Sermons

Your One Wild and Precious Life (Hoffacker)Rather than have us deal with beginnings, today’s liturgy directs our attention to the end of the world, to the final coming of Christ. We are to wait and watch, for Christ has promised to return. We are reminded that this world is drawing to its close.

The Threat of Somnambulism (McLarty)O.K., so I learned a new word this week: Somnambulism. It’s a fancy term for sleep walking. Jesus told his disciples, “Watch, keep alert, and pray; for you don’t know when the time is” (v. 33).

The Joy of Waiting (Sellery)It seems a stretch to call a season of waiting a blessing. No one is happy when they have to wait. We associate waiting with dentists’ offices and traffic jams. Advent is a time of waiting. But when it’s done right, it’s far from inactive. It’s a time of joyful, creative waiting.

The Truth That Nobody Knows (Molin)These first days of Advent speak not of the coming of the Baby Jesus in a manger, but rather his Second Coming, when he will judge the world. We’re supposed to prepare for that day, but we’re never told when it will be.

The Day of Wrath (Kegel)According to a legend, a traveler penetrated an enchanted forest. In a glade, he found a sundial. On the sundial were the words, “Stop traveler. It is later than you think.” We know that, don’t we? We know that our days will come to an end.

Jakob’s Story & Our Story (Christensen)Cataclysmic events will occur in the last day. The message here is both about the natural order and about the realm of spiritual powers. The stars will fall, to be sure, but with their fall will come the fall of the spiritual powers that oppose the work of God.

Preparing for His Coming (McLarty)One day, Christ will come like a thief in the night, when we least expect it. If we’re to be prepared, we need to get our act together, because the closer we conform to the standard of his righteousness, the less we have to fear