Sermon Video: "The Year of Jubilee - Leviticus 25

What do Jewish regulations about the Sabbath, land ownership, and workers' rights have to do with the Church today? The answer, it turns out, is plenty. The principles of justice and second chances that underpin the celebration of the Year of Jubilee are certainly needed in our world today. In addition, the return of land during the Jubilee to its original owners helped to balance wealth and poverty in Israel as well as allow those who fallen on hard times to redeem their families land and start over...


This sermon is the last to be given to the people of the First Baptist Church of Palo, my first pastorate, and as such ends with a personal message of thanks and prayer for the future ministry at Palo.
 
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Sermon Video

Sermon Video: The Shepherds' Tale - Luke 2:8-20

Why were lowly shepherds chosen by God to be the first to hear the message of the newborn Messiah?  Imagine their amazement when not only one, but a whole choir of angels sang in praise of Christ's arrival in the flesh.  That God chose to speak to shepherds should come as no surprise, he has a long history of working with those that society has forgotten and using our weakness as his strength.  How did the shepherds prove that God made the right choice?  They went quickly to see the Christ-child, and just as quickly went out and told others of the wonderful things which God had done.

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Sermon Video

Sermon Video: Christmas with Mercy and without Fear - Luke 1:49-50,68-75

Long before our favorite Christmas carols were written Mary and Zechariah spoke words of poetry to commemorate the wonders that God was doing with the birth of John and Jesus.  In their words we learn that God, whose mercy had sustained his covenant people in the past, is now extending that mercy through the advent of his son.  The birth of Immanuel will allow men to approach God without fear because his holiness will fulfill our obligations before the holy God who created us.

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Sermon Video

Making a list, checking it twice.

Well, I'm not Santa Claus, but I've been making a list too.  Those of you who know me know that I don't like to make lists, I'd rather keep all of my obligations and projects in my head.  When you're moving to PA in three weeks a list becomes necessary.  Yesterday I had about twelve things on my list and managed to take care of nine of them.  I'm sure some new things will pop up in the next few days and join the list too.  Today is Nicole's last day of teaching at LCC, Monday is my last day at PACE.  After that we're in full fledged packing mode.
And to think, Mary and Joseph probably just packed a handful of things, got the trusty ol' family donkey, and headed off to Bethlehem.  How would Christmas have been different if Joseph was hauling all of his stuff in a 26' U-Haul?

Praise to God, gratitude to many others.

As he would have even if the answer from Franklin has been "no", God deserves my praise.  Job knew that the Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away; in my years of waiting the same lesson has been learned.  Not that my situation compares in any way to the suffering of Job.  I've had two jobs during this waiting period and a loving, if weary of waiting, wife at my side (instead of Job's less than helpful grief stricken wife).  In the end, God deserves praise because the will of the Lord is that we prosper and grow in our spiritual transformation process of becoming Christ-like.  For some, God blesses them to cause growth, for others, he sends trials and tribulations, and for a few, he simply tells them to wait.
Now that our prayers for direction have been answered (and a new avenue of prayer for this new ministry begins), Nicole and I have a mountain of thanks to spread out to our supporters that begins with our families, extends to our friends and my former church family at Galilee, and ends with my church family at Palo.  All have been what we needed from time to time.  Some have offered regular prayer, even on days that I found it hard to pray.  Some have offered words of encouragement, even on days when I felt stuck in a rut. 
From the beginning, the wonderful people at Palo have been understanding of my search process.  I came to them out of the blue, as it were, five years ago and grew to love the people, the old stone building, and the chance to preach God's Word each week.  I'll take with me my fond memories of Sunday school with Marjorie, Joy, Linda, and Jimmie; I'll chuckle at memories of Tony telling me whether or not a new iworship song was a keeper, and Wilma interrupting the service anytime she needed to let everyone know about the news from Camp Lake Louise.  I'll remember the quiet way in which Bruce was the board chairman, and the diligent way in which Sue kept the bulletin and newsletter in shape.  I'll miss Marion telling me thank you for helping her up off of the chair lift, and Sue's infectious enthusiasm for the school at Palo.  That's the tip of the iceberg.
Lastly, I need to thank my wife.  I promised her before we were married ten and a half years ago that I would support her and ease the burden she was lifting when I was able to secure a full-time job.  I imagined as a worse case scenario that it would take two years.  When I began teaching at Portland I thought it would only add a year to her wait, it ended up being nine.  There were plenty of times that all the words I had to offer her rang hollow, times that all I could do was hold her as she wept and express my regret.  What can a husband say when he sees his wife's health deteriorate through over-work and he is powerless to work more because the job offers aren't coming?  The one thing that I could say, the same thing I've told her every day of our marriage, I love you Nicole; always and forever.
Thank you Lord for answering our prayers, thank you all for helping lift them up to his throne, thank you Nicole for believing in me.