
New Beginning: Word (Part 6)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. These are the first words we read from the Gospel of John. And they are among my favorite — even though they represent such confusion for so many people. But these words are nothing short of a revelation in so many different ways. And revelations sometimes are hard to fathom at first. You see, Jesus is the Word that John is speaking about. Why the Word? Did you ever wonder that? Why not just say “I

New Beginning: Peace (Part 5)
Tonight, we all have made it into this church. We have all come from different places. Some live within walking distance of here. Most drove. Some may have even traveled from far away to be home for the holidays. But we’re here, all of us, for the same reason, when you really think about it. See, you had a choice. You didn’t have to come. But even if it was reluctantly, you still came here, and for what? “What,” as Jesus tells us in Matthew, “did you come to see?” Do you know
sermon: new beginning: see (advent 3)
I have this great record album that I have kept for at least 30 years and that I only play around Christmas Time, although the songs are not all Christmas songs. It’s on one of those compilation albums, and it’s called “Winter Solstice.” I love this album not only for its rich, textural music, but because it was one of my dad’s favorite albums as well. Each winter, he would pop it into the stereo, and it sort of became the background music to the season. It’s funny how music

sermon: new beginning: turn (advent 2)
One hot summer morning, when I was living in South Carolina, I was alerted to a litter of puppies that had been rescued from the local airport on Hilton Head Island. They were chow/terrier mixes, and the bunch of them were living in a pet foster home, and all were available for adoption. I, it just so happened, was in the market for a dog, so I went down to where the puppies were, and there, in a pen, were about six or seven of the fluffiest, happiest, cutest puppies you coul