Rev. Zach

Mark 9:2-9 As some of you may know, both of my children have birthdays this month. My wife posted a wonderful photo montage celebrating our eldest child’s birthday last week, which inspired me to do the same. While looking through and selecting old photos, I could not help thinking about the changes that come with life’s events. I must say that I am continually awestruck and honored to be the husband and father that I am, and to be a part of the changes that life brings into our lives together. It is amazing how quickly it goes, but the younger years are the easiest to mark. They are also the years we prize the most. You might even argue that entire economic systems revolve around resisting those changes as life goes on. No matter what we do, change is a constant metabolic reality that we experience every day. I’m reminded here of one of my favorite after-church hand-shake conversations in my first call in Virginia. Often I would ask how he was doing and he would say, “Well, you’re ...

Exodus 24:12-18      2 Peter 1:16-21      Matthew 17:1-9 Have you seen Jesus my Lord? He’s here in plain view. Take a look, open your eyes. He’ll show it to you. Have you ever looked at the sunset, with the sky mellowing red, and the clouds suspended like feathers, then I say… You’ve seen Jesus my Lord! The song continues to describe the power of the ocean, the passion of the cross, and the face of Christ that we see in one another when we look upon one another in love. I share this song with you because it reminds me of one of those thin places in my life. It wasn’t a thin place because my waist was abut 4 inches smaller. It wasn’t a thin place because I felt stretched by the pressures I was facing at the time. No, it was a thin place because it was a time in my life when I had little to rely on but God, and because there were others in my life that helped me to see myself as one of God’s beloved children. Most im...

2 Kings 2:1-12     2 Corinthians 4:3-6     Mark 9:2-9 I was recently looking through some old photos and thinking about the changes that come with life’s events.  Most particularly I was looking through photos of my wife’s early life in ballet.  Of course that was just one part her life, but it was a fairly substantial part.  From the outside looking in, it is amazing to see the changes that have resulted in the astonishing woman that I now call my wife.  As she and I look back over our own children’s lives it gives us great joy to see how they have grown and changed.  Of course it is easiest to see the changes we all go through in our younger years.  You might even argue that entire economic systems revolve around masking physical changes as life goes on.  No matter what we do, change is a constant, metabolic reality that we experience every day. We may not like it, but for the most part we live with it.  We take ...

Exodus 34:29-35 Psalm 99 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 Luke 9:28-44 Sermon audio is available here for up to one month. Veils are strange things to us culturally. They’ve been around for centuries, but have rarely been associated with men. I think that is one of the reasons that this story about Moses is so strange. But here we have it – this story about the impact on Moses of talking directly to God. His face was said to shine so brightly that it was unnerving to others. So he hid his face from them – unless he needed to share something with them that he had received from God. As weird as this story is, I think it inspires some wishful thinking in all of us. Wouldn’t it be nice to hear more directly from God? I mean, chances are that I know what God would say when it comes to the small stuff. Yes, I need to floss. No, it is not right to tell other drivers they are number one when they cut me off in traffic. But what about the big stuff like figuring out why we have enough ...

First Presbyterian – Lafayette, Louisiana February 19, 2012 – Transfiguration (B) Baptism of Hayden Elizabeth Albarado 2 Kings 2:1-14 1 Peter 3:18-22 Mark 9:10-20 Today is an amazing day! It is a day of celebrating covenants - a day celebrating new beginnings and restoration. Today we have baptized one of God’s beloved daughters! Today we have blown the dust off of the baptismal font, poured sacred water, and spoken words of hope in a world of doubt. Today, we have made a bold statement that shines like light in a darkened room. Now some have asked why we baptize infants, and why we don’t immerse. I have actually done a baptism by immersion, so it is not as if we don’t allow it. We just don’t require it. Some time ago, I remember hearing a comedy routine from the Rev. Grady Nutt about an old country baptism in a stream. There was a young preacher who accidentally immersed someone downstream. That man got a chunk of moss up his nose and commenced to form a new church ...