Preacher of Habit

Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit Aug. 25/26     Matthew 4: 23-25, 5: 1-3 Recently in an online forum, a former Navy flight instructor recounted teaching his pilots about maintaining a disciplined focus while flying their aircrafts. “It’s relatively easy,” he said, “to develop” what he calls “spatial disorientation.” [1] In other words, the loss of intense focus could result in the pilots flying upside down and not even know it. And if you were to do a quick Google search, you can read reports of pilots who met unfortunate death because they were “upside down” and never knew it. This week we are beginning a new sermon called “Blessed: Finding the Good Life.” It’s based on the first of Jesus’ teachings in what is known as the Sermon on the Mount, a group of eight sayings known as “The Beatitudes,” or words of blessing. And we get the sense that these beatitudes are Jesus’ effort to lead us out of potential spiritual disorientation and into true victorious, Kingdom

Aug. 4/5, 2019           Dismantling Racism Galatians 3: 23-29             This week we’re concluding our sermon series on Five Areas of Focus that can change the world. I hope you’ve been inspired by this series, and the ways in which we’ve lived it out. We’ve taken some time to think through what it means to be in ministry with the poor, to develop principled Christian leaders, to create renewal and revival, and to work toward global health. And these are all faithful ways we can live out of our faith. But we have one last area of focus that needs to be addressed, a conversation that’s as old as time, and a conversation that’s dominated the headlines over the last several years, and that’s the area of dismantling racism. (Before I read the Scripture, I invited us into a time of humility and vulnerability by showing a brief Peanuts comic strip) I invite you to read with me…             Last August I had the privilege of officiating at my cousin’s weddi