Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church

I don’t remember how old I was when I first saw the movie “Jaws,” but I know was too young. I know because for months after seeing the film I was terrified of going in the water. And not just the ocean, either. I was old enough to know that sharks do not swim in … Continue reading Hidden with Christ

You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. … Continue reading Shadow & Substance

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Not too long ago, I was asked to do a wedding for a couple of friends, one Christian, one from another faith. As we began the planning process, the other celebrant called and asked one thing of me – that I not mention Jesus in the ceremony. It wasn’t the first time I’d received … Continue reading Faith When the World is Burning

NOTE: Because this is a dialogue sermon that transitions directly into communion, it’s worth listening to the audio if possible. ANDREW:  Maybe this sermon needs a prologue. This is the final week of the ‘Antiheroes’ series that we have been moving through for the past six weeks.  Each week we’ve dealt with another morally ambiguous … Continue reading Antiheroes: God

A few weeks ago, I was up early on a Sunday morning, putting the finishing touches on a sermon. Ok, fine, I was writing a significant final portion of the sermon. But I opened my web browser and pulled up the New York Times. That’s when I learned about the Orlando shooting. Twenty people killed … Continue reading Antiheroes: Judas

A father’s blessing is a powerful thing. Children have chosen colleges & careers for a father’s blessing often without even knowing it. They’ve given up dreams and hopes and even true loves in exchange for a father’s blessing. The absence of a father’s blessing can be devastating. Children hungering for that blessing have gone looking … Continue reading Antiheroes: Jacob

The Samson stories are designed to go viral. No matter what else you think of them, I think we can agree that they have all the ingredients of contagious storytelling – secrets, sex, intrigue, violence, betrayal. It’s no wonder that poster on your bulletin looks like pulp fiction. A hero with enormous potential and even … Continue reading Antiheroes: Samson

An antihero is a protagonist or notable figure who is conspicuously lacking in heroic qualities. The antihero genre has exploded in our culture in recent years as our culture seems more willing to admit the moral ambiguity encountered in life, an ambiguity long acknowledged in the biblical text. The sermon series reflects on 6 characters or collections of characters that might be deemed "antiheroes."

Saturday Morning Cartoons. You might think it would be the proper context for a contest bordering on the ridiculous. But “Saturday Morning Cartoons” is not only a TV event, it is also an ice cream flavor at the Charmery. The Charmery is the ice cream shop two blocks from my house in Hampden (I know … Continue reading On Being Of One Mind