Tag: Awareness
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Finding Hope Amidst Tragedy
A sermon originally delivered to Calvary Community (Reformed) Church in New Berlin, Wisconsin. Text: Mark 13:1-26. How do we make sense out of tragedy? It seems that we have to deal with this with increasing frequency. If not a bombing, then a school shooting, if not a school shooting, then a massive natural disaster, and…
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One Word for 2015: Wonder
Wonder Few things are more beautiful than to see a person filled with wonder. More often than not it is children that experience this sense of wonder when faced with a world that they are still trying to understand. The capacity to experience wonder is the capacity to be surprised, to be amazed, to understand…
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Finding Our Way
A sermon originally delivered at Calvary Community Church in New Berlin, WI. Esther 4:1-17 By now the Kingdom of Judah has been conquered and all the people of any social standing whatsoever have been taken to Babylon in a couple of deportations. The Exile was a pivotal point in the history of the people of…
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Blessed are the Autumn Daisies
Long after the trees have dropped their leaves, and the canopy of green becomes a jagged collection of branches reaching upward toward the disappearing sun, long after the geese have ceased honking and the birds have stopped their morning songs, long after the bushes begin to blaze but are not yet consumed, long after the…
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When you can’t find the words
My calling is centered around language, as language is the way to communicate, to express. In my pastoral role, it is my charge to speak to the community and for the community — to express the experiences and life of the community and to help us all find meaning in our individual and shared experiences.…
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When God sits at your bedside
I am a pastor. I spend time with people, not only preaching and teaching, but also checking in on them, visiting them in the hospital, praying with them and talking with them before operations about which anxieties are high. But in March, the day after Ash Wednesday, the tables were turned. I spent almost three…
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Choosing the Better Part
My sermon from this past Sunday. The text was Luke 10:38-42 Having people over is very enjoyable, but it can also be a lot of work. The apartment has to be cleaned, and depending how long people are staying, a guest room may have to be prepared, even if it is a make-shift room. food…
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Reaching Into the Dark
Sermon from this past Sunday. The text was Luke 7:11-17 This is a short story, only six verses to be accurate, but it is a wonderfully beautiful story. This story is another example of how, sometimes, silence can be more powerful and more significant than words. After all, there are only a couple of spoken…
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Faithful Foreigners
Sermon from this past Sunday. Text was Luke 7:1-10 “Not even in Israel have I found such faith” An unexpected statement, to be sure. After all, Israel is where the faithful were supposed to live. Ancient Israel was supposed to be the home of God’s people. Ancient Israel were thought to be God’s people to…
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Curiosity on a Sunny Saturday Morning
The sun is warm and the birds are chirping. It is finally a spring-like day during this unseasonably cold spring. The front window is open and I hear a group of boys talking. The city is doing utility work on our street and there is a square of concrete which is removed surrounded by sawhorse…
Matthew van Maastricht 