Category: Faith
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A Prayer for Pentecost 2020
On this day, we celebrate your Holy Spirit, poured out upon all flesh: reminding us of your individual love and care for every single person; each made, uniquely, in your own image and likeness.
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“Potential”: A sermon preached on May 17, 2020, for the First United Methodist Church of Orlando
With the help of God’s grace, whatever and whoever I will be in heaven, in some way I already am and have the potential of becoming. My future heavenly reality, is already possible in my present. Whatever growth, or perfecting, or cleansing, or healing, or forgiveness I expect will happen…
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2020 Easter Sermon – “New Birth into a Living Hope” (complete text)
If God can raise Jesus from the grave, God can handle coronavirus!
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“I press on” – a message to pastors, ministry leaders, and anyone else struggling with uncertainty and insecurity in the face of a global pandemic
Above all, the most pervasive feeling I’m wrestling with, these days, is uncertainty.
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“I will lift my eyes” – a Facebook Live sermon, based on Psalm 121, preached for The First United Methodist Church of Orlando, on March 29, 2020
Last Sunday morning, before worship, a First Church friend sent me a beautiful YouTube video of the University of British Columbia Choir, singing a choral arrangement of Psalm 121, called “I will lift my eyes,” that literally moved me to tears.
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“How are you doing?”: the many moods of an introverted pastor in an age of coronavirus
Like you, I suspect, many friends and colleagues have recently asked me, “How are you doing,” as we endure this strange season of coronavirus. Of course, I’m asking the same of them. It’s an understandable question. These are strange, unprecedented times, for all of us.
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Get up, and walk!
I’ll confess, I feel helpless, sometimes. I’ve felt especially helpless in these recent weeks. Beyond social distancing and washing my hands thoroughly, I feel helpless in the face of the spread of coronavirus. As a pastor, I feel VERY helpless: wishing I could do more, worrying that I’m not doing…
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“It’s the end of the Church as we know it, and I feel fine.”
What is the Church’s role in this crisis? Most Church professionals are trying to figure that out, as best we can, day by day. Seven days ago, the idea of closing the Church for a virus seemed preposterous. Seven days later, we’re planning for the possibility of months of closure. …
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Stop Ignoring God
What if we paid more attention, more often, to God’s presence and movements? What if we were more aware? What if we more frequently, consistently, intentionally paused to acknowledge God’s presence? What if we trained our selves to be more sensitive and aware of the Spirit’s moves within ourselves and…
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What’s My Purpose?
What’s your purpose? What are your particular “roles,” and how does your sense of purpose align with your list of commitments, obligations, and duties? What is your identity? Who are you, when all of the external trappings are stripped away? What does it look like for you to “be,” and…
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