Anyone who presents material to others regularly — I’m thinking of course of preachers, since that’s what I do most often, but also teachers, workshop leaders, researchers, journalists — probably runs into this problem fairly often – the problem of having more material to present than can fit into the allotted presentation time. Continue reading
persistence
Divine Persistence – A Sermon on Mark 6:1-29
Jesus left that place, Mark tells us, and came to his hometown. (Mark 6:1-29) “That place” was the region around the Sea of Galilee, most recently where he healed a woman who had been suffering for many years and also raised from the dead the daughter of Jairus, a leader in the synagogue. Before that he cast out a demon from a tortured man. Before that he calmed a storm that was battering the boat taking him and his disciples from one side to the other. Before that he was teaching about seeds – sowing seeds, growing seeds, seeds as small as a grain of sand. Before that he healed a man’s withered hand on the Sabbath. Before that, before that, before that…. Continue reading
Dare to Believe – A sermon on Mark 5:21-43
A couple of months ago I was at Willow River Elementary School where I was volunteering in my son’s classroom to teach an art appreciation lesson. I stopped in the supply room near the office to pick up the things I needed before heading up to the room. In addition to carrying 3 large mounted art posters, I had a couple of zip lock baggies of teaching props, two shopping bags holding 24 canvas boards for a painting project, a large tub filled with tubes of paint in every color from raging red to perfect purple, and a couple of tin cans of paint brushes in every size and shape. Needless to say my hands were full. As I came out of the supply room and began the trek across the school to the opposite corner and up a couple of flights of stairs to the 3rd grade classroom a young student spotted me, took one look, and graciously asked, “Do you need some help?”
For Some Reason 