The title of my sermon this morning, The House of Bread, is a translation of the Hebrew word for the town in which Jesus was born. The place was called Bethlehem, or House of Bread because it was situated on a fertile plain where, the original settlers, the hoped, would be able to make a…

Someone recently commented to me that he did not call himself a Christian because it seems presumptuous. God alone makes that call. I understand the impulse behind this hesitation. This world seems too full of people who call themselves Christian and act very much unchristian like. Some Christians talk of their God and then make…

Texts:  Malachi 3:1-11; 8-12 Luke 20: 20-26 At the Lighthouse Church of all Nations in Alsip, Illinois, at each of the three Sunday morning services, the pastor draws a number from a bag.  The occupant of the seat with that number gets a cash prize of $500.  Apparently the attendance has surged from 1600 to…

Texts:  Jeremiah 33:14-16; Luke 12:13-21 I came across a story last week that made me think about today's topic for our ongoing discussion about the economy and our money. A new luxury hotel in France offers guests the chance to live as a rodent for the night - complete with fur costumes and a romantic…

Today in our continuing effort to talk about our financial well-being  in the midst of famine, to use the parable's metaphor for our time, I want to talk about how we could think about our personal budgets in a way that not only feels good, but actually contributes to a more just social order.  That…