Dave Buerstetta on striving to do justice and love others while walking humbly with God
Recently I've used this space to share how I've asked my city leaders to do just that: lead. And I've shared ways they responded. (I'm not saying they made those public statements because I asked them to. But I'd like to think I at least help nudge them toward doing so.) So what about me? …
Yes, indeed. For now at least. Due to the previously-arranged preaching schedule, the previous Sunday was my first opportunity to offer a sermon during our stay-safe-at-home time here in Illinois. So, yes, I spend the first few minutes talking about just how weird that feels. Probably too much time on that. But I strive to …
"It's Friday...but Sunday's comin'!" That's a popular refrain among Christians on these final days of Holy Week. But we might reasonably respond in our most skeptical tone, "Yeah, right!" Over on my favorite blog, Slacktivist, Fred Clark posted Holy Saturday. First seen in 2010, he's reposted it every year. Fred has written a ton of …
Turns out Ash Wednesday was only [checks notes] three weeks ago. I don't know about you, but it sure feels to me more like three years ago. I mean, what a world we were living in way, way back in February. Think of all the things we did that month: I saw a movie...in a …
Merry Christmas! The closest thing I have to a tradition on this blog is this Christmas day offering. Each Christmas I post the Isaiah passage below (which is a reading for Christmas Eve worship every year); John Lennon's "Happy Christmas (War is Over)," which I find the world's best and most challenging Christmas song; and …
I know today is Indigenous Peoples Day. But I started to write this last week on International Day of the Girl. Is it ok to celebrate women today too? I think so. It seems like a good time to share a post I wrote this summer for my church blog. As I often proclaim, I …
From 8th grade through the end of high school, I was always in a school where one of my parents was a teacher. That's probably the main reason I never skipped a class in those years. Fast forward to college and, well, that record didn't last. But I didn't skip many or often because I …
Continue reading ‘She Who Laughs Last…’ a sermon on Genesis 18
This is probably a bit odd, but despite the sermon title, I never did make a connection between the temptations Jesus faced in chapter 4 of Matthew's* gospel and any of the recent TV shows that play on that theme. Boy howdy, did I make a slew of other references and winks, though. 'Cause, you …
Continue reading ‘Temptation Wilderness’: a sermon on Matthew chapter 4
Brevity. Not a quality for which many pastors are known. At least not when we're in preaching mode. We tend to like to talk. A lot. The truth is (at least in my experience both listening to sermons and giving them), a short sermon that is also a good sermon is much more difficult to …
Continue reading ‘We’re Related to…Them??’: a sermon on Matthew 1
I know it's New Year's Eve, but let's get in the WABAC Machine and set it for...one week ago. Way back when it was Christmas Eve. I don't know if you've heard, but Christmas Eve is kind of a big deal in (most) Christian churches. It certainly is in our congregation. Christmas Eve at Woodridge United …
Continue reading ‘Now for Something Completely Extra’: a Christmas Eve sermon
All That I Can't Leave Unsaid 