A New Brain-Shape (Sermon preached 30 May 2021)

Good morning! It is great to be with you. It is so good, isn’t it? After having to be physically distant for so long, we are beginning to actually share spaces with one another.

 Don’t get me wrong – technology is awesome. In fact, it has saved us. Thanks to Facebook and YouTube and Zoom, and the heroic efforts of some staff here, we have been able to stay connected, irrespective of location and time zone. So much so that even the naysayers among us are now convinced that in some circumstances, being present virtually is truly the way to go!

 

But that energetic exchange that happens when we are physically in one another’s presence; that back and forth, and give and take, with people we know and people we don’t, quite yet – people who we are curious about; who we find ourselves drawn to; who capture our imaginations? That being with, in person, is what we have been deprived of, for the most part, for over a year...(read more)

Keep Praying (Sermon preached 16 May 2021)

You probably already know this, but just in case you don’t, here in this community at St. Matthew’s a whole lot of people are convinced that prayer matters. That it makes a difference. We pray for one another, a lot. Privately. In small groups. And here in church. So many prayer requests find their way to me. Via emails, texts, phone calls, people ask for prayer for themselves, for family members, for friends; people they care about, people they know are struggling.

Sometimes a prayer request comes in from one source, and then later that same day, another person calls to make sure that I am aware, so I can add a name to the Prayers of the People. We have an Intercessory Prayer Group. A small band of prayer warriors who, every day, pray a confidential list of specific needs that gets updated monthly. And, one day in the not-too-far- distant future, I hope, our wonderful prayer ministers will once again, during Communion, pray with, lay hands on and anoint  those feeling a need to pray. 

 

It means a lot, doesn’t it? To have other people pray for us. People who don’t even really believe in the power of prayer still feel blessed by it...(read more)