Called together
Download I received what I think was my best preparation for ministry in a time of Covid several years ago at a weekend retreat at Mt. Wesley in Kerrville. It wasn’t a leadership forum; or a crisis management training event. It wasn’t a…
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Openings
Download Helen Keller was born in Alabama in 1880, healthy and well. At 19 months of age she experienced an unidentified illness—possibly scarlet fever, maybe meningitis—that left her both deaf and blind, plunging her overnight into a world of silence and darkness. She…
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The house of bread
Download “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom. It was the age of foolishness. It was the epoch of belief. It was the epoch of incredulity. It was the season of light.
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Unprecedented
Download Good morning. I want to share a word with you that you’ve heard a lot this year—unprecedented. Aren’t you pretty tired of it? Almost as tired of the word “unprecedented” as “Mm. Excuse me, excuse me, you’re unmuted. Uh uh. You need…
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Open Hands
Download The three magi in the nativity scene on the shelf in the living room at Pat and Paul Christley’s home weren’t holding the traditional gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh. The first was holding a baby bottle; practical; the second was holding a wrapped…
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Nature’s Gospel
Download Winter solstice is upon us. In the northern hemisphere, tomorrow marks the shortest day and longest night of the year. This entire Advent season we’ve been talking about “watching for the light,” during which time the light has actually been slowly receding…
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Watching for the Light: Christmas and the Chorister’s Prayer
Download Painted on the wall in the church’s choir room is an old prayer; I mean an old prayer. The Chorister’s Prayer dates from about 400 A.D. If you haven’t seen it there, once the building is open again, go have a look.
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Watching for the Light: Preparing
Download Well, it is so good to be with each and every one of you here this morning at Laurel Heights United Methodist Church on this Second Sunday of Advent – a four-week journey that serves to prepare the way to Christmas, and…
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Watching for the Light: Awakening
Download “We teach our children one thing only, the same thing we ourselves were taught: to wake up.” I’m sure Annie Dillard’s words stir up colorful memories for parents, and for kids, and for parents who used to be kids about experiences of…
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