Sermon preached on Saturday, November 28, 2020 (First Sunday of Advent) via Zoom at Church of the Savior in Wheaton, IL. If there are two things I hate, they are waiting and staying awake. I hate waiting. Ask anyone who knows me. I am absolutely horrible when it comes to delayed gratification. I’ve been known to open new boxes of cereal on the way home from the store. And I hate staying awake. ...
(To listen to the audio of this sermon as it was preached on June 6, 2020, click here.) Christians believe that there is one God in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Or, as my daughter Eva put it recently after seeing a picture in her book, “Father, Son, and Bird.” We’re working on that… We Christians have been taught that the Trinity is important. No one wants to be a heretic. Trinity, good. Modalism, bad. ...
Sermon preached on Saturday, June 6, 2020 (Trinity Sunday) via Zoom at Church of the Savior in Wheaton, IL. Scripture: Matthew 28:16-20. ℹ️ Note This is an automated transcript of the sermon audio, lightly edited for readability. The original recording is available from Church of the Savior. Greetings, everybody. I’m coming to you from the basement of All Souls Anglican Church. It was pointed out to me in our practice session that these books are all tagged according to the Dewey Decimal System, so I just wanted to clarify that this is not my personal library, although that is a goal of mine. ...
Sermon preached on Saturday, September 14, 2019 at Church of the Savior in Wheaton, IL. Scripture: 1 Timothy 5:1-16. ℹ️ Note This is an automated transcript of the sermon audio, lightly edited for readability. The original recording is available from Church of the Savior. Father, now may the words of my mouth and of all of our hearts be acceptable and pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen. ...
Sermon preached on Saturday, June 1, 2019 at Church of the Savior in Wheaton, IL. Scripture: John 17:20-26. ℹ️ Note This is an automated transcript of the sermon audio, lightly edited for readability. The original recording is available from Church of the Savior. Father, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. Amen. There are just some passages of the Bible that you can’t get away from. Sometimes it’s because a passage is particularly inspiring, encouraging, or comforting. Think Psalm 23. Other times, though, it’s because the passage really bugs you. And I’ll confess that tonight’s gospel lesson really bugs me. And I hope that by the end of the sermon, it really bugs you too. ...
(Sermon preached at Church of the Savior in Wheaton, IL.) I’d like to pray this week’s collect again: Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. ...
Sermon preached on Saturday, December 8, 2018 at Church of the Savior in Wheaton, IL. Scripture: Luke 3:1-6. ℹ️ Note This is an automated transcript of the sermon audio, lightly edited for readability. The original recording is available from Church of the Savior. I’d actually like to pray this week’s collect again, because I think it’s so good. So, pray with me. Merciful God, who sent your messengers, the prophets, to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation, give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. ...
This sermon, on Mark 8:27-38 and James 3:1-12, was originally preached on September 16, 2018 at Christ Redeemer Anglican Church in Milwaukee, WI. Introduction Would you pray with me? O God, because without you we are not able to please you—especially in what we say!—mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts, so that the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts might be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen. ...
Sermon preached on Saturday, January 20, 2018 at Church of the Savior in Wheaton, IL. ℹ️ Note This is an automated transcript of the sermon audio, lightly edited for readability. The original recording is available from Church of the Savior. Would you pray with me? Father, you have promised us so much in your word, and I ask that you would prepare our hearts to receive it. God, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen. ...
The following is an “It is Finished” sermon preached on Ascension Sunday, 2017. GOODBYES SUCK You know, if there’s one thing I hate, it’s goodbyes. Anyone else here hate goodbyes? Yeah, and the fact that I hate them so much means I’m not really very good at goodbyes. Sometimes I get awkward and silent. Sometimes I get awkward and really chatty! Heck, sometimes I get awkward and I make poor choices, like the one time when I was getting ready to say goodbye to my family when they dropped me off at college. ...
There is something special about last meals, isn’t there? I’d like to show you a series of photographs. These photographs, except for the last one – which I added, are from a piece called “No Seconds,” and they were put together by Henry Hargreaves. I don’t want to belabor the artwork with my commentary, so I’ll give you a few seconds to take each slide in. Now, I don’t know about you, but those pictures affect me deeply. The whole idea of a criminal’s last meal affects me deeply. Why? ...
[PDF Sermon Manuscript: Getting Ahead in God’s Upside-Down Kingdom] Opening Prayer God, our Refuge, I ask that your Holy Spirit would move in our lives, so that we would: promote your justice embody your steadfast faithful love and humbly obey Your will, even if it costs us our reputations, and even if it costs us our lives. I ask that this transformation would begin with me. In Jesus’ name. Amen. ...
Good morning! And Merry Christmas! Together, let us pray: O God, you make us glad by the yearly festival of the birth of your only Son Jesus Christ: Grant that we, who joyfully receive him as our Redeemer, may with sure confidence behold him when he comes to be our Judge; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. Almighty God, who wonderfully created us in your own image and yet more wonderfully restored us through your Son Jesus Christ: grant that, as he came to share our humanity, so we may share the life of his divinity; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. ...
(A chapel message in a Christian school.) There are a few things you should know about me: I am a student at a Christian seminary. Before that, I went to a Christian college. Before that, I went to a Christian high school, and a Christian middle school. Before that, I was home-schooled, and I grew up in a Christian home. Oh, also: I’m the world’s worst sports fan. I’m serious. The students in my youth group give me a hard time about it. Every week, they’re like, “Josh, did you see the game?!” “Josh, are you going to watch the game?” ...
Readings: Psalm 34; Jeremiah 16:14-21; Mark 1:14-20 Like so many other feast days – scheduled, as they are, on the days of the namesakes’ deaths – the feast day of St. James the Apostle is a strong rebuke to our aspirations. To our aspirations as human beings, and especially to our aspirations as ministers of Christ’s Church. James & John: Fishermen No More? You see, James started off as a mere fisherman. An admirable one, to be sure, because he and his brother John answered Jesus’ call in Mark 1. They left behind their father, their family, and – they grew to hope! – their family’s fishing profession. ...