Sermon John 6:37-40 A Life Lived Intensively A funeral homily for a woman who loved funny hats, animals, and gardening John 6:37-40 A Life Lived Intensively The Rev. Charles Hoffacker The morning after Dorothy passed away, her brother John and sister-in-law Pat met with me and told me about how she had lived her [...]
Funeral Homily John 10:11-18 A Salty Saint Check out these helpful resources Biblical Commentary Sermons Childern's Sermons Hymn Lists A Salty Saint John 10:11-18 By The Rev. Charles Hoffacker We've heard much this afternoon about that extraordinary man Greydon Tolson, and during the reception after this service, there will be opportunity to tell and [...]
Jesus is the living water. We do not have to quench our thirst ourselves. We have merely to open ourselves to what God has given us in Christ. We need the great exchange. We give Jesus our sins and doubts and fears, and he quenches our thirst.
When we are thirsty, we need water. Coca-Cola may be the "pause that refreshes" but nothing beats just plain water. Water is what we need. It is essential to our existence as living physical beings. If we are thirsty spiritually, then the Holy Spirit is what we need.
"Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple." Whoa. Barbara Brown Taylor says Jesus wouldn't have made a very good parish minister, and from what he says here, she has a pretty good point.
When Lucien took the collection, our little daughter Else put a mitt-full of pennies on the plate. I must have looked surprised. She said, "The kids at school spin pennies at each other down the hallway, and sometimes I find stray pennies. I save them for the collection plate."
Imagine your search committee meeting with a candidate for this pulpit. "Reverend, tell us your understanding of church membership." Answer: "The first rule is you must hate your father and mother, your wife and children, your brothers and sisters--yes, even your own life."
In Jesus there is always hope. In Jesus, as Fred Craddock puts it, "Hope can live on one calorie a day." In the darkest of moments, when you don 't think you can go on anymore, when your world is wastedand no bird flies in your sky, there is still hope. And this is why...
To be honest, we all fall somewhere on the scale. This is why I've never been one to criticize those who come to church only on Christmas and Easter. Hey, that's two Sundays out of the year! If the service is uplifting and inspiring, maybe they'll add Pentecost next year.
Reading the Gospels is never as puzzling as Alice in Wonderland, but sometimes you wonder if Jesus gets things back to front and upside down. Today's reading is an example. Those who are great will be the least in the Kingdom of God and those who are humble will be the greatest. That's so back to front.