Knox Church Sermons

Good Morning.  Happy New Year to you!  I know you think I’m a month early, but I simply wish to remind you that in the church year, today is Day 1.  This is the first Sunday of Advent.  It probably sounds irrelevant or out of touch for me to remind you about the church year, […]

Thanksgiving is this week.  I wonder if you are feeling thankful; I wonder if some of you are feeling a bit stressed.  Perhaps you’re hosting a family gathering, anxious about someone you’re going to see, or not see, or worried about getting everything done in time.  Even the little things can be stressful.  I’m in […]

This week there was an election—perhaps you heard about it.  And as of today, a large part of the electorate is really pleased, an equally large part is really disappointed, and a significant group in the middle are indifferent, and had it gone the other way, those characterizations would have been much the same.  Throughout […]

It can be overwhelming to think about the numerous, immense problems that confront us in each day in the news.  Foreign conflicts, global warming, electoral politics, poverty and gun violence, and the list goes on.  You can’t possibly do something about all of these problems; you might be able to do only a little about […]

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”  Those are the beginning words of today’s scripture lesson.  They are words foundational to a faithful life.  They were true long ago, they are true today, and they will […]

I will admit to you that I found it difficult to write a sermon this week.  So many complicated and tragic events are taking place in our world.  I know you expect to be able to struggle and pray together about these things when we come to worship.  Here at church we should ask our […]

Following that lengthy Stewardship video, I can imagine what some of you are thinking—you’ve already heard a sermon from me this morning!  Your Stewardship Committee felt strongly that you should hear a different kind of Stewardship message this year, and that you should hear it as we gather on Sunday.  Please share it as we […]

Next week we’re going to be joined in both worship services and an after church lunch by Simran Jeet Singh and by interfaith neighbors in our Cincinnati community.  I am really excited about this.  Simran is a prolific speaker, author and professor of interreligious studies at Union Seminary in New York.  I heard him speak […]

I have a favorite sermon illustration; I discovered it about 15 years ago.  It may not be the best sermon illustration you’ll ever hear or the most important; it’s just that I remember the excitement I felt when I stumbled upon it.  It opened for me a window into the wisdom of our tradition, and […]

Resilience is a quality we want in life.  Sure, it’s nice to have good luck and avoid struggle.  But let’s face it, everyone is bound to have hard times.  So it’s more important to be able to live through hard times, than to avoid struggle.  This idea will sound familiar to parents in the room […]

This morning we’re going to talk about a passage from the Book of Proverbs.  Proverbs is known as Wisdom Literature in the Bible.  You might have the impression that Proverbs is just a sort of collection of wise sayings, kind of like the fortune cookie of the Bible.  But its much more than that.  This […]

A few weeks ago, we heard on a Sunday from RJ Roberts, the Program Director over at our partner Third Presbyterian Church in East Westwood; among other things, he told us about the Peace and Hope Lifestyle, which is their program that seeks to lead young people into a way of life that is an […]

If you were here last week, you know that I made a bit of a confession—my personal Bible study habits have fallen off lately in favor of other demands.  What difference does that make?  Well, like most preachers, for a time I can fake my way through sermons on material I already know, but if […]

Though I can’t say exactly when it was, I know that this Bible story about the woman caught in adultery was one of the first Bible stories that really caught my attention.  In this harsh world, full of imperfect people, a bunch of judgmental men drag before Jesus a person who has made a mistake.  […]

Over time, preachers get a sense of when we are connecting with the congregation—and when we’re not.  We can tell when we’re putting you to sleep, and we also know when everyone is listening.  I have to tell you I laughed to myself during a sermon several weeks ago—at a moment when I knew you […]

“I never thought I’d be living this way, she says.”  “Somehow I imagined that life would be simpler.  She has reached forty, and she thinks she should have her life together by now, but things are just not right.  Too few evenings include nourishing suppers shared with loved ones; too many are given over to […]

We’re in this summer series of talking about spiritual practices—everyday ways that God shows up in the world. This morning we will talk about caring for creation or environmental stewardship.  I will be honest with you that, to me, those churchy phrases feel dishonest:  they seem like euphemisms to try to make us feel better […]

This summer we’ve been talking about ways God shows up in everyday life.  We’re focused on the regular things we do, mostly outside these walls and often when we’re not trying to be Christian, where God is present.  Today I’m going to talk about something all of us do, daily in fact—the important practice of […]