Category Archives: Blog Posts

It can be a strange thing to preach in your hometown for your home congregation. Jesus himself ran into a little, uh, flack in his own homecoming sermon in Luke’s Gospel. I hope you’ll watch and enjoy!

I hope you’ll watch this sermon on “vocation,” a word in the Christian vocabulary that often prompts a number of questions for us as Christ-followers. Let’s see what Luke’s Gospel has for us in defining this term…

Here’s a sermon for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany. I try to channel Jesus’ own spirit of stirring up a congregation to think differently as is present to us in Luke’s Gospel, the fourth chapter. Join me in seeing the congregation’s response to Preacher Jesus. Enjoy!

When the news of Bishop Tutu’s death reached me, my mind went back to 1986 when Bishop Tutu honored me and Duke Chapel by a visit. The regional TV was eager to broadcast. Trouble was, Bishop Tutu was delayed in Atlanta while meeting with Coretta Scott King and so we started the service that night,Continue reading “In Memory of Archbishop Desmond Tutu”

Grateful to have spent this past Sunday with Epworth UMC. I preached on Wonder Worship from Matthew 2:1-12. Enjoy! https://www.epworth.com/podcasts/media/2021-12-05-wonder-worship

I recently shared this article with Ministry Matters where I talk about the language of the Christian faith. “The truth about God comes our way through God’s refusal to give up on divine/human colloquy and abandon us to soliloquy. For good reason is Jesus ‘The Word.’ Whoever said, ‘I’d rather see a sermon than hearContinue reading “The Conversationalist God”

Jesus begins the Christian year (or he does end it?) in an apocalyptic, deconstructing, dismantling mood as we encounter his words in Luke 21:25-36. It’s not the nice, neat beginning to Advent some of us might want, but here we are, left to wrestle with Scripture once again.

I’ve had a great time recently talking about God Turned Toward Us and the Christian vocabulary with the Yale Center for Faith & Culture and Rector’s Cupboard. You can check out the episodes with the links below!

For those of you lectionary preachers braving the terrain of Mark 13, I do hope this sermon might help in your preparation for this tricky Gospel lesson. Don’t be afraid to confront our modern delusions of immortality–we’re not built to last, but thankfully, Jesus Christ is!

I’m glad to be joining the Duke Chapel’s congregation for a conversation about my latest book, God Turned Toward Us. If you’d like to join the online crowd, you can use the link below to be a part of the conversation at 9:45am EST. See you there! https://duke.zoom.us/j/93464487228?pwd=Q2VIdlB6d2lwMFROR1pQYWM5ZzhmQT09