Sermon Blog

A flying saucer landed at a gas station on a lonely country road.  The two space aliens inside seemed completely unconcerned about detection; in fact, the letters "UFO" were emblazoned in big, bold letters on one side of their shiny craft. As the station owner stood and gawked in silence, paralyzed with shock, his young clerk took their money and waved to the two aliens as they took off. "Do you realize what just happened?" the station owner finally uttered. "Yeah," said the attendant.  "So?" "Didn't you see the space aliens in that vehicle?!" "Yeah," repeated the attendant.  "So?" "Didn't you see the letters 'UFO' on the side of that vehicle?!" "Yeah," repeated the attendant.  "So?" "Don't you know what 'UFO' means?!" The cashier rolled his eyes.  "Come on, boss!  I've been working here for six years.  Of course I

Last week we began our series on examining the “I Am” statements of Jesus in the Gospel of John.   We talked about how controversial these statements would have been for the Hebrew people that would have heard them coming from Jesus.   We went back to Exodus 3 and heard the conversation between Moses and God as God was preparing Moses to go back into Egypt and bring the Hebrew people out of slavery: Moses questioned God, “If I go back to Egypt and tell the Israelites that the God of their ancestors had sent him, they are going to want to know who this God is and I don’t even know your name.   What am I supposed to tell them?”   God replied to Moses, “‘I Am Who I Am.’” God continued on, “‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, I Am has sent me to you…The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever and this is my title for all generations.’” [i] Those listening to Jesus and hearing him

After talking about bread Wednesday night, we might need to talk about healthy eating and weight loss this morning, so let me tell you a story that relates a scene from one a weight loss clinic. At one meeting, the instructor held up an apple and a candy bar. “What are the attributes of this apple,” she asked, “and how do they relate to our diet?” “It’s low in calories” and “It has lots of fiber,” were among the most common answers. She then detailed what was wrong with eating candy, and concluded, “Apples are not only more healthful, but also less expensive.   Do you know I paid fifty-five cents for this candy bar?” Everyone in the room stared at the forbidden treat the instructor held in her hand.   From the back of the room a small voice spoke up, “I’ll give you seventy-five cents for it.” We are in week six of our seven-week journey to rediscover what it means to live “Life Together” as a Christian Community.   We began the journey by being reminded by Dietrich

If you don’t already know it, I love bread.   I love most all breads, with the exception of any that have onion or oats (because of allergies), and I am not a real big fan of banana-nut bread.   For years my favorite bread was the yeast roll at Golden Corral.   In fact, there were many times were I would eat an extra yeast roll or two instead of visiting the dessert bar (and that was on top of any that I ate during rest of the meal).   A few years back, I found a new favorite when my parents took us on a cruise.   It is Norlander bread.   It is good warm or room temperature with butter spread on it.   Unfortunately, while loaves of Norlander are plentiful on a cruise ship, I have yet to find it in any store or bakery in North Carolina.   That’s okay, though, because I have come to Harkers Island and light rolls, no other bread is really needed. When it comes to folks watching their waist-line, bread tends to be a “no-no.”   When I was in seminary I went through a period of t