The Last Sermons...
As we have been approaching the closing weeks of my time among you at Pilmoor, I have been contemplating where to go with my preaching. While there is a temptation to abandon the lectionary during these last weeks, I am conscious of the danger of the sermons drifting into some manner of self-absorption. There are certainly things that I want to say, but ultimately it really isn't about what I want to say, it is what God wants to say that counts. So after prayer, searching the scriptures and reviewing the lectionary, I believe that sticking with the discipline that has informed my preaching for may years is the best approach (however, I will admit that the specific lectionary texts for the next several weeks seem well suited for closing out my time among you...if they weren't so well suited, I admit that I may have gone in a different direction).
So here are the texts that will shape the sermons between May 24 and June 21.
May 24 (Ascesion Sunday)
- Ephesians 1:15-23
- "I have heard of your faith"
May 31 (Pentecost Sunday)
- Romans 8:22-27
- "What We Don't Know"
June 7 (Trinity Sunday)
- Romans 8:12-17
- "Indebted"
June 14
- Duke Student Jonathan Page preaches
June 21
- II Corinthians 6:1-13
- "The Last Sermon: Do Not Accept the Grace of God in Vain"