Acts 9:36-43 [watch video here] Transforming love. Let’s take a survey. Who has ever been transformed by love? Raise your hand if the answer is yes. I have! How have you been transformed? Has it been like the slow drip of rainthat leaves scattered holes on a rock’s surface?Or have you experienced a sudden transformation–like […]
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[Watch video here.] John 21:1-19 Let’s pray. Loving Rabboni, you welcome me into your community.You listen to my voice, you see me as I am, and I am loved.I have courage and strength to persevere in your loving way,loving God, loving creation, and loving my neighbor.Send me; use me.When I encounter suffering, I will show […]
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[Watch video here.] Luke 24:13-49 On the first day of the week,the women came to the tomb bringing spices.Grieving, they could have remained at home;that would be a normal response to death.Death had left a void in their hearts and their lives,that hole was in the shape of their beloved, Jesus. Still, they love Jesus.Still, […]
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John 12:1-8 [Watch the sermon video here.] They called Jesus a waster. One who wastes.Mary found her special perfume, which cost a year’s wages,and poured it all over Jesus’ feet. Priceless perfume oozed into his souls,and then … the floor! The onlookers remembered that Jesus rebuked extravagance.Now, as priceless perfume soaked his skinthey called him […]
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Luke 5:1-11; watch the sermon video here Ugh. Another useless night. Why do I even bother? Simon Peter thinks.He’s come up empty handed after a night of fishing.Night after night he has been fishing.Trying new parts of the water.Asking other fishers for the best method of catching fish.Mending the nets.Surely, he must be one throw […]
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John 2:1-12; watch video here On a cold winter day,there’s a woman on the New York subwayin a thin sweater, clearly freezing and hungry.She’s asking for money; a few people hand her a dollar quicklywithout eye contact. Everyone’s trying to get the whole thing over with.She’s carrying bags of stuff, bumping into peoplewho are grumbling […]
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Matthew 2:1-12 Necks tilted upward, eyes skyward,the magi halt, captivated. The magi are star-gazers to be sure. There’s something about stars, isn’t there? The way they sparkle the night and speckle the sky with silver glitter.Their luminosity shoots through space at light-year speed.Still, the demur stars wait until the quiet of night to reveal themselves. […]
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Luke 1:39-55 [watch sermon here] It’s only been a few dayssince Mary heard the newsthat that would change her life forever. Mary had just learned that she would be part of the processof birthing a revolution for her people. Unable to stay still, Mary set outand ran with haste to the hill country. There’s an […]
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Luke 3:7-20 The crowds empty out onto the desert.They have heard about John.His words can cut like a knifethrough the shroud of societal lies.His words can make your heart beat again,even after the coldness of apathy has stilled it. The people ache to see John.The people are afraid to see John. What would he say […]
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Mark 13:1-8 Look! Magician Nate Staniforth displays a five-rupee cointo a stranger on the streets of India. Nate shows the five-rupee coin andthen closes his hand over it. With a magical sleight of hand,Nate maneuvers the coin within his fingers. When he opens up his hand,the coin is gone. It has vanished. Ahmed, the stranger […]
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The First Baptist Church in Essex 