own best decision about her healthcare choices. These bills seek to make abortion illegal, and in many cases, seek to make abortion a felony, intending to imprison women who choose or need to seek…

Making Mistakes

Who is allowed to make mistakes? Last night’s Game of Thrones episode had a glaring mistake. Someone had left a Starbucks coffee cup on a table in Winterfell.  And some people were incensed about it. I’ll let you find those comments in your own Facebook feeds and online venues. Heads on spikes! Would it be…

Draw Near

A sermon preached at Southminster on May 5, 2019 Acts 10, Ephesians 2 We’re a few weeks after Easter right now. And while the news of the empty tomb and sightings of our risen Lord are good news, being Easter people is hard. Trusting in the truth of resurrection when the lies of death are…

This is My Body

A Maundy Thursday reflection Southminster Presbyterian Church in Boise, Idaho Matthew 26:14-75 1 Corinthians 12 The story of this night has a weight to it that I feel in my body. I hear Judas offer to betray Jesus for money and hope that this time, he’ll make a different choice, he’ll realize his error before…

Auditioning for Roles

I’ve been thinking about my birth mother lately. Maybe because thinking is all I really can do. She doesn’t want to be in a relationship with me, and even if she did, she’s not in very good health. Maybe I’ve been thinking about her because her 91st birthday is around the corner. My birth mother…

The Big (Un)sort

A sermon preached at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Boise, Idaho March 24, 2019 Matthew 22:1-14 Parables do not have only one interpretation. So hear this invitation to reach your own interpretation of this story that is at odds with mine. Do I wish Jesus were clearer in his teachings? Most days, my answer to that…

Down the Mountain

A sermon preached at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Boise, Idaho Transfiguration Sunday, March 3, 2019 Matthew 16:24-17-12 Welcome to Transfiguration Sunday, the day we ponder the experience the disciples have, and the experiences we have, on the mountain tops of our life. Some of you have heard 11 years of Transfiguration sermons from me, and…