Lighting the Joy Candle: A Litany for Two Readers
Use this link to download Call to Worship PDF. Sized so two copies may fit on a one sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper. Can also be emailed for online worship. Please respect...
Sandy Hook Revisited
It’s hard to believe that three years have passed since Adam Lanza gunned down 20 elementary school children, 6 of their teachers, and his mother. Even harder to fathom is that, three years on,...
Merry Christmas by Langston Hughes
This poem accompanied the sermon, "Making Peace."
MERRY CHRISTMASby Langston HughesPublished In New Masses (Dec. 1930)
Merry Christmas, ChinaFrom the gun-boats in the river,Ten-inch shells for Christmas gifts,And peace on earth forever.Merry Christmas, India,To Gandhi...
Children’s Chat: “Stuffed Animal Sunday” or “The Not So Peaceable Kingdom”
Whenever Isaiah's "Peaceable Kingdom" takes its turn in the lectionary rotation, I look forward to the opportunity to do something creative with the prophet's vision of the world as God intends it. Wolves and...
Making Peace
A version of this sermon was preached at the First Baptist Church of Hyattsville on Sunday, December 6, 2015. The Scripture texts were Malachi 3.1-4 and Luke 1.67-79. Accompanying the biblical texts was a reading of Langston...
Stump of Jesse Altar Arrangement
This floral arrangement was inspired by the prophet Isaiah's words in Chapter 11:1-5, but the materials for this Advent arrangement came straight from our backyard in Maryland. When we first purchased our home, the...
Onward Into Christmas
Onward into Christmas? It’s January 6th. Schools are back in session. There isn’t a silver bell or a red cup to be found. This post is a little late, don’t you think? Shouldn’t you...
Heaven and Nature Sing: A Christmas Ornament Craft
Our 2013 Advent & Christmas theme was "Heaven and Nature Sing" and, to help integrate that theme into our worship setting, the congregation made ornaments for the large tree in the sanctuary using natural...
Christmas (Faraway, So Close): A Meditation for Epiphany
The Christmas music has faded. The Christmas lights are slowly but surely going dark and coming down. Today we watch the Wise Men arrive in Bethlehem and then depart by another road. In a...
Christian Hissstory
I was wrapping up my work-from-home day a few weeks ago when my three-year-old daughters wandered into the bedroom and piled onto the loveseat where I was studying. They started leafing through my Bibles,...
