To the Members & Friends of St. Giles -
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I have accepted God's call to serve alongside the congregation of Faith Presbyterian Church in Cape Coral, Florida as their new Associate Pastor for Family Ministry. The great excitement I feel for this new adventure is matched only by the sadness I feel for preparing to say goodbye to a congregation I love so dearly. 

Throughout the first part of the summer, St. Giles' Christian Education Committee held a Summer Educational Series studying the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. That study has now come to a close (a new study began yesterday morning), but in support of the great conversation that arose during the series, yesterday's sermon was a Communion Meditation that reflected upon the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. I used as my text my favorite communion text - the Emmaus Road encounter from Luke's gospel, chapter 24. Here is my recap of the sermon.

We're in the midst of a three week sermon series that takes us through the book of Esther found in the Hebrew Bible. Our task for yesterday, June 23, was to study chapters 4-6 - and my sermon focused primarily on chapter 4. Here is my recap of that sermon, entitled "For Such a Time as This." As always, the scripture text is posted below the video. Have a great week, everyone!

Here's a recap of my sermon from Pentecost - June 9, 2019. As you might expect, the text for the day was Acts 2:1-21. During worship, I used a child-friendly paraphrase of the passage to tie into the Word for Children... but below the video, you'll find the passage as read in the Common English Bible translation of scripture. Happy Pentecost!

Jennifer and I have been working through an Eastertime sermon series called "Surprise!" which takes a look at the life of the earliest church recorded in the book of Acts. The sermon I preached yesterday, based on Acts 9:36-42, looked at the life and witness of Tabitha - also known as Dorcas...  a compassionate and well-known woman whose story we often tend to skip over. Here's my recap of the sermon, and as always, the scripture text follows the video.

Like so many others, I grieve the tragic death of author, speaker, and prophet Rachel Held Evans, who unexpectedly and tragically died Saturday after complications from the flu and resulting allergic reactions to antibiotics. She was 37, and leaves behind husband Dan and two small children.

​I've long admired her work, from her earliest blog posts to her interactions on Twitter to her bestselling memoirs. She was faithful. She asked difficult questions. She openly challenged the forces who would seek to oppress. She spoke of love, and of grace, and of mercy.

Our "God on the Move" sermon series continues at St. Giles throughout the season of Lent. Yesterday in worship, I preached a sermon entitled "God Moves Down the Road," based on the text of Jesus' famous Parable on the Prodigal Son from Luke 15. Here's my recap of the sermon.

Jennifer and I are in the midst of a Lenten Sermon Series entitled God on the Move, which seeks to help us reflect upon Jesus' journey toward Jerusalem in the days leading into Easter. Here's a recap of my latest sermon, "God Moves Past All Obstacles," based on the gospel lection for the day, Luke 13:31-35.

At first glance, there seem to be two competing narratives about the prevalence of digital technologies in our society. One perspective holds that the incredible advances and benefits offered by modern technologies are evidence that such products are inherently “good” for humanity. The other perspective, citing troubling statistics of increased isolation and adverse health risks, render such technologies as “bad.”

The reality, as with virtually everything else in postmodern society, falls somewhere between the either/or binary these two perspectives would suggest. Suffice it to say that modern technologies – like all technological innovations that have come before – can be used both for the wellbeing of society and for evil, destructive purposes. (For just one example, the same social media product that helped to fuel a democratic uprising in several oppressed nations also provided the platform for outside forces to influence democratic elections in our own nation!).

I relish the opportunity to explore creative forms of preaching, so I was excited to preach a dialogue sermon with my friend and Presbyterian clergy colleague Rev. Patrick Jinks. Together, we preached a sermon entitled "Love is the Answer" based on the Apostle Paul's famous words from 1 Corinthians 13. For the sermon recap video, Patrick and I sat down to discuss the passage (and, perhaps, to sing a certain well-known song...)