Mindful Leader

Last Sermon from Romans -- here Chapter 12, Verses 1 and 2 -- for a while. This was intended to focus on encouraging people to take part in the Disciple Growth within the Church.

I have never done this much from Romans.  Six weeks I think.  Complex text but I got a lot out of the preparation.  I pray that the congregation was enriched with this excursion.  

We will look at Parables from Matthew after Youth Sunday (September 7, 2014).  

Sermon is from Romans 9: 1-5 but is as much about Paul's context with the house churches in Rome as it is about Romans 9: 1-5.

From the comments after the service, this Sermon may be described in the future as "The Carrot, Egg, Coffee" Sermon. We'll see. The text is Romans 8: 12-25. Dense passage. When Marilyn and I were working on this, her comment was "there are about ten sermons in that." Yes. Grace Acosta, the Liturgist, also mentioned how dense it was. I normally shy away from Romans for that reason, but the lectionary, if a little "out of cycle" (this was the reading for the third Sunday in July, not the second Sunday in August), but for some reason (the Holy Spirit?), the urge to adjust the cycle a little to give us five Sundays on Romans emerged. Next week -- Romans 9: 1-5.

I am going to get back to some lectionary preaching in a few weeks, but this passage from Exodus 15: 21-27 is rich, rich, rich.  Even though my plan was more topical, the text pulled me into expanding on the idea of "why Hilltop?"  

These three weeks were (1)  Why Jesus? (2) Why 'the' Church? and finally (3) Why Hilltop?  

I think the real issue for us is the 12 Springs and 70 Date Trees at Elim.  And, not mentioned in the Sermon but true, is that they didn't stay there.  They kept going.  

James 2: 1-13

Fourth Sermon in Series on the Black Experience.  Focus here is on tolerance.  

You might think of this as the Sermon of The Three Martyrs:  Bonhoeffer, Romero, and King.  

The text is from Matthew 10: 20 to 42.  

Domestication of Jesus, and perhaps Dr. King.  

Frankly, this Sunday was as much about the Spirituals -- Sometimes I feel like a Motherless Child is hinted at here with Camille Cole -- and the Chancel Choir (not presented this week) with Plenty Good Room and the Praise Band with Wade in the Water.  

The Big Idea was that Spirituals sustained the slaves in their place of abandonment before the Civil War.  The tunes returned to help them in a "freer" but still troubled time.  

Community (with a hint of this being Boy Scout Sunday), trusting in God, and the idea that God has plenty of space in which we can grow are the key take aways.  

We are going to use Black Music to provide us a lens into the theology of the Black Experience.  

Today we use South African Freedom Songs to frame the conversation a little about Nelson Mandela.  

The scripture is from Exodus 9: 1 and Galatians 5: 1.  Both having to do with freedom.  

The Hilltop Chancel Choir provides a little of the musical context of the sermon and a post sermon benediction.