Isaiah 55:1-5 and Romans 9:1-5 Today I am continuing my series of sermons on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. I am drawing on the book, Not Ashamed of the Gospels, by Fleming Rutledge. Throughout much of our history, Christian preachers have demonized the Jews. As you may have noticed, we preachers tend, most of the […]

Psalm 105:1-11, 45b and Romans 8:26-39 I am continuing this morning with my series of sermons on Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans, drawing from the book Not Ashamed of the Gospel by Fleming Rutledge. One of Paul’s most important themes could be stated as “There but for the grace of God go I.” If […]

Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24 and Romans 8:12-25 I am continuing this morning with my series of sermons on Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans, drawing from the book Not Ashamed of the Gospel by Fleming Rutledge. One thing I’ve really missed during our extended hiatus from in-person worship because of the pandemic is baptisms. All baptisms […]

Psalm 119:105-112 and Romans 7:21 – 8:11 Today I am continuing my summer series of sermons on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. I am drawing from a book by Fleming Rutledge entitled Not Ashamed of the Gospel. I imagine we are all familiar with that proverbial scene from countless movies and TV shows when a […]

Matthew 11:25-30 and Romans 7:15-25a Today I am continuing my summer sermon series on Paul’s letter to the Romans. I’ve been drawing from a book called, Not Ashamed of the Gospel, by Fleming Rutledge. When I was growing up, the Methodist church in our small town was just two doors down from the Presbyterian Church. […]

Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17  and Romans 6:1-11 This morning I am continuing my series of sermons on Paul’s letter to the Romans, drawing on Fleming Rutledge’s book, Not Ashamed of the Gospel. The playwright, Tennessee Williams, lived on St. Peter Street in New Orleans while he was writing his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, A Streetcar Named Desire. […]

Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19 and Romans 5:1-11 I am beginning today a series of sermons on Paul’s letter to the Romans, based on a book by Fleming Rutledge entitled Not Ashamed of the Gospel. Romans is the longest of Paul’s letters and certainly among the most important. Written at the height of the apostle’s career. it […]

Psalm 8 and Genesis 1:1-5 Humans do something that no other creature would dare attempt. We try to make sense of life. One of our favorite questions is why? Why are we here? Why do terrible things happen? Why do wonderful things happen? We are certainly not without freedom and the ability to shape our […]

Acts 2:1-21 There is a dangerous side to God. It has nothing to do with judgment and everything to do with God’s creativity. At Pentecost we remember God’s passion for blowing away our safe plans. The real beginning of the Pentecost story comes in the very first chapter of the Bible: “In the beginning, God […]