The (Lieben)GOOD LIFE

  Scripture Readings: 1 Peter 1.3-7; 5.6-8;  Micah 3.5-12;  Psa 43;  Matt 23..1-12   Prayer of Invocation   Father, it is only by your gift that your faithful people offer you acceptable worship: Grant that we may run without stumbling to obtain your promises; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.   Proclamation   I’m going to go out on a limb and say that 2020 has been a disappointing year for all of us. We’ve not only had to deal with a disruptive pandemic that has altered church, work, home life, school, sports,  and entertainment, and a resurgence of racial tensions across the country and in our own community, but we also have been in the midst of a polemical and polarized presidential election that looks to only widen the divide we are experiencing in our country.    And in the midst of all this, we have our frustrations and disappointments th...

1 Peter 2.2-10 Psalm 31.1-5, 15-16 Acts 7.55-60 John 14.1-14   Fifth Sunday of Easter: Redeemed to Be Priests?   Prayer of Invocation   Father, by Your Spirit  enable us know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way,   the truth, and the life, so that we may steadfastly follow his steps in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Sermon I’ve never been to the Louvre in Paris, and I’ve never seen the Mona Lisa in person. But I’ve talked to people that have, and they’ve told me that it is kind of disappointing; there’s a lot of build up, long lines and all,  but in the end it’s just a  small portrait of a lady who frankly is kind of unattractive and looks pretty sad. Friends who have come from out of state to see first hand the lore of the Alamo have said they were surprised by how small it was, and confu...

Acts 2.42-47 Psalm 23 1 Peter 2.19-25 John 10.1-10  Christian Fellowship Is Not an Ideal but a Divine Reality It’s hard to imagine a more beautiful scene than the one described for us at the end of Acts 2: Spirit-birthed togetherness, harmony, devotion to the Scriptures, awe and wonder; gratitude, radical generosity, hospitality, prayer, the breaking of bread,  and heart-felt worship. For almost two thousand years, this scene has inspired churches throughout the ages to “get back to its roots”. Is this not ultimately what we all long for, to be in a community like this? It feels strange to read this passage today in our time of social distancing and isolation, and in our age of increasing tribalism.  As you may remember, we flash this passage up on the big screen each Sunday before the Prayers of the People as a reminder of why we structure our corporate gathering the way we do. We gather in devotion to the apostles teachings (Scripture reading an...

Perhaps one of the most significant gifts that Augustine bequeathed to the church was his insistence that the foundational problem of humanity is that we do not love (or desire) the right things. The fourth-century bishop of Hippo develops this anthropological insight in his On Christian Teaching, where he argues that in order for Christians rightly to interpret and teach the Scriptures and thus live flourishing and godly lives they must learn how to properly order their affections: [1] Now he is a man of just and holy life who forms an unprejudiced estimate of things, and keeps his affections also under strict control, so that he neither loves what he ought not to love, nor fails to love what he ought to love nor loves that more which ought to be loved less, nor loves that equally which ought to be loved either less or more, nor loves that less or more which ought to be loved equally. [2] In a catechetical treatise, Augustine makes a similar point—this time by discussing lo...