Christmas

Advent, Christmas, Hope, Images of God, Ritual and practice, Sermons, Vulnerability

Walking in the Light

Walking in the Light: Advent Hope and the Path to Peace Sunday, November 30, 2025 – Isaiah 2:1-5, Psalm 122, Romans 13:11-14, Matthew 24:36-44 As we welcome the season of Advent, I am reminded of a night years ago on the Big Island of Hawaii—a night that forever shaped my understanding of what it means […]

Christmas, Embodiment, Experiencing the Sacred, Incarnation, Jesus, Mystical Experience, Politics and Culture, Sermons, Spirituality, Worldviews and Cosmology

Who is Jesus Christ?

Tuesday, December 24, 2024 – Christmas Eve, Isaiah 9:2-7, Psalm 96, Titus 2:11-14, Luke 2:1-14 [15-20] Who is Jesus Christ? More importantly, who is he for us today? Titus tells us that Christ is the “hope and manifestation of the glory of God.” But to unknowing passersby, that tiny baby lying in a feeding trough,

Christmas, Incarnation, Jesus, Loss and Grief, Miracles, Politics and Culture, Sermons, Spirituality, Suffering and Loss

From Humble Beginnings

Sunday, December 22, 2024, Fourth Advent – Micah 5:2-5a, Luke 1:46b-55, Hebrews 10:5-10, Luke 1:39-45 [46-55] I’ll never forget the experience of watching the chubby, frumpy middle-aged woman with an unflattering hairdo walk onto the big stage with the microphone in her hand. She had shared with the offstage hosts that she was 47, lived alone

Christianity, Christmas, Incarnation, Inspiration, Sermons, Spirituality

Praising the Ordinary and the Extraordinary

December 31, 2023 – Luke 2:22-40, Isaiah 61:10-62:3, Psalm 148, Gal 4:4-7 On Christmas Eve, I spoke about “Mystery, Miracles, and the Unexpected.” And while it’s true that all three of those were in abundance at the birth of Jesus, also present were the very mundane things of daily life, including working men dirty from

Christianity, Christmas, Experiencing the Sacred, Inspiration, Ministry, Sermons, Spirituality, Transformation and Wholeness

Mystery, Miracles, and the Unexpected

Luke 1:26-38 – December 24, 2023, Christmas Eve Sermon Last year, right around this time, I heard the most amazing story. It was posted to Facebook by a friend’s wife, Christie. This happened to her about 14 years ago, and she gave me permission to share it. Christie is a psychotherapist and this is her

Christianity, Christmas, Experiencing the Sacred, Inspiration, Love, Ministry, Sermons, Spirituality, Transformation and Wholeness

Testifying to the Light, Life, and Love of God

Third Sunday of Advent, December 17, 2023 We’ve been given several readings today that, at first glance, don’t necessarily seem to have much to do with each other. And yet I find key phrases or ideas in them that seem to rise to the surface with a little bit of extra sparkle or energy and

C.G. Jung, Christianity, Christmas, Inspiration, Sermons, Spirituality, Transformation and Wholeness

All Flesh is Grass…All Flesh Shall See the Glory

The Second Sunday of Advent, December 10, 2023 Today is the second Sunday of Advent, and the emphasis of today’s readings is mostly on preparation for the coming of the kingdom of God, or what my friend Chuck Queen just calls “God’s World.” Christians believe that God’s World was revealed in the incarnation of God

Christianity, Christmas, Experiencing the Sacred, Ministry, Sermons

Advent: Longing for God

The First Sunday of Advent, December 3, 2023 Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Not every Christian denomination celebrates Advent, but the Lutheran Church understands both Advent before Christmas and Lent and the Passion Week before Easter as necessary steps that we shouldn’t skip over. One of my favorite memories from past Christmas seasons

Scroll to Top