Here's what I wrote our congregation, Woodridge UMC, this week: In this fourth week of Advent, we continue to wait for the birth of the Christ Child. In lieu of some inevitably over-long treatise, allow me to offer a few brief instances of inspiration I’ve recently encountered. Wanting words of wisdom to redirect our thinking?“Darkness and …
Category: Advent
If You Give a Disciple a Pep Talk…
Growing up in the '70s and '80s in a family that was actively involved in a Baptist* congregation meant going to church on Wednesdays as well as Sundays. *Important distinction: ours was (well, still is) an American Baptist church, not part of the Southern Baptist Convention. We may have been White evangelicals (though we never …
Just Hold On
This past Sunday, our son and I simultaneously arrived at our driveway from opposite directions. I, returning from church. He, from baseball practice. Our conversation went something like this:Him: How was church?Me: Good! The band played for the first time in a while and sounded great! We had a good crowd, including some folks we …
Breathe in Advent
Routines often help us stay organized and optimized, saving energy and brain power for more important decisions. (I talked about this in a sermon recently--I'll have to get that posted here soon!) But routines can also become ruts and sap energy. For years now, my partner in ministry at Woodridge UMC, Lead Pastor Rev. Danita …
How we got here: Advent sermons
I'm just skating right past my failure at producing posts on the regular this month and just going with a flurry of activity. Hope you'll bear with me as I think there are at least a couple decent nuggets of goodness to be found. I got to preach the first and last Sundays of Advent, …
All That I Can't Leave Unsaid 