Rev. Zach

Psalm 23 1 John 3:16-24 John 10:11-18 Truth and action - there is a relationship between truth and action. You’ve heard this said a thousand times in just as many ways. People say things like, “The proof is in the pudding, actions speak louder than words, or practice what you preach.” There is another phrase that involves another phrase that my mother taught me not to say, and especially not from the pulpit (my kids will never let me hear the end of this). The phrase is, “Shut up and dance,” and it has shown up in pop culture repeatedly over the last decade as song titles, band names, and blatant challenges to act. It’s a challenge to act on opportunities, and it is a challenge to stand up and demonstrate what you believe in. In fact, Shut Up and Dance was even the title of a recent fundraiser in New Jersey held by the Pennsylvania Ballet netting $150,000 for a group called MANNA (Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance). MANNA is similar to our Meals on Wheels program,

Sermon Delivered April 22, 2012 – Easter (3B) Psalm 4 Acts 3:12-19 1 John 3:1-7 Luke 24:36-49 Some of you may have noticed that I like to sign my emails with the word, Peace. I often wonder how that is received. Sometimes I will add the word, Grace, because I believe those are two concepts that require one another. We need grace - the unmerited and undeserved favor of God - in order to truly experience peace. Still, I will confess that I sometimes add Grace to Peace because I think that makes the salutation sound a bit more ecclesiastical and a bit less hip. It’s my own little way of reclaiming something our culture has stolen from the church - or maybe we have given it away. The result is the same either way. Some time ago I was venting about some injustice to a group of colleagues. I signed the email with “disturbance” instead of peace. It was, again, my own little way of saying that I do not wish for equilibrium in the presence of injustice. My hope was not for the sublime tra

Sermon Delivered April 15, 2012 – Easter (2B) Psalm 133 Acts 4:32-35 1 John 1:1-2:2 John 20:19-31 “Question Everything” read the bumper sticker on a friend’s car in seminary. It was right next to another that read, “Eve Was Framed.” That was my first introduction to what they call bumper sticker theology over at C.U.P.S. I decided to go and get my own immediately, but it was some time until I found an appropriate expression. Finally I happened upon a bumper sticker that said, “Denial Is Not A River In Egypt.” My beat up truck with its snarky statement generated a lot of laughs, but it never approached the severity of a statement like “Question Everything.” At first I thought the idea of questioning everything was cool and rebellious, but later I realized that the demand of such a statement was much higher than I wanted it to be. Question everything - really? I thought for sure this must be some kind of nouveaux hippy kind of thing. Yeah - question those who are in power, because

First Presbyterian – Lafayette, Louisiana Sermon Delivered April 8, 2012 Isaiah 25:6-9 Acts 10:34-43 Mark 16:1-8 The Shorter Ending of Mark Before reading the Mark passage I acknowledged that the oldest Greek manuscripts stopped at verse 8. Manuscripts containing the longer ending (vv9-20) can be dated to around 200 CE. Manuscripts with the shorter ending can be dated to around 400 CE. After reading verses 1-8 there was a moment of silence, followed by the shorter ending. Scholars believe that Mark’s gospel is probably the oldest text of the synoptic gospels, possibly preceding Matthew’s gospel by 15 years. I want you to know that I have beautiful feet. It’s true! Romans 10:15 says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” An old mentor of mine told me about that many years ago. He was the same one who told me about preaching in a small country church and being told his sermon was awful. It turns out that the person meant “awe-full” or “filled with awe.”