Link: Parable. Mad Libs, July 2014

Summary of what I was saying and why:
I was quickly fascinated by the parable of the treasure in the field. And then even more fascinated by the idea of God finding us.

Theology: Divine Love
Jesus Count: low
Good News: god delights in seeking us out.

What did I change on my feet?
I started to like this idea of rebelling the parable and then I loved the idea of inviting the congregation into that. Interaction always brings some element of surprise, so I had a rough sketch of where I was going and enjoyed the morning.
What didn’t work/what did I miss?
If I was going to do it again, I’d also build the second retelling of the parable for interaction.
What did work?
The greatest risk in this style of preaching is not people saying odd things but not saying anything. They responded!

Other sermons I liked:

Priest Andrews-Weckerly, Romans 8, Proper 12
“When our lives have not turned out how we expected, when our loved ones suffer, or when the world seems to be doling out more hatred than our souls can bear, we find leaning on God’s love to be almost impossible.
And yet, that is Paul’s invitation today. Paul takes our broken selves and heaps piles of love on top of us. When we are weak, and we do not even know how to pray, Paul says that the Spirit helps us. The Spirit knows our pain and suffering, and in fact, the Spirit too groans in pain and suffering – with sighs too deep for words. … Every time God’s people broke their covenant with God, God groaned with sighs too deep for words. As God’s son hung on a cross, God groaned in agony over his death. God knows our groans because God groans too. God groans when Christians are forced from their homes in Iraq. God groans when God’s people kill one another in the most holy of lands. God groans when we turn innocent children into political issues.”

Priest Lightcap, Little
“What, I ask you, would Christians of the modern era be,
If we could not occasionally be toppled in our own ignorance and complacence
By something judged as insignificant
That nevertheless had a divine mandate to come into being and flourish?”

Priest Baum, Pentecost 6
Reticular Activating System–just go read

(Here’s the list of people I usually listen to. Am I missing someone?)
The Anglican Church of Canada uses the Roman Ordinary Time numbering system instead of numbering the Propers. I indicate both numbering systems.