MAC KIRK

Making of Sermons Rogation Sunday, 5th S. after Easter I had the privilege of talking with a gentleman in California when I was there who used to discuss things with me in the retirement home where my Dad was living. I found out later I could never win an argument /discussion as he always seemed to have an answer. I found out later he was the retired head of the Rhetoric dept and debate at Stanford Univ. No wonder. After several visits out there to see Dad we became friends and still discussed but I was more prepared knowing who he was . He wrote a book recently on " The Rhetoric of the Pulpit" by Dr. Jon Ericson, and dedicated it to me along with several others who had read his mss and assisted in that way. One of the things he says in his book which I rather like is " There are numerous wrong ideas about preaching...point 1-the pastor needs to come up with a great sermon every Sunday." Instead he says, " rather present your sermon. You are a part...

You can't rush What can I do? Most of us from time to time get frustrated with the pace of things. I did the other day when we had so much rain and a certain section of the lawn on Ridge Grove RD in the valley so to speak grew when I was away. It was so big I had to try anything to get the lawn mower over it. I tried to raise the wheels on the lawnmower and the levers were stuck. I tried going backwards for a while and that seemed to help, but the grass underneath was so deep , it was wet, and the lawnmower eventually got stuck. Re-starting it was a wait...It had to dry out. Well, I did this on Tuesday of last week, and then it rained again. Then I did it again on Friday afternoon, but it was still wet underneath. Eventually I will get the valley mowed (when it dries out in time), and we will look back to a somewhat normal. Yes, there is a lot of things I would like to rush. I would like to fast forward sometimes and see what life will look like 20 years from now,...

3 after Easter. This is more of a meditative message that is topical on the subject of what our Easter Christian lives can look like instead of just going with the the world in their habits of anger, unforgiveness, lust, desire for more ( money) & conflict. It seems whenever we gather that the Church can either be part of the problem or part of the solution. Of course we should be applying the golden rule in our relationships whomever they are with. ( This should certainly include those who do not attend the parish, or any church, or reject the teachings of Christ altogether )---Matthew 7:12 and I must confess after looking for it in the NT, I could not find it until I googled it! " All things, therefore as many as if you might desire that should do to you the men so also you do to them. This indeed is the law and the prophets." Greek translation literally . Of course the world says it differently, do unto others before they do it to you. Or he who has the g...

Easter Living I Timothy 6 This lesson was one of the mp (morning prayer) readings this week, and as the Gospel proclaims the risen Christ , truly living now in heaven, seated at the right hand of God, so we look to this history and truth for our lives now, and Christian living is the issue. We who are in the world and part of the church witness to a living Lord , and we do this by our faith and in its practice in the moments and days of our lives. This is the whole point, is it not? For these are doctrines not just of the head, but they are of the heart as well, and that is that where the rubber meets the road , in our living. I have often hummed this hymn : " Because He Lives" God sent his son They called him Jesus He came to love Heal and forgive He lived and died To buy my pardon An empty grave Is there to prove My Savior lives (Chorus) Because he lives I can face tomorrow Because he lives All fear is gone Because I know He holds the future ...

Easter 2016 I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren't true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn't keep a lie for three weeks. You're telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible. ― Charles W. Colson Defining moments. All of us have those times in our lives when the light goes on and we see for the first time what we really need to see. In the Scriptures around the Easter accounts as well of the aftermath of the Crucifixion there are people that have defining moments in their ideas of who Jesus is and what happened as He died, and rose from the dead. Many of the people we know in our own lives live in a rather kind of vague hope...

Darkness and Light Together Matthew 27 As I sat in a local restaurant the other day I wondered how many of the people there who were drinking, yes, even smoking, were actually aware in their own lives of the needs of others. What would have happened in their lives if that moment in time could have been frozen and they had to say, " this is what my life means and meant to others." In some ways the Gospel for today is a moment frozen in time, with its results that are eternal in the lives of all people. They were gathered at the Cross, the Soldiers, the women who had followed Jesus, yes, even His blessed mother, Mary, and it all came down to the Cross. It seems as though it is only a moment of darkness when Jesus was nailed to the Cross and He was dying, and then gave up the ghost. We too have very dark periods in our lives. They are moments when the light does not shine in any place we can see. Very depressed people know this trial. Unfortunately there doe...

Hebrews tells us about the way Christ went for our Salvation I do not know how one can read the New Testament and especially the Book of Hebrews without coming away with a deep sense of gratitude and awe and what Christ did for us. Some wish to write another Gospel than this, but if one is at all interested in what the Bible is saying , Hebrews is definitely a place to begin and stay for it mines the deep riches of the sacrifice of Jesus , His life and Blood for our eternal salvation. With some people this is not a very popular idea. In fact there is a whole theology that rejects it ,and especially the Book of Leviticus which is the background for Hebrews. ( much of the modern rationalist liberal theology does just that for example and some of us have heard messages that reflect this kind of thinking) If we are to be Biblically faithful , we must take it very seriously and understand the message of Hebrews for us . First we must ask ourselves are we willing to try and und...