“Jesus sets the bar high” - Matthew 5:38-48

When I had the chance to begin our series on the Sermon on the MT on the last Sunday in January, I didn’t get to say that we would hear more of Jesus’ sermon this year than in most years, because Epiphany is longer this year.   Epiphany is [...]

“Miracles Yet to Come” – Luke 2 and Isaiah 9

            We still wait for the day when “every boot of the tramping warrior, and every garment rolled in battle blood,” will be so unnecessary that those war-fighting tools (that slaughter the innocents) will be burned in our cooking stoves.  We still wait for this [...]

I have told you before of my admiration for St. Martin of Tours, the patron saint of all chaplains.  But re-imagine a bit of his life with me:   a young Roman, born in the province of Hungary to a senior and well connected Roman Officer just about the time Emperor Constantine was making Christianity legal [...]

          LENT MIDWEEK 3  ++  St. Paul’s, Falls Church  ++  March 6. 2013  (Passion Part II)

This third passion reading shines all its light on the innocence of the Lamb.  It underscores the lies told against Him and reminds us that the near unanimous verdict was the one the Jewish leaders decided beforehand, “It is [...]

Lent 1 – Luke 4:1-13

Three weeks ago I talked about the paradox of Epiphany — which simply means that Jesus looks and acts as our human brother -  because he is truly human, but that eyes of  faith can see both His humanity and the God Who shines in Him to save us.  If [...]

Matthew 2:1-12

The Gjan family had gone to bed as on any other night……….in their simple hut in the jungle of Burma.  During the night others had frantically wakened them and urged them to flee.  For all of the villages of Burmese ethnic Karens, the new day meant not only that they had lost their [...]

John Witherspoon was the only active member of the clergy to sign the Declaration of Independence.  At the time of the signing he was then the President of Princeton University and the Pastor of a Presbyterian congregation in the city.   One day a parishioner raced into his study all out of breath.  The man said [...]

Luke 12:13-21

The theme for our 3 week STEWARDSHIP EMPHASIS comes from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, “Where your treasure is……”   The second half of that verse says, “there your heart will be also.”   Jesus says that what we treasure shows.  In the year 258 the prefect of Rome executed the Pope for refusing to [...]

Mark 10:17-22

Today’s Gospel is the 1st of two dealing with Jesus’ encounter with a rich man.  Taken together with next week’s Gospel, they proclaim some of Jesus’ most pointed teachings on handling wealth.  They are both great preludes for our fall stewardship campaign which begins in just 3 weeks, because at the ending of [...]

Sept. 23, 2012;

Mark 9:30-39

I spent most of my professional career within a culture that hungers for promotion to serve at the next higher level.   A Private soldier wants one day to give orders to other private soldiers as much as a Captain wants to one day command a Brigade.  Promotion makes that possible.  [...]