Good Faith Reads

Over the years, I have been deeply moved by the exemplary lives of parents, nurses, and my fellow chaplains and physicians. In addition, the inspiration to write arose out of my encounters with social injustice and suffering that first barged into my awareness in my preadolescent and adolescent years. Sometimes it is just the unwanted stuff of everyday life that comes without invitation to threaten us on the one hand but with the potential to make us better servants and caregivers on the other.

With each essay, reflection, and poetic writing I intend to speak of the need for our presence in community with the suffering. Even then there is more than a human presence, for in all such instances God is also present. This presence acting in the world is not dependent in any way on whether or not we see or acknowledge it. God spoke first; God will have the last word: “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1).

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The biggest challenge for me of a long-term pastorate was the preaching. How does one come up with something “new” to say every Sunday? By the time I retired, some parishioners had heard me preach more than 1,000 times. Dr. Dave Thompson, an astrophysicist with NASA at the Goddard Space Flight Center, had heard me preach more than 2,000 times since he attended both worship services most Sunday mornings. Yes, the Bible is a vast trove of sermonic material, but the same preacher Sunday after Sunday struggles to interpret a fresh vision of biblical truth that stimulates the mind and touches the heart. Yet it is possible.

The purpose of this book is to illustrate how it is possible. It is a case study in long-term pastoral ministry. Included are sermons from thirty-three years at the same church. Over the years I preached on some biblical texts many times. Yet I never repeated a sermon in thirty-three years, except for preaching basically the same sermon at the two Sunday morning worship services during the school year. The only difference is that I preached the sermon extemporaneously from the floor for the early contemporary service, and I stood behind the pulpit (with manuscript) for the traditional second service. Thus, the sermon wasn’t the same for the two services, but Dave Thompson said they were essentially the same.

Beyond that repetition on Sunday morning, however, no one ever came up to me and said, “I remember you preached that sermon before.” For thirty-three years I preached original sermons every Sunday, except for the Sundays we had a guest preacher or choir cantata or other special event. “Preaching for the long haul” requires commitment and study and creativity and prayer, but by God’s grace, it can be done.

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As we have traveled this path with our child since the Fall of 2014, some questions have been answered—they’ve had to be, because there were new questions waiting.

I will be sharing my experience of this transition as the mother who gave birth to this beautiful, brave, and wondrous child.

My hope is that by sharing my experience, the door will be opened to many other mothers to accept and not fear accompanying their child on this journey with love, grace, and respect. As mothers we are purveyors of grace for our children. We are conduits of God’s grace and mercy. Through our unconditional love we can move with our children as they find and reveal themselves, all the while easing their fears.

I share my experiences with this transition because I know there are others out there who might be needing some hope, some understanding, and some way of finding their faith in the midst of such a transition.

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Exodus is not simply the epic narrative of God’s deliverance of the children of Israel. The story of Exodus is part of the larger gospel of Missio Dei—the mission of God. Through Exodus we read of Israel’s experience as part of the greater story of God at work in creation. We read of the LORD God working through the particular people called Israel to bring about liberation and deliverance. We read of wanderings, apostasy, grumblings, and restoration. This is a story about a particular people in a particular time.

And yet it is also a story for all people. God is still at work in this world, from one generation to the next, in a mission of liberation, healing, and redemption. We are invited to join with God in that holy enterprise. In joining God we also recognize our own need for healing and redemption as well as our call in and to a world of dislocation.

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52 children’s sermons—one sermon for each Sunday in the church year. Each sermon is based on a focus passage, with a short portion of the passage noted as a memory verse. The author has provided a bit of background to summarize the focus of each children’s sermon. Most of the children’s sermons presented in the book include objects or props to help bring the words to life for the children. The props are included in the “Items for Preparation” list before each sermon. Each children’s sermon concludes with a prayer, which is usually an opportunity for the children to repeat the simple prayer as the leader says each line. Children learn religious practices through modeling and practice—your prayers can introduce young hearts to the language of prayer.

Let these sermons serve as a guide. Adapt them as you see fit so that your group of children will grasp their meaning and grow in their understanding of spiritual themes. As you spend time with children in worship, count it a privilege to convey to your children a love of scripture, a passion for learning, a desire to know the heart of God, and a love for the wonderful stories of the Bible.

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