Résumés and obituaries

[Excerpted from Sunday’s message: “Jesus = More Life.” Listen to the sermon here.] Forty-seven years ago, in February 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered what would be his last sermon. It was called “The Drum Major Instinct.” If you haven’t read it or heard it in full, I’d encourage you to—it’s a challenging, inspiring …

Dust

A beautiful poem for Lent: Blessing the Dust, by Jan Richardson. All those days you felt like dust, like dirt, as if all you had to do was turn your face toward the wind and be scattered to the four corners or swept away by the smallest breath as insubstantial— Did you not know what …

Fasting for Lent

Lent begins tomorrow (Ash Wednesday), a season for focusing on Jesus as we prepare to celebrate the climax of his life and his mission—his death and resurrection—and also for remembering Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness before he began his public ministry. It lasts for 40 days (excluding Sundays), and ends on Easter Sunday (April 5 this …

What is the gospel?

[Excerpt from yesterday’s message at The District Church: “You Are Not Your Mistakes.”] “There is not one square inch of the entire creation over which Jesus Christ does not cry out, ‘This is mine! This belongs to me!’” – Abraham Kuyper This is the gospel: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and …