Sermon Archive

Luke: 4:1-13 Firstly I want to say a special thank you to everyone who has joined us today in worship, as well as everyone who participated in this morning’s pancake breakfast. I’m grateful to Andrew in his assistance in the service today, especially for taking on so much, and being willing to step in to help in the event that my voice cuts out on me. I still wish to offer a short reflection because of how important Scouting has become to the life of this congregation. It has helped us re-connect with the life of the community in a way that I don’t think all of us fully understand. I hope and pray that this relationship continues because we are all better for it. For the past number of years, Baden-Powell Sunday has landed on Transfiguration Sunday. It has been a story that has worked well, about mountaintop experiences, about how they can prepare us for life out in the real world. However, because Lent and Easter move around from year to year, we celebrate Scouting and Guiding in Cana...

Luke 9:28-36 I remember that I once remarked rather flippantly that I could preach a sermon on the Transfiguration in my sleep. I have to admit that I really regret describing it that way… because it gives the implication that the text itself is boring and has nothing to offer. Nothing could be farther from the truth… I think I made the remark because in many ways this Biblical story preaches itself because of how the action unfolds. It is a powerful story, and with it being Transfiguration Sunday, it is always appropriate before head into the Season of Lent. But today I also have a rather unique “problem” in that today is Valentine’s Day… or more appropriately from within these church walls, it should be Saint Valentine’s Day. It’s one of those rare occurrences where a day of celebration that once had a church connection now falls on a Sunday… but get this, St. Valentine’s Day hasn’t even been a major feast day for the Roman Catholic church since 1969… the year I was born. Part of the...

Texts: Isaiah 6:1-8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11 There is a common theme that runs throughout many stories from the Bible for those who are called into a unique ministry… but it’s an uncomfortable one for us because it doesn’t paint a particularly rosy picture the people we regard as the pillars of our faith. Normally we think of the story where Jesus walks up to some fishermen at the seaside, and says to them “come, follow me, and I will have you fish for people!” –Fishers of Men as many of us were raised with. As Mark tells it, they immediately leave their nets behind and follow Jesus. But Mark’s telling of the story is the rare exception, it is not the rule. What is far more typical is what we hear in all of the scripture readings we heard this morning. In every reading, including even the Psalm, there is a reluctance to follow God’s call… in all three of the readings there is this near-despair from ordinary people who realize that God is not only looking at them, but is call...

Text: 1 Corinthians 12:31a If you’ll indulge me, I want to start with a couple of contrasting stories for you. I’m sure that even if you weren’t here last week, you’ve no doubt heard about my daughter’s rather loud drum solo in the midst of Kelta’s children’s story. I think I’ve recovered from the personal embarrassment, but not fully. When I spoke to Megan on the way home after the service, I was trying to get a sense as to why she did what she did. I asked her that question that I suspect I’ll be asking more and more as she grows up, “What were you thinking?” You know what she said? “I was twying to help.” She was trying to help. After all, she sees Daddy up at the front talking to everybody else, and she wants to “help.” On weekends that she’s not here, she sees her mother doing the same thing, and she wants to help. Unfortunately, her “help” can sometimes be to her mother and father’s great personal embarrassment… I’m sure I will get my payback when she is a teenager. But the key ...

Text: 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 January and February are anniversary months for me, marking important milestones of a few things in my past that are worth sharing. For my wife Sarah and I, February 23 rd is our 7 th wedding anniversary. In my relationship with you as a congregation, February 6 th will be the 5 th anniversary of me preaching for the call here… It follows come the beginning of April, it will be the first time that I have ever marked a 5 th Anniversary with a congregation. Just to head off any speculation, I hope to celebrate several more anniversaries with you. Apart from these fairly straightforward milestones… there are some others… February 9 th will mark the 13 th Anniversary of my Ordination to be a Minister of Word and Sacrament… and this coming week marks the 19 th anniversary of me realizing my call to be a minister of Word and Sacrament. With today being a service led by the Worship Committee, I wanted to take a slightly different approach… by sharing som...

Texts: Matthew 2:1-12; Isaiah 60:1-6 If you’re wondering why the Christmas decorations are still up, it’s my fault. No, the people on the decorating team weren’t being lazy, it’s that I specifically asked them to leave all of the banners, lights, and decorations up for this Sunday. When I preached on the 27th, I remarked at how we’re all too ready to stuff our Christmas Decorations back into a box, rather than let the bells of the season continue to echo. So I’m trying to stretch it out a bit more. I think I’ve remarked before that we often try to do too much on Christmas Eve. We try to stuff the whole occasion into a single night, without trying to draw out the various themes and messages of the Season. We have Shepherds and Angels bumping into Wise Men and their entourage… it’s a wonder that Joseph, Mary and the Christ Child might have gotten any sleep whatsoever. The reality is, the stories that Luke tells and the stories that Matthew tells around the birth of Jesus were never meant...

The following is the sermon delivered by Ande MacDougall-Clumpus on Sunday, January 3rd. Text: John 1:1-14 It was in late November when Rev. John sent me an instant message over the internet: “Would you be interested in preaching the first week of January?” I immediately typed out the answer “Yes,” but waited a few seconds before sending it, to make him think I was giving it some consideration. I asked him what the readings would be- I figured that being in the second week of Christmas, it’d probably be something about the wise men bearing gifts, which would make for an easy sermon on bringing our own gifts to God. My first time preaching, and I already had the sermon written. Then John sent me a link to the lectionary, and instead of a great, metaphorically-rich passage about the magi, I got the wonderfully abstract text from John chapter 1, that Jordan just read. I hesitated. John 1 is great, but not for a first-time preacher who gets most of his theology from The Simpsons and U2 son...