What Does This Mean??? The Parable of the Sower

What Does This Mean?  “The Parable of the Sower”

Luke 8:4-15

Have you ever had someone talk to you and you knew they were speaking in English but you couldn’t understand what they were trying to tell you? While I was still working at the Attorney General’s Office it was decided that our office would upgrade our computer cas...

Sermon Notes from September 6: The Bible Meets Broadway

The Bible Meets Broadway: The Music Man

Romans 7:14-25a; 1 Tim. 1:15

The Music Man premiered on Broadway in 1957 and introduced us to a charming con man as its main character by the name of Harold Hill. It ran for 1,375 performances and won five Tony awards. The play became famous in 1962 when the movie was released starring Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, and a young Ro...

Sermon Notes from August 30: The Bible Meets Broadway

The Bible Meets Broadway: Mary Poppins

Luke 12:13-23, 34; Mark 12:41-44

I wasn’t very old when I first saw the Disney movie, “Mary Poppins.” There was singing, dancing, magic, and laughter. Who among us wouldn’t want a practically perfect nanny with a bottomless carpet bag filled with furniture and clothes and games and books and...

Sermon Notes from August 23: The Bible Meets Broadway

The Bible Meets Broadway: Fiddler on the Roof

Matt. 15:1-9; 2 Thess. 2:13-15; 1 Cor. 10:31-11:1

 This Sunday’s musical Fiddler on the Roof wrestles with the struggle between tradition and traditionalism in Judaism and in a Jewish community. Fiddler on the Roof is based upon a collection of Yiddish stories about Tevye the Dairyman. The musica...

Sermon Notes from August 16: The Bible Meets Broadway

The Bible Meets Broadway: Mame

Matthew 1:18-23; Matthew 28:16-20

When I began thinking about Broadway musicals to use in a sermon series, Mame came to mind because of one song. “We Need a Little Christmas” was written for the musical starring Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur which opened on Broadway on May 24, 1966. It tells the story of a wealthy eccentric wo...

Sermons Notes from August 9: The Bible Meets Broadway

The Bible Meets Broadway: The Sound of Music

Gen. 13:1-13; Prov. 3:5-6

“The Sound of Music” opened on Broadway in November of 1959. It ran for 1,443 performances, winning eight Tony awards. In 1965, it was made into a movie starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The movie won five Academy awards, including best picture. Most people who have seen the...

Sermon Notes from August 2

Singing Our Faith: A Transformed Life

Rom. 12:2; Col. 1:9-20

In Romans 2:12 the Apostle Paul wrote: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Today we conclude our sermon series, Singing Our Faith, as we think about wh...

Sermon Notes from July 26

Singing Our Faith: The Gaithers

Matthew 9:18-26; Romans 3:21-27

There are few people in this world who are identifiable by only one name. In the gospel music field, the past had Watts and Wesley and Crosby; the present has the name, Gaither. Bill and Gloria Gaither are songwriters, but they are also much more than that. The Gaither Homecoming concerts feature everything...

Sermon Notes from July 19

Singing Our Faith

Romans 8:1-6, 18, 31-39

Our sermon series this Sunday looks at several different writers of hymns which fall into one category. Simply put, they are among my favorites and united by one of my favorite chapters in the Bible, Romans 8. 

The prelude this morning is not, technically speaking, a hymn. It was What a Wonderful World, written by Bob...