By Parson Brown, on June 2nd, 2013
Biblical Text: Galatians 1:1-12 Full Sermon Draft
This week was the 2nd week after Pentecost otherwise known as the first week of ordinary time or the first of many Sundays with green altar cloths. The lectionary during these times is something called a lectio continua or a continuous reading of two books. The gospel . . . → Read More: The Apostle & The Gospel (or the false Gospel of ‘Christ and’)
By Parson Brown, on May 21st, 2013 David Brooks gets it, at least from a secular point, and in a way (especially if you look at the comments from the clueless multitude of Times readers) that is terribly sad. In this essay, he preaches half of my sermon this week much better than I could. The problem, as Babel told us, is . . . → Read More: The Vocabulary of the Spirit
By Parson Brown, on July 27th, 2012 I feel like I have to explain that last one, Christendom. That is simply the word that described a time from roughly Constantine to circa 1965. What it meant was that anywhere you went in the west two things were roughly true: 1) Christianity even if of various shades or just nominal was a shared . . . → Read More: Denominations, Congregations and Christendom
By Parson Brown, on May 20th, 2012 Biblical Text: John 17:11-19 Full Text – note, I deviated more from this text than I typically do.
Here is the question you need to ask yourself – are we bound creatures needing freedom, or largely free creatures needing strict guidelines?
How you answer that question will determine how you hear (or don’t . . . → Read More: Sanctified Freedom or how finance is a great school of the law
By Parson Brown, on May 18th, 2012 David Brooks is like the one eyed man in the land of the blind.
The people who pioneered democracy in Europe and the United States had a low but pretty accurate view of human nature. They knew that if we get the chance, most of us will try to get something for nothing. They knew . . . → Read More: Two Realms and the New York Times
By Parson Brown, on May 14th, 2012 Biblical Text: John 15:9-17 Full Text of Sermon
Finding poignancy in pop songs is pretty tough. Lady GaGa flirts with it before retreating to camp and a great bass line. There are the ever so earnest indies. The ingenues like Adele whose combine the virtues of youth and a healthy supply of talent, but . . . → Read More: Christian Marriage
By Parson Brown, on March 19th, 2012
Biblical Text: JOhn 3:14-21 Full Text of Sermon
Defeated by John again. A little honesty, I’m pretty sure this was a muddled mess. Why oh why when Ephesians 2:1-10 was sitting right there, ripe for the preaching…but no, I have to pick John. Lured in by the same trap of an idea that looked . . . → Read More: Avoiding the Anonymous God
By Parson Brown, on February 23rd, 2012 1) Lest anyone thinks I might have been harsh in my Ash Wednesday sermon drawing analogies with the national debt and the plague of locusts in Joel. (Joel said that God was at the front of that plague. The plague was a mirror to the spiritual state of the people. Is our debt a mirror?) . . . → Read More: Paragraphs to Make You Think
By Parson Brown, on December 19th, 2011
Sermon Text: Luke 1:26-38 Full Text of Sermon
I’m not sure why but Advent 4 (Mary’s week in the lectionary) and Thanksgiving are probably the two occasions that I almost always feel real good about the sermon. On firm Lutheran grounding I’d just say that they are opportunities to proclaim a very clear gospel. . . . → Read More: Standby by for some Announcements…
By Parson Brown, on November 10th, 2011 In the post yesterday I made a comment to the effect that “we as a country seem to be playing a never-ending game of musical chairs deciding who takes the loss.” That has been my gut financial feeling for a long time. My guess is that is the core of the anger over things like . . . → Read More: Outside Support (“A Game of Musical Chairs”)
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