All the Sermons

Scripture: Job 2:11-13 (but really the whole book) Listen link:   https://www.lcepc.org/Sermons   People crave a sense of security. We like to feel in control of our own world. And we like to give advice to others so that they can stay safe too. These are expressed as rules for safe living. Follow the rules and you’ll be safe. That general principle is one we all accept and appreciate. We only laugh at the idea when people go to extremes and needlessly state the obvious. Some fun examples of our attempts to keep safe, and keep others safe, are the variety of warning labels that appear on modern products. Smart little sayings like, the one on the electric hair dryer: Warning, do not use while sleeping. Or on the microwave oven: Not to be used for drying pets. There’s a warning on a package of those iron-on transfers: Do not iron while wearing shirt! And on the bottom of a skate board: This product moves when used. Exercise caution when riding. Admittedly, most of those labels

Scripture: Genesis 50:15-21 Listen link:   https://www.lcepc.org/Sermons   We know the story of Joseph. We’re well acquainted with how Joseph expressed his forgiveness toward his brothers. Joseph is like Jesus, he forgave his brothers and saved them from suffering and death! But we tend to over simplify the process of forgiveness. It is so much harder than the cliché we like to think of, just forgive and forget. There are details in Joseph’s story that shed more light on what is really involved in forgiveness. Let’s talk about that. Life can be hard. Just about all of us endure difficult circumstances from time to time. One perspective is to take note that, at every point in life, you’re either in a storm, or else it has just passed, and you are in a time of relief and refreshment, or else that another storm is on the way and preparation is necessary, just like real weather. In connection with that reality, I heard somebody say once that his favorite verse in the Bible is, “It

Scripture: Genesis 32:22-38 Listen link:  https://www.lcepc.org/Sermons What’s in a name? Proverbs 22:1 says, “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” Naming things is a sign of authority and ownership. In the first pages of Genesis, Adam was given the task of naming all the animals, signifying his rule over them. Parents name their children and we insist on that as a parental right. I really believe that most of the time people are trying to give good names to their kids. They also want unique names. If you have an ordinary name like Bob, there might be three or four of you in one class. Jason told me that happened to him. In one class his teacher said, “Jason, I need to speak with you.” And five boys got up and headed for the teacher’s desk. That’s not going to happen if your name is unique. But there’s a lot of worse stuff that does happen to kids whose names are a little too strange. We might wonder about some of the

Hebrews 11:1-11 Listen here:   https://www.lcepc.org/ Sermons You may remember the Army’s catch phrase from a few years ago that replaced, “Be all that you can be.” The new one was, “Army of One.” Remember that? I did learn that it was really supposed to be an acronym. O is for officers, N is for Non-commissioned Officers and E is for Enlisted. Get it? The whole army acts as one unit. And a single trooper is fully equipped. But most people, myself included, took it to be an overstatement about the confidence and supposed ability of one soldier to get the job done. Their commercial even showed one lone soldier running through some kind of field, under enemy fire. My thought was, “He’s crazy to be out there alone!” And yet, there are times in our history in which it was just one man that had a dramatic impact on the course of human history. Today I want to talk about three of them that come from the pages of our readings in the book of Genesis, and then, one more. This week in t

Scripture: Acts 2:42-47; 4:32-35 Listen here:   https://www.lcepc.org/Sermons We live in a day in which many people want to belong to something meaningful, but don’t want to join up, or sign a membership commitment. I’m sure you’ve heard about people who say, “Oh I believe in Jesus. I just don’t like organized religion.” They prefer a “no obligations relationship.” I suppose another obvious example is couples who live together. A growing number of couples are choosing not to be married at all. In a recent article in Newsweek magazine titled, “Yes to Love, No to Marriage,” Bonnie Eslinger wrote that marriage is not necessary to demonstrate the love and commitment she feels for her partner, Jeff. “I am a 42-year-old woman who has lived life mostly on my own terms. I have never sought a husband and have still experienced intense, affirming love.” She went on to say, “We are committed to spending our future together, pursuing our dreams and facing life's challenges i