The following is my frist draft of my sermon for Sunday.

Path to Perfection Mark 9:30—10:16

The following is a rough draft of my sermon for Sunday.  I have a lot of polishing to do yet as I contrast greatness with the perfection offered by Jesus.  I will be using the Orange Splot as my introductory story for the service.

Greatness and Perfection (James 3--5)

Here is my draft of my sermon for September 16 based on Mark 8:27-38.

I will be using Have you Filled a Bucket Today for the story.

Who are We?

Here is my completed sermon which reflects on the effect of the failure of the historical church to walk Jesus' talk.

Walking the Talk

A father was constantly telling his kids to exercise daily.  After a week of desk work and watching TV specials, he complained to his wife that his pants must have shrunk the last time she washed them.

What we really believe is ultimately revealed by what we do.  An ongoing challenge is making our walk fit our talk, and our talk fit our walk.

My sermon for Sunday is currently a work in progress.  Here is what I have so far.

Walking the Talk

What we really believe is ultimately revealed by what we do. An ongoing challenge is making our walk fit our talk, and our talk fit our walk.

The following are my story about the unpredictability of seeds and events, and my message relating the parables from Mark 4 on seeds to current Christian Mission.

Surprising Seeds

In this ziplock bag are a few different kinds of seeds.  All of the gardeners here will recognize what most or all of these seeds will become, but that is because of past experience.  There is little in the appearance of these seeds to show us what they can become.  ….

Bellwhether Sheep

Spot was almost exactly like the rest of the sheep in her flock.  She liked the same food and the same places to rest.  She liked being fairly close to the other sheep.  She was different in one way:  she was a bit more curious, and a bit braver than the other sheep.

The following is my story and message for Easter Sunday.  I decided to take an approach quite different from my usual Easter messages.

Story  Lydia

Sometimes we face large changes in our life that can be frightening when we can’t see what waits on the other side of that change. 

Story:  The Reluctant Seed

Perry was a pea seed who talked daily with his friends.  There was a legend that they would be buried in the ground and that strange things would happen to them, so strange it was like dieing. Perry said he wouldn’t change, no matter what!

Spring came, and Perry and his friends were planted in the cold ground.  After a few days, one friend after another said, “So long friends, I am changing.”