Ascension B Acts 1:1-11 / Ephesians 4;1-13 / Mark 16:15-20 How we say good-bye to someone is important!!!— How we say good-bye to someone may leave a lasting impression— whether good or ill!!! How we say good-bye matters!!! And it matters to Jesus!!! So, what is the last visible image— what is the last earthly […]

Easter 4B Acts 4:8-12 / 1 John 3:1-2 / John 10:11-18 I was sitting in a parish council meeting this past week and one of our students rushed in, pointed at me— and waved me to come out and talk to her. What was so important that she would pull me out of the meeting? […]

Easter 3B Acts 3:13-15, 17-19 / 1 John 2:1-5A / Luke 24:35-48 Have you ever wondered, why after Jesus rose from the dead— why His resurrected gloried body— why did Jesus still have— still have— the wounds of the crucifixion? Why were there still punctures in his hands and his feet? Why was there still […]

Divine Mercy Sunday Acts 4:32-35 / 1 John 5:1-6 / John 20:19-31 In a medieval church in Sicily a Christian sight seer and writer had just experienced a most incredible piece of art— a huge mosaic of Jesus. It was a dazzling sight to behold— this mosaic of Jesus moved him— it touched his soul— […]

Easter Mark 16:1-7 / John 20:1-9 When I was about the 4th Grade, there was a big boxing match on TV. I can’t remember who it was— Maybe Ali and Frazier— Maybe Ali and Foreman— I just don’t remember. But when my dad and I sat down to watch the fight— He said, “I bet […]

Good Friday Isaiah 52:13—53:12 / Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9 / John 18:1—19:42 There is a legend that on his famous trip to the Far East— the explorer Marco Polo was seized and brought before the dreadful conqueror Genghis Khan. Desperate for conversation— Marco Polo began to tell Khan the story of Jesus. Genghis Khan liked the […]

Passion Sunday (B) Isaiah 50:4-7/ Philippians 2:6-11/ Mark 14:1—15:47 In her memoir The Whisper Test, Mary Ann Bird tells of an incident in her youth that changed her life forever. Mary Ann was born with multiple birth defects. She was deaf in one ear— she had a cleft lip and a cleft palate— her face […]

Lent 5B Jeremiah 31:31-34 / Hebrews 5:7-9 / John 12:20-33 I want to tell a couple of stories today— True stories— here’s the first. Fred Craddock, the great Protestant preacher, tells a story about an incident that happened when he was pastor of a small Christian Church in East Tennessee and he was visiting his […]

Lent 4B 2 Chronicle 36:14-16, 19-23 / Ephesians 2:4-10 / John 3:14-21 Want to hear a good story? It’s one of my favorites. It’s from Southern fiction writer Flannery O’Conner—it’s called “Revelation.” It has in it one of my favorite fictional characters of all time in it— a Mrs. Ruby Turpin. What a story!!! Mrs. […]

Lent 3B Exodus 20:1-17 / 1 Corinthians 1:22-25 / John 2:13-25 A story that really caught my attention this week, was the story about the Reverend Billy Graham’s coffin. You may have seen pictures of it on TV— or on the internet— or in the papers. It was a beautiful but a very simple casket. […]