A preface to my sermon: As I mention later, this is not the sermon I intended to write when I sat down at my computer yesterday morning. It is as if the Spirit were leading me in a different direction from where I planned to go. Then, after spending several hours writing this sermon, I printed it out and stuffed in in my backpack. However, at 2am this morning I woke with a start … I had second thoughts … is this really what I want to say? It is too simplistic? There are too many holes in my reasoning. It just doesn’t add up. There is always the other side of the argument. I’m not sure I should preach it as it is.
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A preface to my sermon: As I mention later, this is not the sermon I intended to write when I sat down at my computer yesterday morning. It is as if the Spirit were leading me in a different direction from where I planned to go. Then, after spending several hours writing this sermon, I printed it out and stuffed in in my backpack. However, at 2am this morning I woke with a start … I had second thoughts … is this really what I want to say? It is too simplistic? There are too many holes in my reasoning. It just doesn’t add up. There is always the other side of the argument. I’m not sure I should preach it as it is.
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Someone much wiser than me once said: Grace is when God gives us good things that we don’t deserve. Mercy is when God spares us from bad things we do deserve. Blessings are when God is generous with both. So, when have you been blessed? When have you desperately needed a blessing … any blessing? Did you receive a blessing, even if it was one you didn’t expect? And, assuming that God is alive in each one of us, who gave you that blessing? And, again, assuming that God is alive in each one of us, when have you been a blessing to another? Printer-Friendly Version
Each of our Scripture readings this morning points in some way to those moments when we become aware of the mysterious presence of God in our own experience….or at least an awareness that there’s something going on that’s strangely different. Printer-Friendly Version
Well, CONGRATULATIONS to you … the people of St. Cyprian’s … for voting this congregation as FOLIO WEEKLY’S BEST CHURCH IN ST. AUGUSTINE! And notice … it is NOT the Best SMALL Church … it is the BEST CHURCH! Thank you for your enthusiasm … what fun … what a hoot! Now before we let this go to our heads, we have to remember that who we are at St. Cyprian’s has nothing to do with a contest in a magazine. The fact is that being “church” has nothing to do with being “best.” I imagine the most people attending a worshipping community anywhere in this city this morning feel that their church is “best.” My feeling is … if it works for them … if that church community is the one that gives them life … then that is the “best” church for them. |
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October 2024
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