All the Sermons

Scripture: Luke 1:46-55 Often when a person receives an unexpected blessing, or a wonderful answer to a prayer we might hear them say, “Somebody up there likes me!” That sentence conveys a sense of having received a reward for good behavior, because presumably that would be why “somebody up there likes me.” But why talk as if you don’t know who sends the blessings? Why not name the great benefactor? Well, I guess a lot of people really don’t know who likes them up there.  Mary certainly received an unexpected blessing when the angel visited her. And she definitely knew who was doing the blessing. But what a blessing! I don’t think any unwed mother who ever received news about an unplanned pregnancy ever said, “Somebody up there likes me!”   But Mary says, “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.” The focus is definitely not on herself as the person being liked! She if focused on God and God is

Scripture: Isaiah 40:1-11 Listen here:   https://www.lcepc.org/blogger Comfort is many people’s major goal in life. It’s instinctive. We like comfortable beds, and chairs, comfort food, creature comforts, and a comfortable income to afford it all. People are like cats. Cats are connoisseurs of comfort. Our cat Noel apparently knew exactly what she was doing when she weaseled her way out of the cold December air and into our warm hearts, or more likely, our warm home. I don’t know if she cares about our hearts. I do know that she likes a soft bed. We have this small fleece blanket laid out at the foot of our bed, on the bed. That is where she sleeps now. Part of her comfort is to sleep on her fleece, and part is to sleep near her people, I think to make sure we are not going anywhere. But I have learned her fleece is more important. One night we laid awake hoping our cat was ok, because she wasn’t sleeping on the foot of the bed. She wasn’t in her usual spot. Something might be w

Isaiah 64:1-9 Listen here:  https://www.lcepc.org/blogger Waiting in line at the store is my most fun thing to do! The shopping is done, and now I can relax while the people in front of me take their time getting checked out. I get to look around and see how many other people are happily waiting in their lines. Well, maybe I’m really looking to see if there’s a line open. But it’s fun! Then there’s the waiting room. Think of all the people who could be waiting in the doctor’s office for their name to be called for their next appointment. There could be all kinds of reasons why they are there and what they are waiting for. Maybe a diagnosis, maybe a treatment plan, maybe a pronouncement of healing. It might be for a minor injury, or it might be to find out whether the dreaded cancer has struck, or struck again. It can be a fearsome, formidable thing, this waiting at the Dr.’s office. And even if we know there is nothing seriously wrong, still we just don’t like the waiting! Wait

Scripture: Ephesians 1:3-11 Listen here:  https://www.lcepc.org/blogger  It is the season of Thanksgiving. We give thanks for family, and health and all kinds of blessings. We can try to count our blessing as the song says, but we know there’s always way more than we can really count. We give thanks for good and loving relationships among family and friends, gainful employment, economic security and political and religious freedom. We give thanks for our national security and all our armed forces that protect our liberties and prosperity. It is good to give thanks! And we give thanks to God for making it all possible.  That’s good too, even commanded of us. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” That’s command language! It’s kind of a funny thought for parents, thinking about how much they do for their children and wanting to tell them, “You ought to thank me!” But we tend to refrain from commandin

Scriptures:  John 1:35-37, John 1:40-42, John 1:43-46, John 4:25-26, 28-30, John 12:20-22, Matthew 19:13-15, Matthew 9:1-7. Listen here:  https://www.lcepc.org/blogger    What do all of these passages have in common?  Bringing! In each one, somebody brings a new person to meet Jesus! All of them “walked with” the people they brought. And among them we see a variety of reasons that they were motivated to do so, all good reasons. In summary: 1.    They brought because of being pointed in the right direction. 2.    They brought because of enthusiasm. 3.    They brought because age, physical and spiritual condition were no obstacle to the friend or neighbor of faith who cared about the friend or neighbor in need. To look at the ones who brought others after having been pointed in the right direction, first of all we see John, the Baptist himself, the last great prophet of the Old Testament style. He knew his important role as the one who would herald the coming Messiah. But he di

Scripture: 2 Cor. 5:14-21 you can listen here: https://www.lcepc.org/blogger Once while I was working in a furniture factory in Grand Rapids, I was busy with a stack of wooden frame members for office cubicle partitions. All I was doing was filling holes with glue and then pushing a short little dowel in each hole to get them ready for the next step in the assembly process. So, while I was standing there with another guy, him on the other end of the stack doing the same mindless task, the foreman comes over and says, “I don’t know guys, sometimes I wonder, what’s the point? I work hard all day and all week to get a paycheck that I spend on food, housing and bills just so I can stay alive and go to work again to earn more money that keeps me alive and healthy to keep on working.” I said to him, “Carl, the way you describe it, if that is really all there is to life, you are right, there is no point. It is pointless. You’re on the hamster wheel, running all day and going nowhere.”

Listen here:  https://www.lcepc.org/blogger   A PowerPoint for the pics I used Scripture: Romans 10:11-17 Life Line skit “The Faithful Witness,” Policeman:  Okay, I understand you were a witness to the accident. Witness:  Well I’m not good at describing things, but I was standing here looking in the general direction when it happened, but that’s about all. Policeman:  Well, for the police record, you wanna tell me what happened? Witness:  I don’t really think I should. Policeman:  I’m sorry, why not. Witness:  It’s that there’s just a lot I don’t know. Policeman:  What do you mean? Witness:  Like their names.  I don’t have any idea of the names of anyone driving. I don’t know where they came from or where they were going or what they were thinking, or what they were looking at?  Don’t ask me, I don’t know? Narrator:  Often we forget that a witness only needs to say what he knows. Policeman:  Can you just tell me what you saw when the accident happened? Witnes