"Road Trip" Sermon #4 - Balance

Message #4 in my "Road Trip" series at St. Stephen's Lutheran Church.

Title: "Balance"

Summary: Begins with a quick tip for abiding in prayer using a prayer posture that emphasizes receptivity and joy rather than humility. Main topic is observing how Jesus attends to three dimensions of life - "Up" with the Father; "In" with the disciples and his faith family; "Out" with the crowds. He works to keep a balanced attention on all three of these relationships. Introduces the Triangle as a simple graphic to help us remember this. As disciples, we seek to pursue the same kind of three-point balancing in our own lives.

Slides: Click here to view slides in a new window.

Video: View the video from Sunday November 26th here.

Announcement: Kevin McClure to Speak at Unfinished Business Conference

I'm so pleased to round out the speakers for the Unfinished Business with Kevin McClure who will be both a panelist and opening sessions speaker.

Kevin has been a Christ follower for nearly 45 years and a pastor for 39. Kevin and his wife, Laura, have been married for 42 years and they have four grown children and six grandchildren. His ministry has included church planting, pastoring, consulting, writing and more. Kevin's heart is to see God's Kingdom more fully materialize in each Christian's circle of influence. He loves to equip people to pray more effectively, believing that a church can't be stronger than its prayer ministry. He currently leads Family Room Church in Shoreview, MN.

Click here for more information about the Unfinished Business Conference, taking place on Saturday, November 18th in West Saint Paul, MN. If you are interested in the conference but unable to attend, sign up here for links to documents and video available after the conference.

Speaker Announcement for Unfinished Business Conference

I'm delighted to announce that my good friend Carol Coomer will be one of our speakers at the Unfinished Business Conference! Carol is one of the founding members of Liberating Spirit, a small independent congregation, organized in 2014, that very much resembles the kind of "Evangelical Order" community that Luther described. Carol will be one of our panelists and bring her experience of helping to lead a kind of "house church" that happens to meet in a funeral home! She is also a proud mother and grandmother, and is retired from her work as the office coordinator for a medical practice.

"Road Trip" Sermon #3 - Abiding is Job #1

Message #3 in my "Road Trip" series at St. Stephen's Lutheran Church.

Title: "Abiding is Job #1"

Summary: As disciples of (apprentices to) Jesus, we want to learn from him how to abide. A great example he gives us is in Luke 3:21-22 which tells about Jesus' baptism. We see him there, in prayer, having a moment of "quality time" with the Father and hearing the Father remind him; "You are my son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." This is a simple, clear and direct practice that we can learn from him: find ways to "soak it up" as we listen to the Father declare the same things to us. The most straightforward way to do this is by having a moment of listening prayer every time you take a shower or bath.

Slides: Click here to view slides in a new window.

Video: View the video from Saturday November 4th here.