Prior Sermons
Don't Be a Chimp, Reverend Dr. John Judson (9/20/2009) – He was the badest dude on the block. He was bigger, stronger and more powerful than anyone around. Wherever he went other moved aside. Some would bow. Others would follow him because they knew he was the one true leader. Few if any wanted to challenge him because of his power and prowess. His name? Click to continue…
Whose Friend are You?, Reverend Ernest F. Krug (9/27/2009) – One thing appears certain. Praying for the sick does not always result in their cure from disease. In fact, I suspect all of us have prayed for a person to be healed of a disease, without seeing the result we were praying for, and we have experienced this disappointment and sadness many times. Click to continue…
The Never Ending Journey, Reverend Dr. John Judson (10/11/2009) – It was a bet I was bound to lose. Every year while we were living in the panhandle of Texas and would drive to San Antonio for Christmas, Cindy and I would make a bet about when it would begin. Now the first part of our trip was always pretty easy, and it never showed up. The children were young and so we would get them up early in the morning still in their pajamas. We would bundle them into the car and then we would head out before sunrise. Click to continue reading or listen online…
Are You Being Served, Reverend Amy Morgan (10/18/2009) - Today I want to start imagine that Americans have finally gotten tired of all those reality talent competitions like “Dancing with the Stars” and “America’s Got Talent” and “American Idol.” So the producers of these kinds of television programs are looking for a new angle, and they want to try out a Christian American Idol, if you will. They’ve come to our church seeking advice on how this show should be developed. Click to continue reading or listen online…
We Can Get It!, Reverend Dr. John Judson (10/25/2009) – So what do Nemo, Aladdin, Wall-E and blind Bartimaeus have in common? I know that that is the question that each of you had whirling through your brains since you saw the bulletin cover this morning. No they are not all Disney films, or Pixar films or animated films…since Bartimaeus does not fit those categories. What do they hold in common? Click to continue reading or listen online…
This Stinks. Christine Gannon (11/1/2009) – Our gospel reading this morning comes from the 11th chapter of John…verses 32-45. It’s a passage not found in any of the other gospels. It’s the story of two sisters, Mary and Martha, and their brother Lazarus. The gospels tell us that the members of this family were some of Jesus’ closest friends. In the verses immediately before our passage today we have Jesus being summoned back to this family’s home. He’s told that Lazarus has died. Yet he doesn’t return immediately. Click to continue reading or listen online….
Let's Talk About Money, Reverend Dr. John Judson (11/8/2009) – “Let’s talk about money.” Those words, or some similar to them were the opening words from my Economics 101 professor at Trinity University. I remember them all of these years later because they were so straight forward. At my house growing up we never talked about money. But that professor did. Click to continue reading or listen online….
Its the End of the World As We Know It, and I Feel Fine, Reverend Amy Morgan (11/15/2009) – Don’t give money to the church. That’s right. I mean it. I don’t want you to give money to the church, anymore. In fact, I don’t want you to go to church, either. Click to continue reading or listen online…
Waste or Worship, Reverend Dr. John Judson (11/22/2009) – It was the announcement of a life time. It was the announcement that every Christian ought to hear. It would change the lives of whomever was listening. I have to say that kind of language caught my attention. I was headed out to do a hospital visit in San Antonio and was listening to the Christian music station there when the DJ came on almost breathless with anticipation encouraging all of us to stay tuned. In just a few minutes, he said, one of the Christian rock world’s icons would be on to announce something that God had showed him. Curious I actually stayed tuned. Finally the moment arrived. The DJ asked the artist, what is it that you discovered that will be so life changing for our listeners? Click to continue reading or listen online….
Getting Ready for Company, Reverend Dr. John Judson (11/29/2009) – So which is it? Is it asteroids dashing through space on a collision course for earth? Is it terrible tornadoes that swallow entire towns? Is it space aliens invading earth and making a mess of our major cities? Is it giant winter storms that engulf all of the northern hemispheres and let wolves looses in New York City? Or is 2012 when the Aztec Calendar says the world is going to end. Click to continue reading or listen online…
A Love Letter, Dr. Walter Brueggemann (December 6, 2009) – How would you like a love letter addressed to you in Advent, in anticipation of Christmas? That is what we have in the Epistle to the Philippians, Paul’s love letter to his friends in the church in Philippi. He loves them dearly and writes to tell them so. Like a good love letter, he celebrates them with their best features, dreams of their future well-being, and uses elegant phrases about the on-going process of their lives. If Paul had known about the church in Birmingham, he would no doubt have written us such a love letter. Since he did not know about us being the church here, we will read this letter a though it were for us. Click to continue reading or listen online….
Company's Coming, Let's Get Ready, Reverend Amy Morgan (December 13, 2009) – We have a guest coming over. We will spend days and weeks preparing for this guest’s visit – cooking, cleaning, decorating, anticipating his every desire. But we just know that the minute he walks in the door, he’s going to look at all of our stuff and decide it’s either too nice – because we like to show off our wealth – or not nice enough – because we didn’t put our best foot forward. Our house will either be too clean – because we have misplaced priorities – or not clean enough – because we are a lazy slob. Click to continue reading or listen online…
Company's Coming, Let's Rejoice, Reverend Dr. John Judson (12/20/2009) – I knew something was up. Two of the priests at the table were speaking softly with one another, looking at me and smiling. I was at a continuing education event at Oblate seminary in San Antonio. Oblate is a very old and venerable Roman Catholic seminary that offered wonderful events where their professors would take pastors through all of the texts for Advent, Lent and other seasons. This time I was attending a series on Advent and we had just finished studying the lesson that was read for us this morning, the Magnificat of Mary. Click to Continue Reading or Listen Online….
Under New Management (Reverend John Judson, January 10, 2010) – I want to take quick survey this morning. First how many of you while you were with family and friends over the holidays heard a story that you have heard at least two times, three time, more? Second, how many of you told a story to your family or friends that you have told at least two other times? Now I don’t know about you but what tends to happen to me when I hear one of those stories coming is that I tend to zone out or get up and move. “Oh, I know that one, where is the food?” Click to Continue Reading….
Staying the Course (Reverend John Judson, January 17, 2010) – “Our Father who art in heaven. Hallowed by Thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever…amen.” Do the words sound familiar? OK, sure they because they are part of the prayer virtually every Christian learns. Most of us I would guess, once we learn it pay little attention to the particulars. Click to Continue Reading….
Releasing, Renewing, Restoring God's World (Reverend Amy Morgan, January 24, 2010) – Richard King wanted a 1961 Pontiac the moment he got his driver’s license. He loved the design of the car. His father had developed the tooling in that car’s engine. He had grown up in the city of Pontiac, surrounded by images and talk about the car company shared its name with the city. Click to Continue Reading…
Expanding the Vision (Reverend John Judson, January 31, 2010) – He was the boy wonder of the seminary. Bob had been one of the seminaries most brilliant students. He was a wiz at Greek. He understood theology as if he had been studying it all of his life. Upon graduation he had enlisted as a military chaplain and served with great distinction. Upon his retirement he went back to seminary this time to earn his PhD in New Testament Greek. Once that was completed he moved to Houston and founded a new congregation. From a handful of members his congregation grew to several thousand. People packed the pews to listen to his in-depth and erudite translations and explanations of the text…which he did directly from the Greek. Click to Continue Reading….
You Can Do It (Reverend John Judson, February 7, 2010) – I’m not sure you could find two people form scripture who were more different than the two we read about this morning, Isaiah and Peter. If you can picture the commercial with Shaquille O’Neil and Ben Stein talking about Comcast you get a sense of how different are Peter and Isaiah. Isaiah is a member of the aristocracy. He has access to kings and princes. He is highly educated and an amazing poet. He is at least a prophet if not a priest himself. He has disciples who record his every pronouncement. Peter on the other hand is a blue collar small business owner. He and his family have a small fishing business in the Galilee. He has not access to power and knows no one famous. Click to Continue Reading….
The Best of Both Worlds (Reverend Amy Morgan, February 14, 2010) – Leslie Butler, our Nursery School Director, has told me that the way you get a child to listen to you is to get down on the child’s level, put your hands on either side of his or her face, and turn their face toward you so you have their full attention. That feels like what God is doing here with the disciples. Everything on the mountaintop represents a crystal-clear picture of who Jesus is. Jesus goes up the mountain to pray, showing the disciples that he is God’s servant – he talks to God and listens to God. He gets his power and authority from God. Click to continuing reading….
On the Road Again….and Again (Reverend John Judson, February 21, 2010) – I was always a bit jealous. Every month during my growing up years my father got to fly away and travel for business to far away exotic places. He got to go to Calgary, Los Angeles, Denver and San Francisco. He got to stay in hotels and eat out…you have to understand that we never ate out as a family. He got to collect those tiny bottles of shampoo and lotion. It seemed such an adventurous sort of life. Click to continue reading….
Friends of God (Reverend John Judson, February 28, 2010) – Father: “Where are you going?” Daughter: “Out.” Father: “Who are you going out with?” Daughter: “Friends.” Father: “Do I know them?” Daughter: “I don’t know.” Father: “Is Seth going to be there?” Daughter: “Why do you want to know?” Father: “Because I told you I don’t want you hanging out with him!” Daughter: “You don’t trust me.” Father: “No I trust you…I just don’t trust him. So no you can’t go.” Daughter: “You are so mean.” Have you ever been in a conversation like that? Click to continue reading….
Jesus Freakonomics (Reverend Amy Morgan, March 7, 2010) – "The most sensible way to calculate fear of death would be to think of it on a per-hour basis." So say the authors of the New York Times best-seller Freakonomics. They claim that "while it is true that many more people die each year in motor vehicle accidents than in airplane crashes…it's also true that most people spend a lot more time in cars than on airplanes…The per-hour death rate of driving versus flying…is about equal." Click to Continue Reading….
Someone's Looking for You (Reverend John Judson, March 14, 2010) – It was a moment of sheer terror, followed by a moment of overwhelming gratitude. As the day had begun there was no way I could have anticipated what was going to happen. The year was 1988 and Cindy and I had taken our two children, ages five and one, with the youth group from Pampa (that’s Pampa, Texas and not Tampa, Florida) to the Texas coast for a retreat. It was break time and so all of us headed down to the shore. Click to continue reading….
Pressing On (Reverend Ernest F. Krug, III, M.Div., M.D., March 21, 2010) – He was one of the most powerful prelates in the United States but more importantly a deeply spiritual man of prayer. He was a healthy man who, at age 67, suddenly found himself diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He had extensive surgery at a cancer hospital and awakened from surgery with pain that felt overwhelming. He wanted to pray, but could not. To visiting friends he commented, “Pray while you’re well, because if you wait until you’re sick you might not be able to do it.”1 The patient was Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, formerly Archbishop of Chicago. Continue to think about his statement. I will have more to say about him later. Click to Continue Reading….
Staying on Message (Reverend John Judson, March 28, 2010) – So how did he do it? How did a junior senator, without a national following, with little name recognition, from a Midwestern state…who was African American manage to defeat a host of big names and win the presidency? It is after all a very remarkable story. Growing up with single mom, living overseas, attending a liberal church and being a young black man would seem to disqualify one for any sort of high office. Yet Barack Hussein Obama managed to do it. And one of the reasons people give for his victory was that he was able to not only create a campaign theme which touched the hearts of many…but he stayed on message with that theme throughout his campaign. And so here is the quiz… Click to Continue Reading….
Hope Gone Wild (Reverend John Judson, April 4, 2010 Easter Sunday) – I was late. I was in fact very late because I could not find my glasses and without my glasses, well let me say, I could not see the broad side of a barn door. And since I drove myself to school I needed them. I had scoured the house looking for them. They were not beside my bed. They were not in the bathroom. They were nowhere to be found. As I was in the process of my hunt my mother spotted me and asked me why I hadn’t left for school already. Trying to contain my irritation I told her the obvious, I could not find my glasses. In that moment the look on my mother’s face became that look that only mother’s can get when they wonder how they could have raised a child like this. Then she said, “John, you have them on.” Click to Continue Reading ….
Love Amidst Certainty (Reverend John Judson, April 11, 2010) – Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated. For any of you who are Star Trek fans you will recognize those as the words of the Borg, the machine like species that defeats and assimilates every life form they encounter. But if you were a first century Christian, you would recognize it as well. It was the mantra of the Roman Empire. What we need to understand about the Roman Empire was that it had learned some lessons from the Empires before it. One of those lessons was that you do not try and annihilate your enemies…you absorb them. Click to Continue Reading ….
Keep the Faith (Christine Gannon, Pastoral Associate, Director of Skyline Camp & Conference Center, April 18, 2010) – Continuing the sermon series for this Easter season…started last week on the book of Revelation and the message to the seven churches…we look at the second church this morning…from the book of Revelation, chapter 2, verses 8 to 11…listen for God speaking…And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of the first and the last, who was dead and came to life: “I know your affliction and your poverty, even though you are rich. I know the slander on the part of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Click to Continue Reading ….
Everybody’s Got to Serve Somebody (Reverend John Judson, April 25, 2010) – He had had it. The guy was getting on his nerves. My friend J.D. had been a draftsman and designer in the petrochemical industry since the early fifties. He was one of the most respected men in the business. So it bugged him that one of the new engineers in the firm was questioning almost every one of his decisions. And it really bugged him because … Click to Continue Reading ….
