Category: Faith

A sermon on John 13:31-35 delivered to LaSalle Street Church on 5/15/22. The manuscript is edited below for reading, and you can find it in the full service via this YouTube video. If you’re keeping up with the church calendar, you know that we’re in a season that has traditionally been called “Eastertide.” In the weeks… Continue reading “Love One, Another”

A sermon on John 20:19-29 delivered to LaSalle Street Church on Easter Sunday, 4/17/22. This was the first of three sermons delivered by pastoral staff that day, each focusing on a different reaction to the resurrection. The manuscript is edited below for reading, and you can find it in the full service via this YouTube… Continue reading A sermon for Easter

A sermon on the eighth Station of the Cross, "Jesus is helped by Simon," based on Mark 15:21 and delivered on 4/15/22 as part of a series of reflections on the Scriptural Way of the Cross for the Near North Ministry Alliance's annual Good Friday Walk. The manuscript is edited below for reading. Mark 15:21… Continue reading A sermon for Good Friday

A sermon on Isaiah 43:16-21, Philippians 3:4b-14, and John 12:1-8 delivered to LaSalle Street Church on 4/3/22. The manuscript is edited below for reading, and you can find it in the full service via this YouTube video. We’re beginning the fifth week of Lent, which means that Holy Week starts next week, and Easter is… Continue reading “Remember Not”

I delivered this sermon on fire and Hebrews 13:11-14 to LaSalle Street Church on 7/25/21. The manuscript is edited below for reading, and you can find it in the full service via this YouTube video. A responsive hymn was sung between each section. The first story is about a fire that filled a house. Scripture tells… Continue reading “Three Stories About Fire”

I delivered this sermon on trees to LaSalle Street Church on 7/11/21. The manuscript is edited below for reading, and you can find it in the full service via this YouTube video. Today we begin a new series we’re calling "Our Maker’s World: Lessons from Creation." We’ll be listening to the ways God the Creator… Continue reading “Social Creatures”

On Thursday I walked the labyrinth at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas. My grandpa died a couple weeks ago, prompting a quick and unexpected road trip south to Abilene for the funeral and time with family. This side of the family—my dad's—has made a home in Churches of Christ for much longer than I've… Continue reading The labyrinth at Abilene Christian University

Today my church hosted its first in-person worship gathering since March 2020. Nearly every moment of the liturgy landed in the room like a proclamation of good news, from the opening greeting ("Our church is a place where you can come as you are...") to the pastor's three-finger sign of the cross offered as blessing… Continue reading Welcome back

On Saturday I walked the labyrinth at Portiuncula Center for Prayer in Frankfort, Illinois. I spent the weekend in one of their hermitages for a self-guided retreat, something I had developed a habit of doing every six months or so but not since 2019 (!). This was my first visit to Port, and miscalculating Friday… Continue reading The labyrinth at Portiuncula Center for Prayer

I delivered this sermon on Acts 1:12-26 to LaSalle Street Church on 4/18/21. The manuscript is edited below for reading, the full service is here, and the sermon is embedded below. Last week, Pastor Laura introduced our new series tracing the movement of the Holy Spirit through the book of Acts—how the Holy Spirit moved… Continue reading “Now What?”