Sermons, Reflections, Thoughts, and Musings.
CMCL Sermon — August 27, 2023 — An Alternate Understanding of the Book of Job
The following was presented as a reflection on August 27th at the Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster 9:30AM service. Part 1: Introduction When Susan told me about this “Choose Your Own Lectionary” series, I think she was thinking that maybe I’d be willing...
CMCL Sermon — February 26th, 2023
The following was presented as a reflection on February 26th at the Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster 8:30AM and 11:00AM services. The sermon references two readings: words from Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (pg 70-71, published by Spiegel &...
Being ‘Good’ Doesn’t Fix Racism
This was published in the Winter 2021 (vol16 no1) issue of Plumb Line, the Elizabethtown College Peace Fellowship Newsletter (p 2-3) under the title "Being 'Good' Doesn't Fix Racism: Why Confronting Racism is Especially Hard for White People." Recently I had the good...
Rockway Mennonite Church Sermon — October 4th, 2020
The following was presented as a shared reflection by my spouse, Susan, and myself in the online service for Rockway Mennonite Church (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada) on October 4th, 2020. The sermon references two readings: Daniel 5:1-12,22-30 and these words from...
LTS Chapel Sermon — March 27th, 2019
The following was presented as a reflection on March 27th at the Lancaster Theological Seminary Wednesday Chapel service at 11AM. When I first looked at the preaching schedule, and saw my name by this passage, I said to myself, “Oh, there’s been a huge mistake –...
Historic Salem UCC — April 8th, 2018
The following was presented as a reflection on November 6th at the Historic Salem UCC 10:15AM service. I did not truly know what exhaustion was until I entered my second year of seminary. The academic schedule is grueling: six to seven hours of class-time every week,...
CMCL Sermon — October 15th, 2017
The following was presented as a reflection on November 6th at the Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster 9:30AM service. Today’s lectionary reading is Exodus 32, verses 1 through 14 – the very beginning of the story, basically up to where Moses manages to convince...
UUCV Sermon — May 28th, 2017
The following was presented as a reflection on May 28th at the Unitarian Universalists of Cumberland Valley 10:30AM service. "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat. "I don’t...
CMCL Sermon — November 6th, 2016
The following was presented as a reflection on November 6th at the Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster 8:30AM and 11:00AM services. For those of you who don’t know, I’m currently attending Lancaster Theological Seminary, pursuing a Masters of Divinity. From what I...
CMCL Sermon — August 23rd, 2015
The following was presented as a reflection on August 23rd at the Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster 9:30AM service. The first church I attended regularly was, at least initially, because of Susan. “Insistence” may be a bit strong of a word, but what she extended...