This sermon was first preached for an online service of Tualatin Presbyterian Church on Sunday, June 13, 2021. Relevant lectionary readings can be found here. Hmmmmmm. How can we explain the Reign of God? What is it like? The Reign of God is like….how many of you are gardeners? Or have done landscaping? We recently […]
Author: ddowd88
Faith in Public Life
This reflection was first recorded for an online service of The Church of the Good Shepherd in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Many of us have been taught that the church “shouldn’t be political.” This stems maybe from a few places, but for me as someone who grew up in a white midwest suburb, I think it mainly […]
A Mother’s Day Reflection
This piece was first recorded for an online gathering of worship with Good Shepherd Lancaster on May 9, 2021. You can watch the video of the reflection alone here. I met my children when they were just over two years old when I spent the summer abroad in Sierra Leone in West Africa on a […]
Friends of God
This sermon was first preached for an online service of Mosaic Lutheran Church on May 9, 2021. Relevant lectionary readings can be found here. Grace and peace are yours from the resurrected Christ. Amen. It is so good to be with you all, virtually, this morning. I have heard a lot about this congregation and […]
Blessed Bi Jesus
Blessed Bi Jesus Living in a world where we are discriminated against by both cisgender-straight people and monosexual gay men and lesbians alike, bi people suffer exorbitant rates of physical and mental health issues. We are frequently isolated from the larger LGBTQIA+ community, locked out of resources, and underserved by professionals who we entrust to […]
This sermon was first preached at an online service for St. John’s Wilmette on April 18, 2021. Relevant lectionary readings can be found here. It had only been about three days since they arrested Jesus. At least I think it was three days. Four? Time moves so differently now. And these last few days…they were […]
The Resurrection of the Body
This sermon was first preached for an online service of New Life on April 11, 2020. Relevant lectionary readings here. I invite you to take a deep breath. (breathe) Feel the air coming in through your nose. Feel your lungs expand. Notice the rising of your chest or belly and the way it softens as […]
This sermon was first preached at an online service of Kindred+ on March 14, 2021. Relevant lectionary texts can be found here. If Jesus had a Twitter account, these verses might count as some of his spiciest subtweets. In the midst of several parables and direct teachings regarding money, Jesus was getting major heat from […]
Jesus – Enemy of the State
This sermon was originally preached for an online service of American Lutheran Church Burbank on February 28, 2021. Relevant lectionary readings can be found here. On April 3rd, 1968, in Memphis, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr said:Like anybody, I would like to live a long life – longevity has its place. But I’m […]
This sermon was first preached for an online service of Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church on February 7, 2021. Relevant lectionary texts here. The woman in this story doesn’t have a name. This isn’t uncommon, unfortunately, with scripture. Women in the Bible are often erased from the narrative entirely or else left unnamed. When […]