Posted in sermon notes on Nov 29th, 2011
Sunday we looked at “Blessed are the pure in heart…” and we said that Jesus’ message only works when you take it at 100%. So if you REALLY believe you have a Father in Heaven who looks after all your needs, then it’s easy to be generous (like Jesus). If you REALLY believe you’ve been [...]
Posted in random thoughts, sermon notes on Oct 27th, 2011
It would be awful to be a cat in a dog world and be expected to live like a dog…if you were a cat! And likewise it would be awful to try to live like a cat…if you’re a dog (or a monkey)! So live and let live is a good motto here… Don’t try [...]
Posted in sermon notes on Sep 27th, 2011
I grew up in a part of NYC with a fair number of rocks and trees (and even a cave). Every now and then we’d run into an animal of some sort. I remember one hole in the ground that had a cat inside… I stared down at its face, and it stared back at [...]
Posted in sermon notes on Sep 21st, 2011
At a certain age, little kids are impressed by “strong.” ”Wow you can lift THAT?” Strong. A little later they’re impressed by something a little harder, “cool.” I have no idea what that is for a lot of people, but when something is cool, it’s “Woah…cool.” What impresses us changes as we get older – [...]
Posted in life of grace, sermon notes on Sep 9th, 2011
I often tell pastor-friends that the challenge with newer Christians is convincing them they need church every Sunday… Often times we don’t see our best friends that often – or play basketball (or insert your favorite pastime) that often – why should we go to church that often? But recently I’ve noticed that older Christians [...]
Posted in life skills, sermon notes on Sep 5th, 2011
Part of what makes the church a “family” is that we know we all have the same embarrassing and problematic condition… It makes us look stupid sometimes, it can keep us from finding happiness, and keeps us from being able to genuinely connect with people and with God… It’s called a Sin Condition. Now most [...]
Posted in life skills, sermon notes on Aug 12th, 2011
We mentioned on Sunday that one of the results of “sin” in the world is, we are out of touch with ourselves… There’s a character Dave Chappelle plays, the black blind white supremist who doesn’t know he’s black. I won’t link to it, you probably know it: The character grew up in a home for [...]
Posted in sermon notes on May 24th, 2011
Some of you have been in (or heard about) churches that have tried to take community life seriously – and the result was…annoying. Everyone was all in your business all the time! So you decided to find a church with good teaching where you can be an anonymous face in the crowd… Now I think [...]
Posted in sermon notes on May 17th, 2011
We’ve been having lousy Sunday attendance the past couple of weeks – but I really want everyone to be on the same page when it comes to this topic – so against my better judgment I’m putting up a video recap of me spazzing out talking to my iPhone. So enjoy! And for you punks [...]
Posted in sermon notes on May 15th, 2011
There are many plausible ways one could try to save the world… Some think they can do it through better laws and better politics – others through better education and resources – others through sheer will power and energy of smart people…others still through better design and understanding of human nature and actions (better economics, [...]