Sunday, June 7, 2026 – Hosea 5:15—6:6, Psalm 50:7-15, Romans 4:13-25, Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26 If someone asked you to describe what God wants from us, how would you answer? Many people would probably begin with rules. God wants us to be good. God wants us to obey. God wants us to do the right thing. […]
Sunday, May 17, 2026 – Acts 1:6-14, Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35, 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11, John 17:1-11 As many of you know, I recently adopted my dog Toby from a rescue organization – he’s since become Redeemer’s unofficial mascot. He’s about ten months old now and honestly, I don’t know much about his early story. I
Sunday, March 8, 2026 – Exodus 17:1-7, Psalm 95, Romans 5:1-11, John 4:5-42 There is something deeply human about thirst. When we are thirsty enough, everything else fades into the background. The Israelites in our reading from Exodus knew that kind of thirst. They were in the wilderness, far from the familiar world they had
Sunday, August 17, 2025 – Jeremiah 23:23-29, Psalm 82, Luke 12:49-56 One mark of maturity is the ability to tell—and to hear—the truth. I’m reminded of that famous line from A Few Good Men when Jack Nicholson’s character yells, “You can’t handle the truth!” The truth can be painful. Today’s readings invite us into that
Sunday, July 13, 2025 – Luke 10:25-37 Have you ever been watching a movie and know just what’s going to happen next – even before it happens? I’ve experienced that when watching a whodunit mystery on television. Sometimes we’re extra observant and notice subtle cues before other people do. That happened to me when I
Sunday, May 18 – Acts 11:1-18, Psalm 148, Revelation 21:1-6, John 13:31-35 [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=\”\”]Have you ever had the experience of something that you initially thought was a bad thing turning into a good thing? When I lost my job at the University of the South during Covid in 2020, I was devastated. I didn’t necessarily
Sunday, May 4 – Acts 9:1-6 [7-20], Psalm 30, Revelation 5:11-14, John 21:1-19 I’m currently reading a book called Why Religion Went Obsolete, by Christian Smith, a sociologist at the University of Notre Dame (see his conversation with Tripp Fuller below). In it, Smith writes about societal movements and changes since the 1990s that came
Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025 – Luke 24:1-12 Years ago, I visited a Shroud of Turin exhibit that was housed in the CNN center in downtown Atlanta. The Shroud itself wasn’t there, but large photographs were everywhere that showed very clearly what probably happened to Jesus. It was a very emotional experience. So, when the
April 13, 2025, Passion Sunday – Luke 19:28-40, Isaiah 50:4-9a, Psalm 31:9-16, Philippians 2:5-11, Luke 22:14—23:56 We began this service with Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on the donkey as the people waved palms and shouted “Hosanna!” We’ve just heard the whole passion narrative that begins with the final supper that Jesus shared with his closest
Sunday, March 30, Lent 4 – Joshua 5:9-12, Psalm 32, 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=\”\”]I stood in the library of the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, preparing to leave for a spiritual retreat the next day at the Greenbough House of Prayer in middle Georgia. I pulled Henri Nouwen’s book The Return
