Tag Archives: end times

Enduring in Faith – Sermon on 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17

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November 10, 2019

There’s nothing quite like baptizing a baby to bring us hope. Thank you, Leah and Sean, for reminding us of the sure and certain hope we claim as followers of Jesus! But hope can be fleeting, and sometimes it seems like the tiniest challenge can shatter our hope.

The church in Thessolonica was facing a challenge like that. They had questions. When was Jesus going to come back? Had they missed it? Were they ‘left behind’ and putting their faith in something that wasn’t really true? Continue reading →

Birth Pangs – Sermon on Mark 13:1-8

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November 14, 2021
Video

We jump back into the gospel according to Mark today. This is the final chapter in the year of Mark – all that’s left is the passion story, which we heard during Lent. This is the final ‘regular’ Sunday in the church year – next week is Christ the King, and then Advent begins. Advent is always a two-fold expectation of Christ’s arrival. It’s no coincidence that we are getting ready to look forward to Jesus’ birth, just as Jesus is telling us to get ready for his coming again.

But right now, the story takes us from the temple, across the valley to the Mount of Olives. Continue reading →

End of Story: Waiting in the Dark – Sermon on Matthew 25:1-13

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In 1961, my family moved into a house that was a model of modern innovation. The bedrooms had built-in desks with fluorescent light fixtures, and the closets had sliding doors. The kitchen was all-electric, and there were not only one, but two picture windows looking out over the golf course across the road. But the feature that set this house apart was not visible from the road, or even from inside that all-electric kitchen.

This house had its own bomb shelter, already equipped with blankets, flashlights, jugs of water, and food rations packed in barrels. It was the epitome of middle class preparedness for surviving a nuclear attack. Should anyone decide to “drop the bomb” on southeast Kansas, our family was ready for disaster. We were prepared. Continue reading →

Endure – Sermon on Luke 21:5-19

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November 13, 2016
You can watch a video of the sermon I preached in 2016  here. 
It borrows heavily from Cardelia’s sermon, linked below, and my earlier sermon on this same text, also linked below.

“Joy to the world, no more election news coverage and political ads!”[1] This is how Cardelia Howell-Diamond’s sermon  began for the Sunday following the 2016 election. At the time she preached it, none of us had any idea how the political landscape in the United States  would be affected, nor how changes in that landscape would impact us now, six years later. But her sermon on this text from Luke 21 still rings true, and I encourage you to read it here.

If you want to see my sermon on this same text from an earlier year (with less political tension), you can find it here. However you are managing to navigate your own post-election stress, this passage in Luke comes just when we need it. Continue reading →

What Are You Waiting For? – Sermon on Matthew 25:1-13

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In 1961, my family moved into a house that was a model of modern innovation. The bedrooms had built-in desks with fluorescent light fixtures, and the closets had sliding doors. The kitchen was all-electric, and there were not only one, but two picture windows looking out over the golf course across the road. But the feature that set this house apart was not visible from the road, or even from inside that all-electric kitchen.

This house had its own bomb shelter, already equipped with blankets, flashlights, jugs of water, and food rations packed in barrels. It was the epitome of middle class preparedness for surviving a nuclear attack. Should anyone decide to “drop the bomb” on southeast Kansas, our family was ready for disaster. We were prepared.

As Jesus neared the end of his ministry, he wanted his disciples to be prepared for the time when he would no longer be with them. But he was also preparing them for something more. He was preparing his followers for the fulfillment of God’s promised kingdom, for “the end of the age.” …

An updated version of this sermon for 2017 can be found here.