Sermons by Randy

There are a few essentials of discipleship, it seems to me: teachability and passion, to name two. Today, I want to talk about compassion. Around here (where we’re in the process of merging two congregations), we are asking the question, "How will this look different?" One way I think we must look different is that … Read more

Recently I talked about the importance of teachability/teachability 2.0. I said teachability is an essential quality of being a disciple. Disciples, by definition, are teachable! Disciples must be passionate! Another requirement, I believe, is passion. Think about it: the word apathy means “without passion.” What do you think about the term, “apathetic Christian”? Isn’t that … Read more

In "The Great Thanksgiving" that we sometimes use for our communion liturgy, there’s this phrase where everyone is invited to "proclaim the mystery of faith" … "Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again." Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again. All three parts are essential! The Apostle Paul talks … Read more

In wrapping up this series on the “7 deadly sins,” we’re going to talk about the last two sins on our list: lust and gluttony. Lust and gluttony are twin brothers. Lust is misplaced love and gluttony is misplaced hunger. A woman struggled to lose weight. She had tried everything — all kinds of diets, … Read more

[Note: As part of our devotion/Bible discussion time at beginning of our council meeting tonight, I shared a brief review of Tuesday’s message as well as some additional thoughts on teachability.] Psalm 51 reveals the teachable heart of David. It’s the psalm he writes about his repentance following his sins involving Bathsheba and Uriah. In … Read more

[Note: This sermon was presented at one of the Community Lenten Services coordinated by the Juniata Valley Ministerium. This sermon was delivered at the Zion Lutheran Church.] In this series of messages during Lent, we’ve been focusing on the promises of God’s blessings given in the beatitudes, a section of Scripture that Jesus presents at … Read more

“He who dies with the most toys wins.” You may have read that on a bumper sticker at some point. That could be the slogan for avarice. Avarice (a word we don’t really use much anymore) means “excessive, unbridled desire.” There are three closely related words we want to talk about … Greed – an … Read more

Proverbs 6.6-11 There’s an animal called the sloth. It’s a mammal that lives mostly in trees and feeds mainly on leaves. It sleeps, eats, travels, and even gives birth, while hanging upside down. Sloths move only when they have to, and when they do, it’s normally very slowly. Amazingly, infant sloths hang onto their mother’s … Read more

Think about your recent experiences of anger: were they justified? Are there certain common things that tend to make you angry? On a scale of 1-10, how much do you struggle with anger? “Anger is never without a reason, but seldom with a good one.” (Benjamin Franklin) Anger is not always wrong … “Anger is … Read more

During Lent we are tracking through the “7 Deadly Sins”: pride, envy, anger, sloth, avarice, lust, and gluttony. We are spending this time dealing with the sin our lives because “Sin is real, and it’s a part of each of us” (Dunnam & Reisman). Last week, we looked at pride, the itch for recognition, and … Read more