Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Philippians 2:3-4; James 1:19 We are a bridge building congregation. We have written it in bold in the lobby of the church. Everyone who enters here is greeted by these words proclaiming that we are a bridge building congregation. Go look! So are we? When Rabbi Harold Kushner talks about how to be […]
Hosea 11:1-11 Hosea is one of the most emotional of the prophets. For Hosea, the prophecy is his life, and Hosea’s own pain seeps through every word! He is torn. He loves and he is betrayed. And still he loves. So it is with God. Hosea’s life tells this story. We could call it, “Performance […]
Matthew 6:25-34; 10:1, 5-20 People often ask about our business plan for Taborspace. I have to say, it was kind of weird – we never had one! It is kind of embarrassing, because it isn’t done that way in our culture. We did have elements of the plan, but nothing cohesive. We had dreams to […]
Galatians 5:1,13-16, 22-23, 25; John 15:1-8 It is summer! What a perfect time to talk about fruit. Having grown up on a fruit farm, earning my education by working in the fruit – from planting to hoeing to packing to pruning to picking to canning, freezing and pickling. I did it all! I must tell […]
Proverbs 3:5-7; James 1:5; Matthew 18:19-20 Perhaps you have heard the adage, “Only believe half of what you see and none of what you hear.” While we don’t want to go through life as cynical skeptics, there is truth to the idea that looks can be deceiving. On my latest vacation, my photo project was […]
2 Kings 2:1-14; 2 Peter 1:3 We live in a time of epochal transition. Our world has changed so completely in a generation – about 40 years! Let’s just go back to the US bicentennial in 1976 – that year Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak created Apple, Inc. And who can even remember a day […]
Genesis 11:1-9; 1 Corinthians 12:1, 4-13 It was the world after the end. How many generations had it been, and yet it was fresh in the lives and culture of the people. There had been a disastrous flood and everything was destroyed. Only a few seeds of life survived. Now these were the people who […]
John 16:12-15 My friend Parker, who many of you know, lives on a boat. There are hundreds of other floating vessels which line the Columbia River – from float homes to inflatables, to fishing trawlers, to grand yachts. Parker’s boat is not a sailing vessel but there are lots of sail masts visible and the […]
Ezekiel 37:1-14 I want to start by relating some conversations I have experienced these last few days since I have been back in our building after a couple of weeks away. I overheard two women talking in the lobby. They were discussing the beauty of the building. One woman commented that she grew up in […]
Acts 11:1-18 When I was in Denver a week ago, I heard a sermon from Anna Carter Florence, the Peter Marshall professor of Preaching at Columbia Theological Seminary. For those of you who remember Peter Marshall, those are big shoes to fill! Marshall was a Scots-American preacher and pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian […]
