“The first way that stewardship can go wrong is if we start by comparing ourselves to others. Maybe we feel like the servant in Matthew’s parable who was given only 1 talent compared to 5 or 10 for the others. Compared to other people, we feel like we have hardly anything to contribute. We feel ashamed that we can’t do more or we give nothing at all because it feels like, “what difference would it make anyway?” Or maybe, it’s bigger than a personal level. Maybe, you’ve been comparing our church to other churches. We see them flourishing while it feels like we’re always one leaky roof away from calamity. But if we start with comparisons, we’ll never get stewardship right.”

Preached at Lakewood Presbyterian Church

“We belong to one another. If I am tending to your needs, if I am making sure your best interest is being looked out for and I can know that you are looking out for my best interest, together we can form the beloved community. It's a vulnerable thing to trust that someone else is looking out for your best interests. We are taught over and over again to watch our own backs and to look out for ourselves above all else. But that's not how it works in God's kingdom.”

Preached at Lakewood Presbyterian Church

“Here’s the thing about Jonah—he does the job that God calls him to, but he misses out on the joy. He misses out on celebrating that God really is who scripture says that God is. God’s grace and mercy is so much more expansive than we could ever manage on our own and that is good news.”

Preached at Lakewood Presbyterian Church

“It is good to live as free people but it is better to live as free people who know they belong to God. And because we belong to God, we belong to one another. So do not put a “stumbling block” as Paul puts it, in the way of someone who believes differently than you. Do not force someone to believe or worship or behave as you do, but give them space to listen to their conscience and follow where God takes them.”

Preached at Lakewood Presbyterian Church

“Love is something that takes our faith far beyond Sunday mornings. It sounds so simple, but we all know that loving people, even or especially the people closest to us, can be very hard sometimes.”

Preached at Lakewood Presbyterian Church.

“The “least of these” aren’t invisible. They are Christ in our midst, if we are willing to look for him.”

Preached at Lakewood Presbyterian Church

“The story of the Good Samaritan gives us a depiction of what being a neighbor looks like. If Mr. Rogers says that, “neighbors are people who live close to us and friends are people who are close to our hearts” then I wonder who are the people we choose to let close to our hearts? Can we be neighbors not just to people who happen to live near us, but also to the people who we are taught to despise?”

Preached at Lakewood Presbyterian Church

“Love is the basis of everything that we do– as Christians and as neighbors. We will continue to talk about who our neighbors are, how we can get to know them, and what true mutuality looks like. But first, we must hold fast to the love that grounds and guides us.”

Preached at Lakewood Presbyterian Church.

“…as we look deeper, we find that the parable changes because, in fact, mustard seeds do not produce the largest trees. Mustard is a bush, and a small and spindly one at that. Mostly they were considered weeds– why would anyone plant a weed in their field? So maybe the Kingdom of Heaven is not just about smallness. Maybe it is about defying expectations and thriving despite the world’s intentions. Or maybe it is about hospitality and providing shelter using what you have. Maybe it is all of these or none at all. :

Preached at Lakewood Presbyterian Church on July 30, 2023.

“As c-suite executives of the Planet Earth corporation— you have an obligation to your shareholders. They are your great great great great grandchildren. They are the wild animals and the livestock. They are the fish in the sea, the rainforests, and the redwood trees. Your success will be measured by their flourishing. They require dividends of clean air, clean water, and room to grow. Your board of trustees is made of three persons in one God—creator, redeemer, and sustainer. Your authority was given to you by God and it is for God’s glory that you are called to serve.”

Preached at Fircrest Presbyterian Church in Fircrest, WA on June 3, 2023.

“Paul is not belittling the Church in Corinth for being new Christians in need of spiritual milk. He is saying, “you have been trying to eat the wrong spiritual food and it is making you sick. You need the right foundation for a life of faith and discipleship.” Just as breastmilk is exactly what infants need, new followers of Christ have unique needs of their own.”

Preached at First Presbyterian Church of Ashland on February 12, 2023.

“Just like the disciples, you too have been filled with the Holy Spirit. You can dream dreams of the world as it could be, not just the world as it is. Who has God uniquely called you to know and love? How can you stretch yourself outside of your familiar comfort zones and into relationships with those who speak, pray, vote, eat, and love differently than you do? Could you pray, not that God would change your neighbors who you find so difficult, but that God would change you? ”

Preached at Aurora Presbyterian Church on June 5, 2022.

“Today’s passage is about teenage Jesus who longs to stay in Jerusalem just a little bit longer. Luke tells us that his family went to the Passover festival every year, which means it probably was something Jesus looked forward to all year long. The Passover festival was a time when Jesus could be his most true self—the true self that was revealing itself within him—fully human and fully God. But when he was 12, Jesus didn’t want to go home. He wasn’t ready to leave and so he stayed in the temple, asking questions of the rabbis and sharing his own answers in response.”

Preached at Trinity Presbyterian Church on December 26, 2021.

“When we are faced with big questions and a hard, broken world, one of the bravest things we can do is develop the capacity for wonder. Developing a capacity for wonder is a choice and it will probably take some effort because the world is not particularly aimed toward wonder.”

Preached at Southminster Presbyterian Church on May 30, 2021.

“We have only one Good Shepherd, and it is God alone. But we can become hired hands who model our lives after Jesus’ example. We can learn to take sides with hurting people in this world today, and there is no shortage of ways we can do that.”

Preached at Southminster Presbyterian Church on April 25, 2021.

“We know what is coming but we are not to Easter yet. Maybe aren’t After people just yet. Maybe we are called to be In between people. Living in between Palm Sunday and Easter. Living in between despair and hope. Living in-between meaning and chaos. Living in between the no one being vaccinated, and everyone being vaccinated. Living in between tight lockdown and the ability to hug and gather safety.”

Preached at Southminster Presbyterian Church on March 28 , 2021.

“God meets us at the edge. God met Jesus at the edge of the wilderness. God met Noah at what seemed to be the edge world as he knew it. God meets us at the edge—the edge of our sanity, the edge of our breaking point, the edge of our winters. Again and again, God will meet us.”

Preached at Southminster Presbyterian Church on February 21, 2021.

“Repentance is a necessary part of the Christian life… If we don't repent, we bring our shame that manifests itself as anger, self-righteousness, bigotry, defensiveness, and self-preservation into the community. Until we have repented of the wrongs we have done, we risk bringing harm to members of our community, and so there cannot be unity without accountability.”

Preached at Southminster Presbyterian Church on January 24, 2021.

“The Word is still speaking. This year, at least for me, it’s not the light shining in the darkness that has spoken to me. The line that has grabbed ahold of my soul is that “the Word became flesh and lived among us.” He lived among us. Among our fears, among our family fights, among our insecurities, among all makes this life beautiful and hard.”

Preached at Southminster Presbyterian Church on January 3, 2021.

“Our world still needs to be turned upside down. The Kingdom that Christ came to bring to earth is not fully here. We have seen glimpses of it, yes, but the work is still very much ahead in building God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.”

Preached at Southminster Presbyterian Church on December 13, 2020.