“The Trickster is Tricked” (Genesis 29:15-30)Rick Olson, July 27, 2008 OK, so here’s the deal: our hero Jacob – or is it anti-hero Jacob? – has arrived in Haran, after fleeing his father’s place in South Palestine. You’ll remember why he had to leave: his brother Esau was plotting his death in a murderous rage. [...]
“Eager Longing” (Romans 8:12 – 25)Rick Olson, July 20, 2008 This morning as I was, uh, putting the finishing touches on this sermon, I was watching this year’s Tour de France, the three week, 2100-mile bike race through the heart of France, and there are several kinds of riders in the tour . . . [...]
“Bad Agriculture” (Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23)Rick Olson, July 13, 2008 It ‘s hot there beside the sea, great billowing, shimmering sheets of heat rise from the sand, so that even the healthiest shrub looks wasted, shriveled-up, ready to die, and that’s the way all the humans feel as well . . . dry, used-up, parched-grey in [...]
“Light Yokes” (Matthew 11:16-30)Rick Olson, July 6, 2008 Have you ever met somebody who just wasn’t happy, no matter what you did, no matter how you tried to please him? I know I have, and I suspect you have too . . . business-people see them all the time . . . they’re called “customers” [...]
“Call Me Ishmael” (Gen 21:1-21) Rick Olson, June 22, 2008 This is a tale of two children. Isaac is a child of the promise, a son of the covenant between God and Abraham. Ishmael is a child of desperation, of barrenness and brokenness and embarrassment . . . Sarah remembers when Ishmael was born, what [...]
“Flood Insurance” (Matthew 7:21-27)Rick Olson, June 1, 2008 There are three main things we need to know about this passage. The first thing is that it’s very solidly grounded eschatologically, that is, in the already here and yet somehow still approaching Kingdom of God, which Matthew always calls the Kingdom of Heaven. The second thing [...]
“Spirit Movings” (Pentecost, 2008) Rick Olson, May 11, 2008 Spirit is a very special word, in the multiple languages of the church, anyway . . . in Hebrew, it’s Ruach . . . that acccch on the end is a consonant found only in the semitic languages, and it gives a breathy, almost whispery sound [...]
“All About Ascension” (Luke 24:44-53; Acts 1:1-11)Rick Olson, May 4, 2008 Whenever I think of Jesus ascending on a cloud, I picture a stately progression, like a really slow elevator, or maybe a ship sailing up into the sky, Jesus looking back at the disciples onshore, giving a little wave, or just letting his gaze [...]
“Poetic Justice” (Acts 17:16-34)Rick Olson, April 27, 2008 Athens was four-hundred years past its prime in Paul’s day . . . but it was still a center of learning and the arts. And what’s more, it lived on its past glories . . . Rome left it pretty much alone because of them . . [...]
“Spiritual Milk” (1 Peter 2:1-10)Rick Olson, April 20, 2008 Last week, we saw how the first Christians attempted to live out their calling as followers of a risen God. We saw how the devoted themselves to fellowship, to koinonia, and prayer and care for one another. We saw that they had all things in common, [...]
