I didn’t do a very good job last Sunday. I’m sorry. Ironically, the service was primarily about vocational call, so I spent a good bit of my opening proclaiming how pleased I am with my call and, by implication, how well-suited I am to it. Then, as someone was speaking, I realized I was utterly unprepared to respond. In my …
Carnival Cancelled! (Plus: Vote on the Budget!)
I was listening to a preacher on the excellent podcast, Working, and he talked about his preparations for Sunday. Even though our contexts are quite different, his process was very familiar. He said that you start with either a Scripture or an idea. Once you figure out which one you have, you go get the other one. That’s probably something …
Tell Me a Story
I’ve been kind of stumped this week about what to say, both here in this message and on Sunday. You would think it would be easy. This week we celebrate the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptizer and remember our own baptisms. For everything I love about Church in the Cliff, there is some ambivalence about the trappings of …
And Now for Something Completely Different
Christmas, as I’m sure you know, is, for Christians, a celebration of the birth of Jesus. He was born a helpless baby, in poverty, on the road, and threatened by an evil empire. Next Tuesday we will celebrate Epiphany, the day when the Wise Ones arrived with gifts and named Jesus as King. This is the story that we tell …